cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - March 15, 2007





NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - March 15, 2007
Posted by CN Staff on March 15, 2007 at 13:22:24 PT
Weekly Press Release
Source: NORML 
New Mexico: Legislature Approves Medical Marijuana BillMarch 15, 2007 - Santa Fe, NM, USASanta Fe, NM: The New Mexico legislature approved legislation this week that seeks to establish a statewide medicinal cannabis distribution program.
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 523, a substitute bill that is virtually identical to the "Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act." House members had narrowly rejected a similar proposal last week.On Wednesday, the Senate concurred with a minor House floor amendment, sending the bill to the governor for his approval.As proposed, Senate Bill 523 mandates the state Department of Health by October 1, 2007, to promulgate rules governing the use and distribution of medical cannabis to state-authorized patients. These rules shall address the creation of state-licensed "cannabis production facilities," the development of a confidential patient registry and a state-authorized marijuana distribution system, and "define the amount of cannabis that is necessary to constitute an adequate supply" for qualified patients.Governor Bill Richardson, who worked closely with the House to persuade members to reconsider the bill, is expected to sign the measure into law. "This bill will provide much-needed relief for New Mexicans suffering from debilitating diseases while including the proper safeguards to prevent abuse," he said. "I am pleased that the legislature did the right thing, reconsidered this important bill and supported a humane option for New Mexicans who endure some of the most painful diseases imaginable."If approved, New Mexico will become the twelfth state to enact medical marijuana legislation since 1996, though it will be only the fourth to do so legislatively.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, or visit: http://www.drugpolicyalliance.orgDL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7208Ninth Circuit: No "Fundamental" Right To Use Pot To Ease SufferingMarch 15, 2007 - Pasadena, CA, USAPasadena, CA: The physician approved use of cannabis to "preserve bodily integrity, avoid intolerable pain, and preserve life" is not a Constitutionally protected right, the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week.The ruling rejects an appeal by California patient Angel McClary-Raich, who sought injunctive relief from criminal prosecution for her use of cannabis in accordance with state law. The United States Supreme Court in 2005 ordered the Ninth Circuit, on remand, to address McClary-Raich's arguments that the federal enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in California violated her Constitutional liberties.The Court opined that enforcement of the CSA did not violate plaintiff's substantive due process. "We agree with Raich that medical and conventional wisdom that recognizes the use of marijuana for medical purposes is gaining traction in the law," the Court determined. "But that legal recognition has not yet reached the point where a conclusion can be drawn that the right to use medical marijuana is 'fundamental' and 'implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.'"The Court also rejected plaintiff's contention that enforcement of the CSA infringes upon the sovereign police powers of the state of California. Although the Ninth Circuit did determine that McClary-Raich's use of medicinal cannabis would likely qualify her to raise a defense of 'medical necessity' if prosecuted, it ruled that the "necessity defense does not provide a proper basis for injunctive relief."For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Legal Counsel, or Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the Ninth Circuit decision, "Angel McClary-Raich et al v. Alberto Gonzalez et al," is available online at: http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/ca9/newopinions.nsf/630C41C84B670F308825729D007E5429/$file/0315481.pdf?openelementDL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7207American Academy of Pediatrics Slams Random Student Drug Testing Policies -- Tests are ineffective, not backed by physicians, and may push teens toward the use of dangerous drugs and alcoholMarch 15, 2007 - Elk Grove, IL, USAElk Grove, IL: Federally funded random student drug testing policies are neither safe nor effective and should not be utilized in public middle schools or high schools, according to recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Substance Abuse and Council on School Health. The Committee's recommendations appear in the March 2007 issue of the journal Pediatrics."Currently, there is little evidence of the effectiveness of school-based drug testing in the scientific literature," the Committee reported. It noted that student athletes forced to submit to random drug testing "experienced an increase in known risk factors for drug use ... and poorer attitudes toward school." The Committee also reported that the largest observational study to assess the efficacy of student drug testing "found no association between school-based drug testing and students' report of drug use."The Committee further determined that:·   Standard drug tests do not detect many of the substances most frequently abused by adolescents, including alcohol, ecstasy (MDMA), or inhalants.·   Mandatory drug testing may motivate adolescents to switch from using drugs with relatively low morbidity and mortality, such as marijuana, to those that pose greater danger (such as inhalants), but are undetectable by screening tests.·   Widespread implementation of drug testing may also inadvertently encourage more students to abuse alcohol, which is associated with a greater number of adolescent deaths than any other illicit drug.·   Few physicians support school-based testing of adolescents for drugs; a national survey of physicians found that 83 percent disagreed with drug testing in public schools.·   Few schools possess the necessary funds or the expertise to properly implement drug tests or interpret their results correctly. Since 2005, the US Department of Education has appropriated more than $20 million to public school districts to pay for random drug testing programs.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Testing for drugs of abuse in children and adolescents: Addendum --­ Testing in schools and at home," is available online at: http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/119/3/627DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7206Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: March 15, 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 FoM on March 16, 2007 at 21:44:19 PT
The GCW
You're welcome. I thought it was interesting too.
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Comment #4 posted by The GCW on March 16, 2007 at 21:37:06 PT
FoM,
Thanks. That was interesting.
