cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- May 19, 2005





NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- May 19, 2005
Posted by CN Staff on May 19, 2005 at 15:45:20 PT
Weekly Press Release
Source: NORML
New Drug Czar Report Relies Primarily On Unpublished DataMay 19, 2005 - Washington, DC, USAWashington, DC: A report released this week by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) purporting to "set the record straight" regarding the number of inmates incarcerated for marijuana-related offenses relies almost entirely on "unpublished estimates" from a 1997 Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) survey.
The report, entitled "Who's Really in Prison for Marijuana," cites "unpublished BJS estimates" on six occasions to imply that few, if any, marijuana offenders are behind bars. However, a similar, published 1997 BJS paper referred to by the ONDCP in its report states that 13 percent of state drug offenders and 19 percent of federal drug offenders are incarcerated for marijuana offenses. A 1999 NORML report, based on the 1997 BJS data, estimated that one in seven drug prisoners (or 39,188 total inmates, not including those held in county jails) were incarcerated for marijuana offenses.The ONDCP report did not address FBI data indicating that annual arrests for marijuana offenses have more than doubled in the past decade, peaking at a record high 755,000 arrests in 2003, at the same time that overall criminal arrests have declined. Of those arrested for marijuana offenses, nearly 90 percent are charged with minor possession only, not cultivation or sale. According to a recent analysis of marijuana arrest data by the NORML Foundation, the enforcement of state and local marijuana laws annually costs US taxpayers an estimated $7.6 billion.Commenting on the Drug Czar's report, NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said: "Police have arrested over seven million Americans for marijuana violations since 1990, and now average more than 700,000 arrests per year - primarily for marijuana possession. While not all of those individuals arrested are eventually sentenced to long prison terms, the fact remains that the repercussions of a marijuana arrest alone are significant - including: probation and mandatory drug testing; a criminal record; loss of driving privileges; loss of federal college aid; asset forfeiture; revocation of professional driver's license; loss of certain welfare benefits such as food stamps; removal from public housing; loss of child custody; and loss of employment. In other words, whether or not marijuana offenders ultimately serve time in jail, the fact is that hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens are having their lives needlessly destroyed each year for nothing more than smoking marijuana."For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500. Full text of NORML's 2005 marijuana arrest report, "Crimes of Indiscretion: Marijuana Arrests in the United States," is available online at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6411DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6534Congress To Outlaw "Anti-Drug Testing" IndustryMay 19, 2005 - Washington, DC, USAWashington, DC: Members of Congress this week vowed to introduce legislation to prohibit the use and sale of commercial products intended to influence drug test results, such as diuretic teas and chemical adulterants."These products ... endanger the public," said Rep. Ed Whitfield (R), Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, who called this week's hearing. "I can't think of any reason why we'd allow these products in interstate commerce."Presently, 14 states have enacted laws prohibiting the sale of such products. Members of the Committee said they intend to introduce similar federal legislation before the end of the year.Of the estimated 55 million drug tests performed annually, approximately 90 percent of those are urine tests, which may be influenced by dilution or adding an adulterant to the sample. Over the past decade, numerous commercial businesses have begun selling various products promising to influence drug test results, including herbal teas and substitute urine.While often referred to as an impairment test, urinalysis cannot detect the presence of parent drugs, and only indicates that a particular substance may have been previously consumed at some unspecified point in time. In the case of cannabis, non-psychoactive marijuana metabolites (compounds produced from chemical changes of a drug in the body) may be detectable in urine for days or even weeks after past use. As a result, the US Department of Justice affirms that a positive urine test, even when confirmed, "does not indicate ... recency, frequency, or amount of [drug] use; or impairment."Responding to the proposed Congressional action, NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said, "It's ironic that Congress is trying to quash legitimates businesses that have successfully emerged in the free market - particularly when the market for this industry is a direct result of politicians' zeal to intrusively search the bodily fluids of tens of millions of law abiding Americans without cause."For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6533Medical Journals Tout Therapeutic Effects Of CannabinoidsMay 19, 2005 - Washington, DC, USAWashington, DC: Clinical reviews published in the current issues of the journals Nature Reviews Immunology and Trends in Neurosciences tout the ability of