cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - January 18, 2007





NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - January 18, 2007
Posted by CN Staff on January 18, 2007 at 17:08:17 PT
Weekly Press Release 
Source: NORML 
Feds Raid Eleven Los Angeles Medi-Pot DispensariesJanuary 18, 2007 - Los Angeles, CA, USALos Angeles, CA: Federal law enforcement agents raided 11 medicinal marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles county yesterday in one of the most high profile actions taken by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in California since the state's passage of Proposition 215 in 1996.
According to the Los Angeles Times, federal agents simultaneously raided five dispensaries in West Hollywood, as well as additional medicinal cannabis operations in Venice, Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, and Woodland Hills. Government officials told the Times that more than 20 people had been detained for questioning, but charges had yet been filed. Spokespersons for the DEA said that hundreds of marijuana plants and several thousands pounds of cannabis were seized in the raids.Speaking on the NORML AudioStash regarding yesterday's raids, NORML Legal Committee member Bruce Margolin of Los Angeles said: "The government is just rattling their swords ... taking down these dispensaries. Do they think they are going to stop the need for medical marijuana in California and other states [by raiding these clubs]? I don't think so, but by shutting down these safe access locations, patients are going to have to turn to the black market [for their medicine.]"The raids came just hours after city officials in West Hollywood and Los Angeles approved regulations limiting the number of medicinal cannabis dispensaries operating in their cities.For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500, or visit: http://www.normlaudiostash.com/ DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7155 Endocannabinoids Reduce Gastric Ulcers, Study SaysJanuary 18, 2007 - Krakow, PolandKrakow, Poland: Administration of the naturally occurring cannabinoid anandamide inhibits the development of stress-induced gastric ulcers, according to preclinical data published recently in the Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology.Investigators at Poland's Jagiellonian University Medical College and Germany's University of Erlangen-Nuremberg reported that the administration of anandamide significantly reduced ulcers in rats in a dose-dependent manner. Researchers also noted that anandamide administration was associated with an increase in gastric mucosal blood flow. Gastric blood flow plays a primary role in protecting and healing the stomach lining.Administration of a synthetic cannabinoid receptor antagonist aggravated gastric damage and reversed the protective effect of anandamide, investigators determined.Investigators reported contrary results following the administration of anandamide in rats with acute pancreatitis, finding that the endocannabinoid increased the severity of the disease. Anandamide did not alter the morphology of pancreatic tissue or increase pro inflammatory serum levels in rats without the disease.Previous preclinical research indicates that the endocannabinoid system may be an ideal therapeutic target for the treatment of various gastrointestinal (GI) disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease, and colitis. Activation of this system suppresses gastrointestinal motility, reduces acid reflux, and protects against inflammation in animals, and has been demonstrated to promote healing in human tissue.Most recently, investigators at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota reported that single doses of THC significantly reduce stomach cramping in humans compared to placebo.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Cannabinoids in acute gastric damage and pancreatitis," appears in the November supplemental issue of the Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. Additional information on cannabinoids and GI disorders is available in NORML's new report, "Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis & Cannabinoids," available online: http://norml.org//index.cfm?Group_ID=7002 DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7156Marijuana Extracts Effective In Treating Neuropathic Pain January 18, 2007 - Salisbury, United KingdomSalisbury, United Kingdom: Medicinal cannabis extracts improve patients' management of neuropathic pain better than standard analgesics, according to the results of a pair of clinical trials announced this week by British biotechnology firm GW Pharmaceuticals.More than 250 patients with peripheral neuropathic pain (pain caused by damage to the nervous system) participated in the two placebo-controlled trials. Volunteers received either Sativex (an oral spray containing precise doses of the plant cannabinoids THC and CBD) or placebo.In the first trial, patients suffering from severe pain characterized by allodynia (the occurrence of pain in response to normally non-painful stimulus) "obtained clinically important improvements in their management of pain and quality of sleep" after taking Sativex.In the second trial, patients with diabetic neuropathy reported a 30 percent mean improvement in pain scores after taking Sativex, with one-third of patients reporting more than a 50 percent improvement in pain following the drug's administration."Even in this most difficult to treat population, Sativex has produced improvements over and above current treatments," the company stated in a press release.Previous clinical trials of Sativex have shown the drug to reduce incidences of neuropathic pain associated with both Multiple Sclerosis and cancer. Sativex is currently available by prescription in Canada to treat MS-associated neuropathy, and on an 'import-only' basis in Spain and the United Kingdom.Results of a US clinical trial assessing the use of inhaled cannabis to treat neuropathy are expected to be published this spring. Preliminary results presented in 2004 at the 11th Annual Retrovirus Conference in San Francisco demonstrated that inhaling cannabis was associated with a 30 percent reduction in pain in patients suffering from HIV-associated neuropathy.Neuropathic pain affects an estimated one percent of the world's population and is typically unresponsive to both opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, or visit: http://www.gwpharm.com DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7154Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: January 18, 2007Copyright: 2007 NORML Contact: norml norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/CannabisNews NORML Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/NORML.shtml 
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Comment #5 posted by ekim on January 19, 2007 at 20:53:31 PT
Dankhank 
its the cellulose ethanol that i speak of;
--google reuters biofuels summit for some good info.with new enzymes that are being made to break down the cellulose in plant matter we can produce huge amounts of fuel from a acre. the last time i heard switch grass which will bring in from 7to9 tons per acre will yield over 1 thousand gals of ethanol. with a cost of 25 cents per acre for the enzymes --
i do not know how much cellulose switch grass has but i do know that hemp or cannabis has been reported by Jack Herer to have 77% cellulose. so we need to research cannabis in Golden CO at the National Renewable Energy Lab to see how it matches up with other feed stock that will be needed for use all over the United States. Some states will be able to grow sugar others will have to use plants like Cannabis. 
