cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- June 3, 2004 NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- June 3, 2004 Posted by CN Staff on June 03, 2004 at 17:36:02 PT Weekly Press Release Source: NORML White House Anti-Drug Ads Trigger "Boomerang Effect," Study SaysJune 3, 2004 - Chicago, IL, USAChicago, IL: White House sponsored anti-drug ads targeting marijuana and other illicit drugs foster unfavorable responses from three-quarters of those who view them, according to the results of a study presented last week at the 16th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Society in Chicago. Researchers at Texas State University analyzed written qualitative narratives of 53 college students' unanticipated thoughts about the ads. The anti-drug spots "produced substantially more unfavorable (195) than favorable thoughts (48)," authors noted."For example, in response to ads linking drug use to the war on terror, the most frequent unanticipated thoughts were that marijuana should be legalized, the war on drugs has been ineffective, and that marijuana users should grow their own," said lead author Maria Czyzewska of the Texas State Department of Psychology. "This is a classic example of the boomerang effect: commercials producing a response that is precisely the opposite of what the ads' creators intended."A previous four-year evaluation of the ads performed by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania and commissioned by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that they fail to alter teens' perceptions of pot or reduce its use among young people. "Youth who were more exposed to Campaign messages are no more likely to hold favorable beliefs or intentions about marijuana than are youth less exposed to those messages," the evaluation concluded.Since 1997, Congress has spent more than $1.2 billion in taxpayer dollars and matching funds on the federal ad campaign, titled "The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign."For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of the NORML Foundation at (202) 483-5500.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6125Ads in Favor of Legalizing Drugs OKd http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18942.shtmlJudge Voids Law Against Drug Ads On Metro http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18941.shtmlRailroaded Speech - San Francisco Chroniclehttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18790.shtmlJudge: Ad Restrictions Unconstitutionalhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18940.shtmlNo Association Between Pot Use And Oral Cancer, Large-Scale Population Study SaysJune 3, 2004 - Seattle, WA, USASeattle, WA: The use of marijuana, even long term, is not associated with an increased risk of developing oral cancer, according to the results of a large, population-based study published in the June issue of the journal Cancer Research.Researchers found "no association" between marijuana use and the incidence of oral squamous-cell carcinoma, "regardless of how long, how much or how often a person has used marijuana," according to a press release issued this week by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, which conducted the study.The results counter findings from a smaller, previous study published in 1999 suggesting that marijuana smokers had an increased risk of contracting head-and-neck squamous-cell carcinoma as compared to non-users.More than 1,000 volunteers participated in the Fred Hutchinson study. Among those who reported smoking marijuana, an estimated 11 percent said they had used it for more than five years as compared to 3.5 percent of participants in the previous study."When asked whether any marijuana use puts you at increased risk for oral cancer, our study is pretty solid in saying there's nothing going on there," concluded lead author Stephen Schwartz of Fred Hutchinson's Public Health Sciences Division, who noted that it's the "most comprehensive evaluation to date" regarding the association between marijuana use and oral cancers.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500 or visit the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center website at: http://www.fhcrc.org/news/science/2004/06/01/marijuanastudy.htmlDL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6124Pot Doesn't Increase Oral-Cancer Risk, Study Says http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18939.shtmlMarijuana Does Not Increased Risk of Oral Cancerhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18927.shtmlNew Study Explains How Pot Kills Cancer Cells http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17748.shtmlPatient Touts Anti-Cancer Properties of Marijuana http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17719.shtml Mounties Raid Prominent Canadian Medi-Pot Dispensary And Research Center June 3, 2004 - Victoria, BC, CanadaVictoria, British Columbia: Royal Canadian Mounted Police raided the Vancouver Island Therapeutic Cannabis Research Center late last week, seizing an estimated 900 medicinal cannabis plants. The operation produced standardized, high