cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- September 22, 2005 NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- September 22, 2005 Posted by CN Staff on September 22, 2005 at 14:53:34 PT Weekly Press Release Source: NORML DEA Postpones Legal Challenge To NIDA's Pot MonopolySeptember 22, 2005 - Washington, DC, USAWashington, DC: Administrative hearings challenging the US National Institute on Drug Abuse's (NIDA) exclusive control of the production and distribution of cannabis for clinical research have been postponed until mid-December. The hearings, which began in August and were scheduled to resume this coming Monday, will now take place the week of December 12, 2005. Lawyers for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), who were to begin presenting their expert witnesses next week, requested the postponement. Witnesses for the respondents - the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and Lyle Craker, director of the UMass-Amherst Medicinal Plant Program - previously testified in August.At issue in the case is whether the DEA properly rejected an application from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst to manufacture cannabis for FDA-approved research. The DEA waited more than three years before officially denying the University's request, stating that the establishment of such a facility "would not be consistent with the public interest." Respondents in the case are challenging the DEA's denial, arguing that a private production facility is in the public interest (as defined by the US Controlled Substances Act) because it would encourage competition in the marketplace and promote technological and scientific advancement in the field of medicine."This lawsuit is really our last hope for trying to take marijuana - whether it's smoked or vaporized - through the FDA regulatory system," MAPS Executive Director Rick Doblin said.Earlier this week, Massachusetts Reps. John Olver (D) and Michael Capuano (D), along with several additional members of Congress, sent a formal letter to DEA Administrator Karen Tandy urging the agency to allow for a private production facility for research-grade cannabis. "At present, the National Institute on Drug Abuse has an unjustifiable monopoly on the production of marijuana for legitimate medical and research purposes in the United States," the letter said.For more information, please contact either NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at: (202) 483-5500. Additional background regarding MAPS' administrative law challenge is available online at: http://www.maps.orgDL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6678Cannabinoids May Offer Role In Treating Inflammatory Diseases, Study SaysSeptember 22, 2005 - Tokyo, JapanTokyo, Japan: Cannabinoids may play a role in the treatment of various inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and allergic asthma, according to a review published in the September issue of the Journal of Neuroimmunology.A research team from Tokyo's National Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Immunology, wrote, "Current studies suggest that cannabinoids may prove to be useful alternatives ... in treating a variety of human inflammatory disorders" because they modulate both the function and secretion of cytokines (regulatory proteins that are released by immune cells and are responsible for an immune response).In particular, authors note that cannabinoids may play a role in the treatment of Multiple Sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and allergic asthma.A 2003 study published in the journal Brain found that "cannabis may ... slow down the neurodegenerative processes that ultimately lead to chronic disability in multiple sclerosis and probably other [inflammatory] diseases."For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Cannabinoids and the immune system: Potential for the treatment of inflammatory diseases?" is available in the September issue of the Journal of Neuroimmunology.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6680Patients With Sickle Cell Disease Find Relief From Cannabis, Study SaysSeptember 22, 2005 - London, United KingdomLondon, United Kingdom: More than one third of patients suffering from sickle cell disease (SCD) report using cannabis to obtain therapeutic relief, and more than half would be willing to participate in clinical trials of the drug's efficacy, according to the results of an anonymous questionnaire study to be published in the October issue of the British Journal of Haematology.Eighty-six hospitalized patients with SCD participated in the survey. Thirty-six percent of respondents reported having used cannabis in the past 12 months to relieve symptoms associated with the disease. Of these, 52 percent said that they had used cannabis to reduce pain, and 39 percent reported that it mitigated their anxiety and feelings of depression.The majority of patients (58 percent) expressed their willingness to participate in clinical trials of cannabis as a medicine."We conclude that research in the use of cannabinoids for pain relief in SCD would be both important and acceptable to adult patients," authors concluded.Sickle cell disease is a chronic condition that targets the body's red blood cells and is characterized by episodic pain in the joints, fever, leg ulcers, and jaundice, among other symptoms. In the United States, SCD affects about one in 650 African Americans and about half as many Latin Americans.