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on March 16, 2007 at 09:28:43 PT
The GCW
Here's another one.***Poems, Prayers and Promises 1973: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCWzzvwOqgA***The Highs Have It, Our New State Song ***By Larry Collette March 16, 2007I'm having trouble reconciling the extreme bends of life here in Colorado. First, "Rocky Mountain High" gets named our "secondary" state song. Why we need two is beyond me. Then our U.S. congressman comes to visit my kid's middle school. These are two seemingly unrelated events. But they represent two things I have been trying to shield my child from: the mistakes of the drug culture of my generation and the mistakes in the voting booths of my generation. No matter what your take on John (Denver) Deutschendorf happens to be, "RMH" is a song about marijuana. It may be about camping and smoking pot, but there's no ignoring its theme. I guess the venerable "Don't Bogart That Joint" or "Puff the Magic Dragon" weren't available as state songs. A lot of songs from Snoop Dog may have fit the chronic bill but they don't mention mountains or campfires. I'm sure he could work them in. And, why didn't the legislature just commission somebody to write an old fashioned tune like "Pikes Peak, Me, and a Bottle of Gin?" Can an official state bong be that far behind? What else could "Rocky Mountain High" possibly mean? High on life? Come on. A preposterous notion, a condition shared only by those troubled with overwhelming optimism. I get irony, but doesn't Colorado lead the nation in per capita suicides? The song first appeared in the 1970s when things were lousy all over. Granted, people were possibly naive enough to believe you could get high on life back then. After all, Nixon got elected and people actually bought pet rocks. We have more sense today. Take a good look around these days. Being high on life is only slightly more common than small pox in this country. The last guy I saw that claimed to be high on life had a shaved head, bounced around in orange pajamas, and asked me for a donation at the airport. But that was long ago and the Krishnas have since vanished from under DIA's big top. How high can you get on airports nowadays with the TSA all over the place? Or is it being high on the beauty of those mountains? Katharine Lee Bates referred to this effect as purple mountains majesty, Jimi Hendrix just called it purple haze. Sure, mountains are nice, but basically they boil down to plain (non-pet) rocks and pine trees, all nicely arranged. Nothing more, I don't care what your endorphins are telling you. John Denver in 1985 testified before Congress during the Parents Music Resource Center hearings that his song was actually about the "elation, celebration of living, or the joy of life one feels." Of course it was. And having a pop star stretch the truth before Congress was a pretty good pre-game warm up for the Iran-Contra Hearings too. That was around the time that judicial and political careers could go up in smoke merely by the mention of marijuana use. Reagan nominee Douglas Ginsberg lost a chance at a Supreme Court gig because of his cannabis candor. Didn't we want honest judges? Now our state chambers are filled with legislators willing to embrace this old song about dope. Isn't there more pressing business rolling across their desks? "RMH" is certainly less offensive than a lot of John Denver's other party-stopping tunes. At least we're not stuck with "Sunshine on my Shoulders," a truly unlistenable song about the dangerous of skin cancer and sleeveless shirts. What would that do to our proud claim of getting 300-days of sunny weather a year? We don't really owe anything to a singer/songwriter who dropped his last name for our state capitol. Let's not flatter ourselves, he could have easily been John Boise if it would have sold more albums for RCA Records. Though, either John Silt or Johnny Leadville would have looked much more interesting printed on a record label. John seemed pretty fickle to me, remember he thought West Virginia, not Colorado, was almost heaven. There are many things to admire about John Denver, some of them involve music. But I always thought he was at his best working with the Muppets. He was willing to poke fun at himself. That's always a good thing. He was also as interested in saving our environment as some politicians seem bent on ruining it. John Denver championed a variety of humanitarian causes, using his celebrity to help the poor, hungry and those without a voice of their own. That is certainly a legacy worth remembering whether he inhaled or not. http://denver.yourhub.com/Centennial/Stories/Sound-Off/Write-a-Column/Story~279826.aspx
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Comment #2 posted by mayan on March 15, 2007 at 18:00:21 PT
Will They Listen?
From the last article on the bulletin...Federally funded random student drug testing policies are neither safe nor effective and should not be utilized in public middle schools or high schools, according to recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Substance Abuse and Council on School Health.Will the drug warriors listen? I doubt it. The fascists only pretend to care aboout the kids but in reality they just want to make the kids get used to not having any liberty,dignity or privacy!
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Comment #1 posted by The GCW on March 15, 2007 at 14:28:22 PT
Time for a "Rocky Mountain High" 
Time for a "Rocky Mountain High" http://www.boulderweekly.com/incaseyoumissedit.htmlIt's a good thing that the state Legislature tabled debate on an Iraq War resolution so it can focus on more important things—like Colorado's state song. Earlier this week, both the state Senate and House passed legislation that would make John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High" Colorado's second state song, the first of which is "Where the Columbines Grow." State senators and representatives actually spent time debating whether a "rocky mountain high" was natural or drug-induced. One representative even tried to amend the resolution to point out that Rocky Mountain High "reflects Colorado's high elevation and in no way reflects or encourages any drug abuse." Can you hear your tax dollars flushing down the drain yet? Ironically, after members of the state Legislature discussed the genesis of "Rocky Mountain High" ad nauseum, they slowly wandered away from the Capitol and visited two gas stations and a Burger King. Coincidence? We think not. 
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