quality marijuana for the 390 members of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society (VICS), which had been supplying medical cannabis to qualified patients since 1999."This is devastating," VICS founder and Director Philippe Lucas said, adding that he intends to challenge the legality of the raid in court. "With Health Canada bumbling the production and distribution of cannabis, we've strived to ensure the safety and quality of the VICS product by testing it for cannabinoids, heavy metals, and biological impurities; with the execution of a single warrant all of our members have been thrown back into the vagaries and uncertainties of the black market."Two men were arrested in the raid, one of whom was an authorized caretaker, Lucas said.In addition to growing and dispensing 35 different strains of medical cannabis, the center was conducting a number of scientific studies on cannabis' ability to treat chronic pain, nausea and symptoms associated with Hepatitis C.The center had also conducted several scientific analyses on the quality of Health Canada's medicinal cannabis - finding that its potency was approximately half of what the government claimed, and that it contained numerous impurities. In a recent VICS press release, they noted that of the 93 legal federal exemptees who have ordered cannabis through the government, nearly one-third had returned it because of its poor quality."Since 90 percent of Canadians support the medical use of cannabis, and with Health Canada clearly unable to meet it's commitments to Canada's medicinal users, why are taxpayer money, and police and court resources still wasted on the arrest and prosecution of medicinal cannabis users and producers?" Lucas asked.For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre of the NORML Foundation at (202) 483-5500 or Philippe Lucas of the Vancouver Island Compassion Society at (250) 884-9821.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6126Pot Bust Sends Society Reelinghttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18933.shtmlMounties' Pot Bust Leaves Patients Without Supplyhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18921.shtmlSource: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: June 3, 2004Copyright: 2004 NORML Contact: norml norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- May 26, 2004http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18904.shtmlNORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- May 20, 2004http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18882.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by Agog on June 04, 2004 at 13:17:43 PT Why don't they believe our lies... the propagandists say as they sit scratching their heads, unaware of the boomerang (ie: truth) that is about to make impact. Those darn kids just don't follow authority blindly like they used to, we tell them what to think and darn if they don't go out and find the truth on their own anyway. Hmmm maybe if we up the dose of prozac/paxil/xanax....Agog [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by E_Johnson on June 04, 2004 at 08:42:53 PT Maybe there's another explanation Maybe "I got it" means he's got herb and he's offering to smoke the dude out. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on June 03, 2004 at 18:25:11 PT You've got it all wrong my foolish friend "He continued eye contact and gave a quick nod, which indicated clearly (to me, at least), 'I got it.' Not, 'I agree,' but, 'What you said registered,' " Mr. Kuhn saysNo, Bush was saying "Yep, he should be thrown in jail. mental note: tell Ashcroft" [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on June 03, 2004 at 18:16:49 PT Inside The Beltway: One Man's Cause One Man's Cause June 3, 2004 President Bush was in Nashville recently attending a hospital technology seminar at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and fund-raising dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Clay Jackson. At the latter event, there were three tiers of contributors: $2,000 to hear Mr. Bush speak, $10,000 for a photo opportunity and $25,000 to dine with the president. "Tight-fisted conservative that I am, I chose the lowest-priced option," Paul H. Kuhn Jr. tells Inside the Beltway. "The president was terrific," he adds. "He spoke for about 30 minutes and was both humorous — 'I want every American to have a home like the Jacksons' — ... and serious when he touched on Iraq and other global issues." After the remarks, Mr. Kuhn found an opportunity to engage the president in a brief (Mr. Bush said exactly three words), but direct conversation. "As he passed by, I hailed, 'Mr. President. Medical marijuana.' He paused, looked directly at me, and asked, 'For or against?' I responded, 'My late wife never would have made it through [chemotherapy] without it.' "He continued eye contact and gave a quick nod, which indicated clearly (to me, at least), 'I got it.' Not, 'I agree,' but, 'What you said registered,' " Mr. Kuhn says. Copyright: 2004 The Washington Timeshttp://www.washtimes.com/national/inbeltway.htm [ Post Comment ] Post Comment