cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- May 26, 2005





NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- May 26, 2005
Posted by CN Staff on May 26, 2005 at 13:48:32 PT
Weekly Press Release
Source: NORML
Pot Compound Protects Against Alcohol-Induced Brain DamageMay 26, 2005 - Bethesda, MD, USABethesda, MD: Administration of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) protects against ethanol-induced neurotoxicity in rats, according to clinical trial data published in the current issue of the journal Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) reported that the co-administration of CBD with ethanol reduced alcohol-induced cell death in the hippocampus and etorhinal cortex of the brain in a dose-dependent manner by up to 60 percent. "This study provides the first demonstration of CBD as an in vivo neuroprotectant ... in preventing binge ethanol-induced brain injury," authors wrote.Researchers hypothesized that CBD is neuroprotective because it possesses anti-oxidant properties. Anti-oxidants, such as vitamin C and vitamin E, are believed to help the body protect against the deleterious effects of free radicals (unstable atoms that can damage cells and may accelerate the progression of cancer and age-related diseases).Previous research performed by NIMH researchers demonstrated that both THC and CBD protect rat brain cells against glutamate toxicity (a neurochemical that is released at toxic levels during a stroke or severe head trauma). An Italian research team has also demonstrated CBD to protect against the brain damage caused by ischemia (a reduction of blood flow to the brain that can cause cell death).Researchers have also noted that CBD and THC can induce tumor regression, including brain cancer, in rodents and human cells.US federal law prohibits the medical use of cannabinoids except for synthetic THC.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Comparison of cannabidiol, antioxidants and diuretics in reversing binge ethanol-induced neurotoxicity," appears in the May issue of the journal Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6538UK To Fund Three-Year Study On Role Of THC In MS TreatmentMay 26, 2005 - Plymouth, United KingdomPlymouth, United Kingdom: Britain's Medical Research Council (MRC) has agreed to fund a three-year clinical trial to examine the long-term benefits of cannabinoids on multiple sclerosis-related disability.The trial, which will involve 500 patients, is a follow up to a 2003 study that found MS patients gained significantly greater relief from disabling symptoms after one year of cannabinoid therapy (either oral THC or a cannabis extract) than they did after 15 weeks."Currently very few medicines are effective in treating MS and none have been shown to have any effect in the later stages of the disease," said John Zajicek of the Peninsula Medical School at the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, who will oversee the trial. "If [this] study demonstrates that cannabinoids do have a longer term effect on the progression of disability, there are potentially far-reaching implications, not only for the health of people with MS, but also for those with other neurodegenerative conditions."In addition to symptom management, recent clinical data indicates that cannabinoids may slow down the neurodegenerative processes that lead to MS and similar chronic diseases. A review of this literature appears in the current issue of the Journal of the Neurological Sciences.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6539Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: May 26, 2005Copyright: 2005 NORML Contact: norml norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- May 19, 2005http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20706.shtmlNORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- May 12, 2005http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20672.shtmlNORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- May 05, 2005http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20633.shtml
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Comment #31 posted by Hope on May 29, 2005 at 10:19:50 PT
E_Johnson
You are worthy of praise. No doubt.I do wish you could find the time to comment more here again. Over the years your enlightening comments have often allowed me to see what I didn't see before.
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Comment #30 posted by E_Johnson on May 27, 2005 at 22:47:59 PT
Thanks Hope
I feel very flattered. :-)
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Comment #29 posted by Hope on May 27, 2005 at 18:50:03 PT
Jose Post 22. GreenJoy Post 23
Jose, that's very good news.GreenJoy, you said, "The problem with the internet is that it gives so much voice to Hate, Bigotry, and Stupidity. The human race is going backwards. Perhaps through some miracle of chaos the gnashing of teeth and braying will stop someday?" It's so revolting and it really makes me worry about mankind in general. I understand exactly what you mean.CNews is a sanctuary where reasonable people can talk...without having to try to outdo each other with trying to think up the most degrading insulting name they can think of to call each other. I don't understand what they get out of it.