cannabinoids and cannabis-derived medications to treat multiple sclerosis, cancer and numerous other medical conditions.The first clinical review, published by researchers at London's University College, Institute of Neurology, notes that "abundant experimental data ... combined with data from recent trials points to the prospect of cannabis as a medication in the treatment of multiple sclerosis and numerous other medical conditions."The second clinical review, published by a researcher at the University of South Florida College of Medicine and appearing in the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Immunology, notes that cannabinoids have proven immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties and may be useful in the treatment of "chronic inflammatory diseases," as well as various other conditions, including cancer and spasticity.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the review, "Emerging properties of cannabinoid medicines in management of multiple sclerosis," appears in the May issue of Trends in Neuroscience. Full text of the review, "Cannabinoid-based drugs as anti-inflammatory therapeutics," appears in the May issue of Nature Reviews Immunology.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6535Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: May 19, 2005Copyright: 2005 NORML Contact: norml norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- May 12, 2005http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20672.shtmlNORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- May 05, 2005http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20633.shtml
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #31 posted by Hope on May 21, 2005 at 14:43:17 PT
Thanks BGreen
Feel human emotions? Guilty as charged. At the risk of embarrassing myself again, I'll use my sister's favorite admonition for me when I get kind of bent out of shape about something relatively minor, "Put on your big girl panties and get back to work."
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #30 posted by FoM on May 21, 2005 at 13:56:08 PT
BGreen
This is off topic but I wouldn't rest until I got my front page fixed so it looked the same in Firefox. I get obsessed sometimes! LOL!That's all for now! http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #29 posted by BGreen on May 21, 2005 at 13:46:16 PT
Whiz-czar-nators or Loo-czars
These would be better names for the ondcp softball team. LOLHope, it's great that you feel human emotions, but the only people who should be embarrassed are the congress critters who are wasting their time pursuing prosthetic penises. LOLThe Reverend Bud Green
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #28 posted by afterburner on May 21, 2005 at 11:11:45 PT
Steve Kubby Interview, CA & Michelle's Appeals
MarijuanaNews World Report for May 19, 2005 
With richard cowan http://pot.tv/archive/shows/pottvshowse-3715.html
{Top Cop In UK Opposes “Re-re-Classification" of Cannabis As “Experts” Begin Review. Jamaican Commission Recommends “Decrim” for Private Use. A New Study On Marinol Shows Need for Medical Cannabis. An Interview with Steve Kubby About Fraud in California Courts}
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #27 posted by FoM on May 21, 2005 at 10:34:08 PT
Just a Note
I only mentioned 3 religions and that was because they are the ones most people know. The Muslim religion is growing rapidly and the Christian religion is sliding down in numbers. I don't know about the Jewish religions stats though. Religions are what cause problems not the Creator.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #26 posted by FoM on May 21, 2005 at 10:14:01 PT
Thanks Afterburner
I have it posted now. I looked for this article yesterday but I couldn't find it. I appreciate the link.http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20711.shtml
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #25 posted by afterburner on May 21, 2005 at 09:55:35 PT
Hook, Line and Sinker
US IA: OPED: If We Target One Drug, It Must Be Marijuana 20 May 2005 
Iowa City Press-Citizen (IA) 
http://www.mapinc.org/ccnews/v05/n814/a08.htmlThis pseudo-authority parrots the party line.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #24 posted by FoM on May 21, 2005 at 09:24:16 PT
Hope
This is another point about Christians in the series we watched. The Indians said why did God make us all so different and teach us different ways and then want us to be only one way? I thought that was very wise. Why should everyone need to be a Christian or a Muslim or a Jew? God is the God of all people.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #23 posted by FoM on May 21, 2005 at 09:01:20 PT
One More Comment
In the series 500 Nations it showed how we took their children from them too and put them in schools. ( DARE comes to mind ) We wanted to teach them Christian ways and cut off the long hair ( how ironic ) of the young men which was their pride. The purpose was to assimilate the young Indians into our Christian base ways. That's what they are trying to do to our culture too. Assimilate us into the ways they want us to be. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #22 posted by Hope on May 21, 2005 at 08:56:01 PT
"why God hasn't done us all in"
FoM,I've often wondered the same thing myself. We do seem, humanity in general, to be a hopeless lot.I guess it's his "unlimited patience", as spoken of by Paul, in I Timothy 1:15-17"Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen."