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Cannabis use in sickle cell disease: a questionnaire study," will appear in the October issue of the British Journal of Haematology.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6679Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: September 22, 2005Copyright: 2005 NORML Contact: norml norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/CannabisNews NORML Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/NORML.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #13 posted by global_warming on September 24, 2005 at 16:07:49 PT re:Rita the meeta reader Sounds like the skies are clearing,Downgrading to a summer wind,With Fall arriving,I tremble at the thought of those Winter winds,The homeless and those in "our" cold prisons,May Justice, Truth be our generations lagacy,Bearing False TestimonyIs one of them 10 Commandments,"Exo 30:34 The LORD said to Moses: "Take fragrant spices: stacte, onycha, and galbanum; the spices and pure frankincense are to be in equal measures. Exo 30:35 Prepare expertly blended incense from these; it is to be seasoned with salt, pure and holy. Exo 30:36 Grind some of it into a fine powder and put some in front of the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It must be especially holy to you. Exo 30:37 As for the incense you are making, you must not make any for yourselves using its formula. It is to be regarded by you as sacred to the LORD. Exo 30:38 Anyone who makes something like it to smell its fragrance must be cut off from his people." Exo 31:12 The LORD said to Moses: Exo 31:13 "Tell the Israelites: You must observe My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, so that you will know that I am the LORD who sets you apart. Exo 34:28 Moses was there with the LORD 40 days and 40 nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. He wrote down on the tablets the words of the covenant--the Ten Commandments. Exo 34:29 As Moses descended from Mount Sinai--with the two tablets of the testimony in his hands as he descended the mountain--he did not realize that the skin of his face shone as a result of his speaking with the LORD. Exo 20:2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. Exo 20:16 Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.Exo 20:13 Do not murder. Exo 20:14 Do not commit adultery. Exo 20:15 Do not steal. It will be so much better,Twinkle, twinkle little Light, [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on September 24, 2005 at 12:09:32 PT I Agree EJ I remember one time in a comment from some web site that a policeman said. I don't look for marijuana smokers but please don't flaunt it in front of my eyes or I will need to arrest you. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by E_Johnson on September 24, 2005 at 11:27:19 PT I can't stop hoping, even when I try I can't stop hoping that there are people who work for the DEA who believe it is morally wrong to bear false witness, who try to steer the agency away from bearing false witness.It's tragic that bearing false witness is such important part of their job.Maybe this sounds overly generous of me, but I feel sorry for people who have to make their living by lying.I can't stop hoping that deep down inside, they know they're wrong to get in the way of this research. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by global_warming on September 23, 2005 at 17:17:12 PT Also Consider That some if not few of these dreaded DEA Gestapo agents,May have actually smoked that most dreaded weed,They may have laughed, in their most pleasent youthful memories, twinkle and reminds, how we are more alike than different.This War On Drugs, is a war on people, who use the most natural plants, as medicine, as the only grace from God, to relieve pain, to free our ransomed soul from this servitude, and those money hungry transgressors, will never be forgotten, neither by blood or by the testaments of the most Holy, and by the Stars that affirm this world and the worlds yet to be born, "we" are "all" cruising, walking, on the "only path", this is our "only" ..once in one lifetime, "we" have a chance, to glance, on that moment, and offer the "best" fruits and flesh that money can buy to the altar of change before Gods Throne, that stands before our feet.Understanding is but a blink of the eyeHope that you catch that twinkle [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by BGreen on September 23, 2005 at 12:39:20 PT Apparently It takes less time for farmers to "manufacture" cannabis than it does for the DEA to manufacture lies.The Reverend Bud Green [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by