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Comment #28 posted by FoM on May 27, 2005 at 15:39:58 PT
GreenJoy
Yes CNews is like a Sanctuary. That is what I want it to be. A place where we can learn and remind others we aren't alone in how we feel about the laws concerning Cannabis and also all the things that happen that hurt us but remind us we are fighting a tough battle. Some times CNews is just a Sanctuary but a Sanctuary is very important to have I believe.
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Comment #27 posted by GreenJoy on May 27, 2005 at 15:23:48 PT
FoM
 Right you are! This is a sanctuary. Bummer bug away from me!
 
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Comment #26 posted by FoM on May 27, 2005 at 15:20:10 PT
Jose and Anyone Interested
I went ahead and archived one from another paper. http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20730.shtml
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Comment #25 posted by jose melendez on May 27, 2005 at 15:02:10 PT
Now who's flip flopping?
Prohibition: Addictive. Contagious?Decrim Attorney pushes to INCREASE penalties on "repeat offenders" caught with cannabis http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/May/20050527News003.asp
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Comment #24 posted by FoM on May 27, 2005 at 14:30:43 PT
GreenJoy 
Maybe my ignorance is bliss. I avoid reading any boards but here. I've found that because of the Nets wild and crazy ways it's best for my mental health to limit what I read.
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Comment #23 posted by GreenJoy on May 27, 2005 at 14:14:17 PT
No GreenJoy w/o GreenSorrow
 Maybe I'll change my name to the latter. Ugh! I just hate when my chin bonks off my knees. Poor Miss Corby! Yikes! I passed by an AOL message board and it was just awful to read what most people are saying about her! What a rabble!! Big mistake. It actually really made me sick. The problem with the internet is that it gives so much voice to Hate, Bigotry, and Stupidity. The human race is going backwards. Perhaps through some miracle of chaos the gnashing of teeth and braying will stop someday? 
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Comment #22 posted by jose melendez on May 27, 2005 at 14:10:17 PT
Wake up and smell the coffee! Search: UNREASONABLE
from: http://www.nwanews.com/story.php?paper=adg§ion=News&storyid=117636 The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday reversed the order of a Crawford County judge and ruled that marijuana collected during a December 2002 traffic stop could not be used as evidence.The court ruled that a motion from a California man, James Jesse Lilley, to suppress evidence collected during his traffic stop should have been granted and that police did not have reasonable suspicion to search his car with a drug dog. "We are unwilling to condone a dog sniff following the conclusion of a traffic stop merely because someone is traveling through Arkansas in a rental car which smells of air freshener and that person appears nervous after being stopped by police officers," wrote Justice Robert L. Brown for the court.The full scoop on caffeine:http://www.vitacost.com/science/hn/Food_Guide/Coffee.htm
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Comment #21 posted by FoM on May 27, 2005 at 08:47:06 PT
kapt
Oatmeal and decaff Pepsi for breakfast! Oh my how different we are. I need I say I need COFFEE to get me going and oatmeal well I just don't know. If I stopped consuming caffeine I think I would go poof never to be seen again. LOL!PS: They better not even think about making coffee illegal! 
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Comment #20 posted by GreenJoy on May 27, 2005 at 08:22:07 PT
Mayan
 I'm sorry Mayan if my play on words brought back a bad memory. I'm glad your ok! GJ
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Comment #19 posted by Hope on May 27, 2005 at 08:18:44 PT
You're very welcome, Kap.
*smile*I thought you'd like it. The Korean War experience Mr. Lyon relates didn't go completely over the top of my head. He's obviously had experience with how the system operates for some time.