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #21 posted by FoM on May 21, 2005 at 08:39:29 PT
Hope
Last night we watched a series called 500 Nations on the Discovery Times Channel. The wise words of the Indians and the love of their people and forgiveness and trying to reach out to the white man was remarkable. How can people be so heartless as our people have been? All for the sake of I want what is yours and I will take it when I want. That is coveting. For a people to say they believe in the Bible and to use and dispose of those who have a different religion is not what being a God Fearing person is all about. Sometimes I wonder why God hasn't done us all in because we are vile.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #20 posted by Hope on May 21, 2005 at 08:30:55 PT
Borrowing from Toker00 and BGreen.
"History""How will they teach children about the War on Drugs? Will they include the beatings and the jail rapes and the innocents who died because of a wrong address search warrant, or about the child who was blown away while spread eagle on the floor on his stomach or about the innocents blown away while thinking they are protecting their homes from criminals only to get gunned down in their own homes by the Jack Boot DEAth squads, or the young child and mother being "mistakenly" shot out of the air in Colombia, or the man dieing in prison because he was not allowed the miracle that allowed him to keep his medicine down so he wouldn't choke to death on it (but finally did)? Or the stories of many others who had their lives completely altered or destroyed for accepting one of God's gifts presented to us on the First Page of the Bible (Never forget RAINBOW FARM)?Or will we simply all be shown as criminals who were all finally gunned down as "terrorists" or snitched into prison by our own nieghbors and family, leaving the world "Drug Free"?http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20710.shtml#11(That's why I'm embarrassed at a seemingly small gaffe and wading too far into mockery of another (even if they might deserve a bit of mockery)on such an important website with important work to do and "righteous" things to say. It's that business I usually am watching for. Crossing the line from righteous indignation into unrighteousness indignation, in this case not hatred but tackiness and crudeness.)And because of needing to be able to say important things like this, by BGreen at http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20705.shtml#1"Imprison Our Own Citizens""and we'll just poison the rest of the freakin' world.Christ Jesus was not a liar nor a murderer. Christ Jesus would neither incarcerate humans nor cause humans to face a horrendously painful death by poison just to destroy plants created by THE Creator, God Almighty.Anybody proclaiming to be a Christian that promotes incarceration and death for the plant creations of God is a FALSE christian.Because the obvious isn't at all obvious to those deceived by the forces of darkness, let me spell it out for you.You are the anti-christ, each and every one of you lying murderers. You don't know Christ Jesus because your actions never include grace, mercy or peace, let alone truth or love.2 John 1:3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love.The Reverend Bud Green"
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #19 posted by Hope on May 21, 2005 at 06:47:31 PT
"anywhere but here"
Because you're "family" and even though I really thought for awhile that I couldn't show my flaming face again, it felt like I was a little kid running away from home because I had embarrassed myself. So, embarrassed or not, I just can't "run away" from a place I love so much.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #18 posted by Hope on May 21, 2005 at 06:02:06 PT
Thank you Dankhank and FoM
I am still embarrassed and if I had embarrassed myself and my friends like that anywhere but here I wouldn't have been able to show my face again. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #17 posted by FoM on May 20, 2005 at 21:13:47 PT
Hope
Please don't feel bad. It's all ok. You're among friends.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #16 posted by Dankhank on May 20, 2005 at 20:25:15 PT
Hope
It's nice to have verified what we already know in here ... you are a much better person than Ann Coulter could ever be. Rest assured she would not be near as nice as you. Therein lies the truth.Ann would never apologise ...Peace, Hope, I for one understood your comment and took it farther in my mind than even you, I suspect ...That's how I am.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #15 posted by Hope on May 20, 2005 at 18:09:11 PT
Embarrassed
I am.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #14 posted by Hope on May 20, 2005 at 18:07:59 PT
Also
When I was writing that Whizzenater stuff and that business about Coulter perhaps hiding a whizzenater...I didn't mean that any other way than in reference to the whizzenater...sorry. I wasn't thinking about how that could be taken. I'm so sorry, I didn't realize how really crude I must have sounded.The other kind of PWs never crossed my mind, but I guess it should have when writing in a public forum. I'm pretty dumb about a lot of stuff.My sincere apologies.I messed up.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #13 posted by Hope on May 20, 2005 at 17:29:03 PT
Since others are apologizing, I probably
should to. It doesn't sound very lady like, I guess. But ever since Kap said it, Plastic Willies just sounds too funny to me.Sorry if I sound coarse. I'm really not and usually I wouldn't think something like that is so funny, but what with the congressional concern, it's just too funny sounding to resist.I'll try to be more mannerly in the future.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #12 posted by jose melendez on May 20, 2005 at 17:08:15 PT
Never thought I'd post something like this . . .