E_Johnson on September 23, 2005 at 12:07:20 PT Another possible reason Maybe the DEA can't find any expert witnesses who are willing to damage their careers by arguing their indefensible case.Remember how they (finally) backed out of the hemp food fight? [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Dankhank on September 23, 2005 at 12:03:46 PT stonewalling I just got off the phone with PAO of DEA who didn't even know that the hearings had been postponed. Surprised? No.anyway ... I'll be hearing from them ... O O what me worry? [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Max Flowers on September 23, 2005 at 10:09:51 PT One possible reason... They know that America gets totally Christmas-shopping-obsessed throughout the second half of December. They probably figure that the hearings will have very few people watching during that period due the Xmas hysteria. We need to let them know we're watching, and urge everyone we know to be watching. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by afterburner on September 23, 2005 at 06:53:31 PT RE: DEA Postpones Legal Challenge To ... NIDA's Pot Monopoly & City Attorney Drops Charges At The Last Minute Postponing, dropping charges, punting judical decisions back to a stillborn Congress or Parliament, refusing to abide by court-ordered judgments: these are the new delaying tactics of cannabis prohibition. If science fails, if propaganda wears thin, just Stall, Stall, Stall! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by kaptinemo on September 23, 2005 at 04:10:11 PT: Obviously, they are scared And with good reason.Sooner or later, the official lies used to justify cannabis prohibition would have been challenged in this suit, as it deals with the technical aspects of *cannabis, itself*. This has been the nightmare that the prohibs have been having for decades, and have tried to keep out of the public's mind for as long. I will keep saying this: Cannabis prohibition cannot withstand the discovery phase of a normal court case. The facts regarding it's relative safety, medical efficacy and incredible industrial usefulness could no longer be obfuscated, and government foot-dragging and stonewalling in refusing to objectively test it as it should have been long ago would be exposed as precisely that. The government's inherent prejudice - and the entire wasteful economic edifice that prejudice supports - would have been exposed for exactly what it is. And, eventually, it will be.Oh, yes, they're scared, alright. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by global_warming on September 23, 2005 at 03:03:00 PT Related Topic "Stop The Sneak Attack in Congress on Organic Standards""The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) needs your immediate help to stop Congress and the Bush administration from seriously degrading organic standards. After 35 years of hard work, the U.S. organic community has built up a multi-billion dollar alternative to industrial agriculture, based upon strict organic standards and organic community control over modification to these standards.Now, large corporations such as Kraft, Wal-Mart, & Dean Foods -- aided and abetted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are moving to lower organic standards by allowing a Bush appointee to create a list of synthetic ingredients that would be allowed organic production. Even worse these proposed regulatory changes will reduce future public discussion and input and take away the National Organic Standards Board's (NOSB) traditional lead jurisdiction in setting standards. What this means, in blunt terms, is that USDA bureaucrats and industry lobbyists, not consumers, will now have more control over what can go into organic foods and products. (Send a quick letter to your Congressperson online here: http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfmDuring the week of Sept. 20 through Sept. 23, acting in haste and near-total secrecy, the U.S. Senate plans to vote on a rider to the 2006 Agriculture Appropriations Bill that will reduce control over organic standards from the National Standards Board and put this control in the hands of federal bureaucrats in the USDA (remember the USDA proposal in 1997-98 that said that genetic engineering, toxic sludge, and food irradiation would be OK on organic farms, or USDA suggestions in 2004 that heretofore banned pesticides, hormones, tainted feeds, and animal drugs would be OK?). Stop The Sneak Attack in Congress on Organic Standards [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by jfrolang on September 22, 2005 at 17:10:01 PT another postponement? It seems that when confronted with a valid legal challenge, delays and postponements are the only things the DEA knows how to do. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Dankhank on September 22, 2005 at 17:09:18 PT Postponed Again .............. WHAT was the reason given for the DEA needing more time?Why didn't the story say?Is it not important?Typical tactics of the prohibitionists ... stonewall ... [ Post Comment ] Post Comment