I hope the fact that the most premiere feed stock labs are in Golden Co and the Democratic Convention will be held in Denver CO. What a perfect time to rally for the end of the failed 70 year old Cannabis Prohibition. N.D. will be growing Cannabis --- more states are allowing Med use. and still others are asking for the regulation and taxation of Cannabis. Let the debate begin.
http://www.miagbiz.org/
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Comment #4 posted by Dankhank on January 18, 2007 at 20:56:06 PT
Corn ...
While I am in favor of alternet fuels I have grave reservations of doing it with Corn.There's too much corn in our society already and much of it is inimical.It takes much fossil fuel action to produce corn alcohol. That will drive up the cost of corn, something corn producers will like.We need to focus more on diesel and use the Hemp plant to produce that. We could always imitate the Malaysians and use the Palm Leaf ... I believe it has more oil than Hemp. Hemp is a good oil producer, but there are many plants that produce more.http://www.energybulletin.net/5021.html 
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Comment #3 posted by ekim on January 18, 2007 at 20:21:41 PT
there are too many starting to conect the dots
the insane cannabis prohibition can not last much longer.Will it be CA AG Jerry Brown, and Dennis Kucinich working together to drag Gov. Arnold into the fight to end the 70 years of failed Cannabis Prohibiton.By Chris Baltimore Jan 18 07
reuters biofuel summit google.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It is harder to find a lawmaker who isn't singing the praises of fuels blended from home-grown corn and other renewable sources despite many divisions in the U.S. Congress over how to deal with the U.S. energy supply crunch.Ethanol's growing mainstream appeal means that, for a change, subsidizing the renewable fuel will not be an issue when Iowans caucus to indicate their preferences for presidential candidates in 2008.Lawmakers outside the Corn Belt objected for years to rising U.S. mandates to blend more ethanol with gasoline supplies, pointing to various transportation bottlenecks that hinder supplies from reaching the east and west coasts.There are long-standing disagreements in Congress on how to deal with energy policy regarding drilling for oil in Alaska's wildlife refuge and global warming.But with a rising focus on U.S. "energy security" and calls from both the Bush administration and Congress for "energy independence," ethanol is the undisputed king of the U.S. energy policy road.These days, lawmakers are nearly unanimous in their support, said Monte Shaw, president of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, speaking at the Reuters Global Biofuel Summit."I'd like to say it's going to play a huge role (in the 2008 elections) but so far I haven't found anyone who isn't really excited about it," Shaw said, referring to ethanol.Even Republican maverick Sen. John McCain of Arizona, considered a presidential candidate front-runner, has fallen largely silent on past opposition to subsidies and tax breaks for farmers to grow corn and turn it into ethanol, Shaw said.The U.S. biofuels industry, now centered in the Midwest, could become a nationwide industry as cellulose becomes as an abundant and widespread feedstock, said Rep. Collin Peterson, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee."There's interest in every state," Peterson said. "Make this a national effort, not a Midwest effort or a traditional Farm Belt effort."Biorefineries produced about 5 billion gallons of ethanol last year, well on the way to the U.S. target of using at least 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuels annually by 2012.Congress is abuzz with new bills to require even more ethanol use in coming years.A group of Midwest senators, including prospective presidential candidate and Illinois Democrat Barack Obama, introduced the BioFuels Security Act, which would require the United States to use 60 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel a year by 2030.
http://blog.leap.cc/
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Comment #2 posted by mayan on January 18, 2007 at 18:21:52 PT
Misc.
This one slipped under my radar...Governors lose in power struggle over National Guard:
http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=170453Now the fascists are ready for martial law!Anyone found any articles on Kucinich's new position?
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Comment #1 posted by potpal on January 18, 2007 at 18:11:42 PT
CA & DEA
California has an infection. A parasite preys upon it.Wow, they found cannabis at a cannabis dispensary, imagine that! It makes me mad the my tax dollars contribute to this bullsh*t. 
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