This is too easy. The Whizzinator can be marketed at the adult entertainment and prosthetic markets.Congress will have a hard time outlawing a dildo that urinates!(grin)
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #11 posted by mayan on May 20, 2005 at 16:44:08 PT
Now I Get It!
I guess I'm a little slow...Lyrics to "Kissing Willie" - by Jethro TullBreaking hearts in a market town. She eats filet of sole
and washes it down with sparkling wine.
Nice girl, but a bad girl's better. Qualifies in both ways
to my mind. But now she's kissing Willie.
 She shows a leg --- shows it damn well. Knows how to drive a man
right back to being a child.
Well, she's a --- nice girl, but her bad girl's better. I can read
it in her cheating eyes and know that in a while --- Well,
she'll be kissing Willie. (My best friend, Willie.)
 Willie stands and Willie falls. Willie bangs his head
behind grey factory walls.
She's a --- nice girl, but her bad girl's better. Me and Willie
just can't help come, when she calls.
Now she's kissing Willie. (My best friend, Willie.)
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #10 posted by mayan on May 20, 2005 at 16:38:50 PT
New Agency
The Office of National Plastic Willie Control Policy (ONPWCP)Sorry, couldn't resist!How long before we are forced to score our plastic willies off the dangerous streets? The war on willies is underway!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #9 posted by Hope on May 20, 2005 at 09:42:43 PT
Whizzenaters
Those plastic willies are bound to be worth a fortune as collecters items some day.Headlines:Plastic Willies Have the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Against the Wall.Whitfield Terrorized by Plastic Willies!Is Ann Coulter Packing a Plastic Willie?Urine Burglary On the Rise. Contrabanad Willies! Where Will it End?The Search for the Dangerous Plastic Willie! New Threat! Plastic Willies Loaded with Clean Urine!Man Arrested for Extra Willie!New Pat Downs Authorized for Dangerous Loaded Plastic Willies!
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #8 posted by Hope on May 20, 2005 at 09:29:43 PT
Comment 4
Excellent post, Kaptinemo, and so true.It's amazing what has been accomplished against such a powerful force as the prohibs have in place. Absolutely amazing. It's possible to do the impossible. No doubt.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #7 posted by billos on May 20, 2005 at 08:12:34 PT
Sorry for Harping but.............................
I just can't believe it. Where will it stop? 
The fact that urine will be illegal to sell because it poses a grave threat to society???I just can't believe it...................
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by kaptinemo on May 20, 2005 at 07:13:00 PT:
"It's the FemiNazis behind it, I tellya!"
(Imagine a Rush Limbaugh clone voice!) "Friends, I've said many times that the FemiNazis have had a massive case of penis envy for years! Now, they have an opportunity to symbollically cut a man's willy off! That's right! That's what's behind this despicable attack against American manhood! The very sight of a piece of plastic resembling a man's plumbing drives them apoplectic! We must mount a counterattack to save the Whizzinator! Anything less, and Christian civilization will fall!"Sorry, but this is just *soooooo* indicative of how nutso things have gotten that I felt a little levity was warranted. These rubes are so in the dark they didn't know these things existed until after that ball-player got caught. The world is on fire, and these goobers are worried about penis-shaped squirt guns and dried peepee. And they are in positions of responsibility? Is it any wonder when Uncle isn't scaring the bejeezus out of other countries they are laughing behind his back?