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Comment #18 posted by kaptinemo on May 27, 2005 at 05:44:56 PT:
Many, many thanks, Hope
I'm devouring this with my oatmeal and decaff Pepsi (Geek's Breakfast of Champions). Interesting remarks about reducing dependence upon foreign oil. The obvious fix to all this is to use the ceramic/metal diesel engine design I saw OVER 29 YEARS EFFING YEARS AGO(!) 
that had a potential of 75 mpg combined with an electric propulsion. And run it on Hempseed oil as Rudolf Diesel originally meant his engines to do. It's not that we aren't smart enough to do it; like cannabis, it's that we are being PREVENTED from doing it. 
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Comment #17 posted by Hope on May 26, 2005 at 22:35:05 PT
Kaptinemo
Reykr's blog http://www.livejournal.com/users/reykr/ led me to this fast paced blog http://danlyons.blogspot.com/Several posts into it I found myself thinking "This is right up Kap's alley." Check it out.
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Comment #16 posted by Hope on May 26, 2005 at 22:09:04 PT
E_Johnson
Check out http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20724.shtml#14and comment 1.One of your great posts from an older thread has brought someone new to our site.
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Comment #15 posted by Hope on May 26, 2005 at 22:02:57 PT
Looks like there is power in true philosphy
to overcome tyranny.If you speak the "truth" over and over again for long enough, just perhaps, some will eventually start hearing it.
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Comment #14 posted by E_Johnson on May 26, 2005 at 21:56:57 PT
Three things
1. Too bad about Corby. We'll just have to fight that much harder, in her name.2. Everclear -- ouch. Mayan I'm glad you didn't die.3. This story -- we should print it on leaflets and dump boxloads of them outside bars where police drink when they're off duty.
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Comment #13 posted by Hope on May 26, 2005 at 21:55:15 PT
Comment 2
Amen! Amen! and Amen!Many people here have said that so many times for years now. Finally! Someone is finally hearing!
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Comment #12 posted by Hope on May 26, 2005 at 21:49:25 PT
FoM
I so agree. It's insane. It's all the more hideous when done in the name of some sort of imagined righteousness.
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Comment #11 posted by FoM on May 26, 2005 at 21:41:55 PT
Hope
It's very bad. She'll be 47 if she lives that long when she gets out. All over marijuana. The only good thing if I can call it a good thing is they aren't going to execute her. Foreign countries and drugs, even if it is only Cannabis, are dangerous places.
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on May 26, 2005 at 21:38:47 PT
Considering it's Indonesia...
Twenty years is extremely merciful. I'm grateful for that at least. True justice would have seen her aquitted...or actually, never arrested.
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on May 26, 2005 at 21:35:23 PT
Post 7
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.That's absolutely horrible.
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Comment #8 posted by FoM on May 26, 2005 at 21:15:16 PT
Mayan
I didn't know what Everclear was so I looked it up. I'm glad you are ok. That sounds like some powerful alcohol. 
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Comment #7 posted by FoM on May 26, 2005 at 20:56:00 PT
Indonesian Court Finds Australian Guilty 
Friday May 27, 2005 JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - An Australian woman was convicted in Indonesia Friday of smuggling marijuana onto Bali island in her surfboard bag and sentenced to 20 years in prison. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5034998,00.html
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Comment #6 posted by mayan on May 26, 2005 at 18:21:00 PT
"Drain Bamage"
When I was a teen I almost died from alcohol poisoning. They don't put those "Warning" labels on Everclear for nothing but I was too stupid to heed them. Cannabis very well could have saved me from brain damage.Cannabis is indeed the miracle plant. Imagine how much we would know about it's benefits if it had never been demonized. It's prohibition is a crime agains humanity.THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...Important 9/11 Opportunity: 
http://www.wanttoknow.info/050525opportunity911Witnesses link missile to small military jet parts found at Pentagon on 9/11:
http://www.tomflocco.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=110&mode=&order=0&thold=09/11 Was an Inside Job - A Call to All True Patriots: 
http://www.911sharethetruth.com/
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Comment #5 posted by Toker00 on May 26, 2005 at 15:56:06 PT
This is why I have always smoked Cannabis
They continued: "The cannabinoids Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) may exert sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic, antidepressant, antipsychotic and anticonvulsant effects. Pure synthetic cannabinoids, such as Dronabinol and Nabilone and specific plant extracts containing THC, CBD, or a mixture of the two in known concentrations, are available and can be delivered sublingually. Controlled trials of these cannabinoids as adjunctive medication in BIPOLAR DISORDER are now indicated."WHY ISN'T MY MEDICINE LEGAL YET?!Peace. Legalize, then Revolutionize!(medicine)(energy)(nutrition)
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Comment #4 posted by charmed quark on May 26, 2005 at 15:40:23 PT
CBD
Note that CBD, the major non-psycoactive cannaboid in marijuana, is important as a medicine. No prescription drug is available which contains it. Currently, you can only get it with whole cannabis. Isn't it interesting that CBD is classified as a schedule 1 drug? How can a non-psychoactive molecuse be declared to have a "high potential of abuse" as is required for schedule 1 drugs. It has no potential for abuse and so should be unscheduled.
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Comment #3 posted by kaptinemo on May 26, 2005 at 15:34:48 PT:
Now, let's here it one more time, antis
Whats this about 'No medical uses"? If you were to take and print each and every study confirming medicinal qualities of cannabis and collect them all together, they'd probably weigh a hundred pounds or more by now. You'd definitely need a cart to carry them all.Now imagine the impact this would have if these studies were ever entered as evidence in a court case disproving anti lies about cannabis. Loaded from the cart and dropped, one after another, on the anti's table. "Doesn't help with glaucoma? Liar!" BANG!"Doesn't protect nerve sheathes? Liar!" BANG!"Doesn't safely (unlike the pills) assist in treating depression? Liar!" BANG!On...and on...and on...Up in Alaska, Governor Murkowski wants to have a court case where he can bring out all his so-called 'evidence' that cannabis is 'dangerous'. To paraphrase his Dear Leader (he sure as Hell ain't mine) President Bush: "Bring it on!" We're waiting, antis. Whattsa matta? Chicken?
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 26, 2005 at 13:56:47 PT
One More from NORML's Weekly Press Release
Cannabinoids May Play Role In Treating DepressionMay 26, 2005 - Newcastle, United KingdomNewcastle, United Kingdom: Cannabis and cannabinoids may have a role in the treatment of bipolar affective disorder, according to a review published in the May issue of the Journal of Psychopharmacology.A research team from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne wrote: "Bipolar affective disorder is often poorly controlled by prescribed drugs. Cannabis use is common in patients with this disorder and anecdotal reports suggest that some patients take it to alleviate symptoms of both mania and depression."They continued: "The cannabinoids Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) may exert sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic, antidepressant, antipsychotic and anticonvulsant effects. Pure synthetic cannabinoids, such as Dronabinol and Nabilone and specific plant extracts containing THC, CBD, or a mixture of the two in known concentrations, are available and can be delivered sublingually. Controlled trials of these cannabinoids as adjunctive medication in bipolar disorder are now indicated."For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Cannabinoids in bipolar affective disorder: a review and discussion of their therapeutic potential," appears in the May issue of the Journal of Psychopharmacology.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6541
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on May 26, 2005 at 13:53:38 PT
One More from NORML's Weekly Press Release
Dutch Considering Pilot Project To Ban Tourists From Border Coffee ShopsMay 26, 2005 - Maastricht, NetherlandsMaastricht, the Netherlands: Non-Dutch citizens will be barred from visiting coffee shops in the southern border town of Maastricht under a pilot scheme designed to cut down on so-called "drug tourism," according to a Reuters News Wire report.The report cited a Dutch Justice Ministry spokesman, who said that the ban would begin this summer. He did not say whether the pilot program was being considered in other Dutch cities, such as Amsterdam.Maastricht, which borders Germany and Belgium, attracts more tourists than any Dutch city besides Amsterdam, Reuters reports. Since 1997, the number of coffee shops in the Netherlands has declined from approximately 1,200 to about 750.For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6540
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