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by billos on May 20, 2005 at 05:11:01 PT
Congress to outlaw sale of urine????????????
This is what it's going to come to?Outlaw the sale of potables because they contain diuretics and vitamins?Outlaw the sale of urine?BROADCAST TO ALL THE VENDORS WHO SELL THIS STUFFJust change your marketing angle. Sell urine for the purpose of cheating tests because of secret pregnancy. Women fear potential employers may find out about pregnancy and trash their resume. IT HAPPENSSell your potables as "Herbal Pleasures" or just a GD good drink with nutirents and vitamins. The whizzinator may be in danger of extinction though.
(Yep, going to prison for selling a plastic penis)
I'm sure someone will write a song about it."These products are a threat to public safety".       HOLY SH..T!!!How the hell can the people let this happen???
Are there people out there just as afraid as I am over what is going on?
This is why I come to this site.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on May 20, 2005 at 05:07:09 PT:
Notice something?
ONDCP is DEFINITELY on the defensive. And defensive measures are usually the act of someone in serious danger of losing. History shows aggressor forces are generally the winnersThe first of the articles is directly in response to the efforts of reformers; otherwise why would they even bother? If we were the politically impotent legalizers that they wish to make fun of, they would have continued to ignore us. Now they are taking us seriously enough to answer, in a very direct fashion, our charges that people are in prison for cannabis. The more time antis spend trying to excuse the inexcusable, and justify the unjustifiable, the more they validate our position. But what's even more important is that, by doing so, they ACKNOWLEDGE ITS EXISTENCE. They've sought to deny us legitimacy in the public's eyes by refusing to debate us, or even admit we had a position of note. Now...they are attempting to defend themselves...against the supposedly politically impotent 'wacky legalizers'. We are at the third stage of the Gandhi Progression: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." The ONDCP's ever increasing hysterics about cannabis are beginning to be noticed by the news media, who are (only now) asking the questions we've asked all along. Politically dangerous questions in times of budget belt tightening. Questions ol' Johnny Pee's agency cannot answer without embarassment. Keep up the good work, people; the antis are making brave noises...all while they are nervously walking backwards.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by stoner spirit on May 19, 2005 at 22:12:42 PT:
This is crazy!
The polititions want more control over people for their own corrupt reasons. Banning some businesses from the free market? What is wrong with these people! They know vary well they would have some opposition to that. Free market?, not now. They love looking through human-waste, just to test for drugs, especially the gift from the Gods. The right to privacy is practically gone now, now that our waste is being tested. Sorry for being a bit grafic, but that's going way too far.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by mayan on May 19, 2005 at 18:22:17 PT
Great Timing!
Washington, DC: Clinical reviews published in the current issues of the journals Nature Reviews Immunology and Trends in Neurosciences tout the ability of cannabinoids and cannabis-derived medications to treat multiple sclerosis, cancer and numerous other medical conditions.The timing couldn't be better! This information should be sent to every member of the Supreme Court! They have no excuse to rule against us!THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and 9/11 - A Scandal Beyond What Has Been Seen Before:
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20050519154200725PNAC 101 - Rise of the Neocons:
http://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20050518223342591Lets Roll 9/11:
http://www.911wasalie.com/phpwebsite/
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by Toker00 on May 19, 2005 at 16:55:28 PT
Lack of evidence no longer valid defense
Bamm! Let's kick it up a notch. Irrefutable EVIDENCE that Cannabis Has Medicinal Valuessssssss. Immediate Reschedule and a Positive vote by the Supreme Court is Required. Science AND the People have proven their Pointsssssss. Medicine provided by our Creator, prostituted through prohibition by a mindless, misdirected succession of Unconstitutional lawmakers, passing laws against nature, inacted and expanded by thirty years of administrations bond by the laws of Man and the Greed of Satan and all done in the name of God, whom we are ALL under. Can Judgement Day be too good for these guys? Peace. Legalize, then Revolutionize!(medicine)(energy)(nutrition)   
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment