cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- September 7, 2006 NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- September 7, 2006 Posted by CN Staff on September 07, 2006 at 13:16:53 PT Weekly Press Release Source: NORML 98 Percent Of All Domestically Eradicated Marijuana Is "Ditchweed," DEA AdmitsSeptember 7, 2006 - Washington, DC, USAWashington, DC: More than 98 percent of all of the marijuana plants seized by law enforcement in the United States is feral hemp not cultivated cannabis, according to newly released data by the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program and the Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics. According to the data, available online at: http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t4382005.pdf of the estimated 223 million marijuana plants destroyed by law enforcement in 2005, approximately 219 million were classified as "ditchweed," a term the agency uses to define "wild, scattered marijuana plants [with] no evidence of planting, fertilizing, or tending." Unlike cultivated marijuana, feral hemp contains virtually no detectable levels of THC, the psychoactive component in cannabis, and does not contribute to the black market marijuana trade.Previous DEA reports have indicated that between 98 and 99 percent of all the marijuana plants eradicated by US law enforcement is ditchweed.NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre criticized the DEA program for spending millions of taxpayers' dollars to predominantly eradicate wild hemp. "The irony, of course, is that industrial hemp is grown legally throughout most the Western world as a commercial crop for its fiber content," he said. "Yet the US government is spending taxpayers' money to target and eradicate this same agricultural commodity."According to a 2005 Congressional Research Service report, "The United States is the only developed nation in which industrial hemp is not an established crop."St. Pierre said that most of the hemp plants eradicated by law enforcement are remnants of US-government subsidized crops that existed prior to World War II. "Virtually all wild hemp goes unharvested and presents no legitimate threat to public safety," he said. "As such, it should be of no concern to the federal government or law enforcement."According to DEA figures, Indiana reported seizing over 212 million ditchweed plants - far more than any other state. Missouri law enforcement confiscated some 4.5 million plants, and Kansas reported eradicating approximately 1.2 million plants. More than half of all states failed to report their ditchweed totals.California led all 50 states in the number of cultivated cannabis plants eradicated in 2005, with the DEA reporting that more than 2 million plants had been destroyed.The Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program is a joint federal and state effort funded, in part, by the DEA. STATE LEADERS: DITCHWEED ERADICATED (2005) Indiana (212,441,768 plants confiscated) Missouri (4,529,695 plants confiscated) Kansas (1,177,976 plants confiscated) Wisconsin (272,650 plants confiscated) Oklahoma (100,736 plants confiscated) STATE LEADERS: CULTIVATED CANNABIS** ERADICATED (2005) California (2,011,277 plants confiscated) Kentucky (510,502 plants confiscated) Tennessee (440,362 plants confiscated) Hawaii (255,113 plants eradicated) Washington (136,165 plants confiscated) **DEA footnote: "May include 'tended' ditchweed."For more information, please contact NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre or NORML Senior Policy Analyst Paul Armentano at (202) 483-5500.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7033British And European Drug Regulators To Decide Approval Of Prescription Pot SpraySeptember 7, 2006 - Salisbury, United KingdomSalisbury, United Kingdom: Representatives of the British biotechnology firm GW Pharmaceuticals filed a request this week with European and UK drug regulators for approval of Sativex, an oral spray consisting of natural cannabis extracts, for the symptomatic treatment of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Sativex is currently available by prescription in Canada and on a limited basis in Spain and Great Britain for patients suffering from neuropathic pain, Multiple Sclerosis, and other conditions.Regulators from the United Kingdom, Denmark, Spain, and the Netherlands will review the request, which includes clinical data on the use of Sativex in nearly 700 patients with MS. In clinical trials, Sativex has been demonstrated to alleviate numerous MS-associated symptoms compared to placebo, including pain, muscle spasms, and bladder incontinence.British drug regulators will consult with officials from each of the three countries before rendering a decision. If the UK endorses the drug, it will receive simultaneous regulatory approval from all three nations.GW officials initially sought to gain approval for Sativex in 2003, but were told by British drug regulators that further clinical evidence of the drug's efficacy was necessary before they would consider approving it for licensing in the UK. Separate clinical trials investigating the use of Sativex for the treatment of peripheral neuropathic pain and cancer pain are ongoing.For more information, please visit: http://www.gwpharm.comDL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7034Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: September 7, 2006Copyright: 2006 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 #36 posted by museman on September 10, 2006 at 10:29:30 PT whig No arrests or any other human involvment reported, except the busting of the plants. I heard no more about it. That's why I think they planted them in both the real and metaphorical sense. [ Post Comment ] Comment #35 posted by global_warming on September 09, 2006 at 12:08:10 PT In The Meantime You can WONDERHow this "filthy" world survivesSo much Greed and SufferingSo Much Filth and Disgrace [ Post Comment ] Comment #34 posted by global_warming on September 09, 2006 at 11:49:48 PT Knocking On Heavens Doors The foot of redemptionis so close, I can only whisperso closeheart and devotiongather the good tribesthe families of the lostgather to find "MEDICINE"that has been given from GOD [ Post Comment ] Comment #33 posted by whig on September 09, 2006 at 11:37:00 PT museman Was anyone captured or hurt? [ Post Comment ] Comment #32 posted by global_warming on September 09, 2006 at 11:35:21 PT How Many More Human Beings Will go to "PRISON"For what they eat and consume? [ Post Comment ] Comment #31 posted by whig on September 09, 2006 at 11:34:44 PT OT: Rush Limbaugh courthouse? http://cannablog.wordpress.com/2006/09/09/the-rush-limbaugh-federal-courthouse/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #30 posted by global_warming on September 09, 2006 at 11:21:56 PT Have A Steady Hand Watch your tender hand closely,Your gentle hand is connected to your arm,Your arm is connected to the starsOur playground under the canopy of Eternity. [ Post Comment ] Comment #29 posted by Genthirdday on September 09, 2006 at 11:15:13 PT To those on site writing prose and POETRY... ...you all are admirable...!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #28 posted by museman on September 09, 2006 at 10:33:43 PT wayne : Some comments you said made me think of this...It was my first response to the idea of invading Iraq. To "The People" [ Post Comment ] Comment #27 posted by museman on September 09, 2006 at 10:28:19 PT Just next door..... Or 'down the road' the feds busted 50,000 mj plants yesterday. I think they planted them themselves.Can't find any links to the report. [ Post Comment ] Comment #26 posted by whig on September 09, 2006 at 10:14:13 PT Hope I saw you replied about maybe writing a guest post for the blog sometime. Are you interested? You don't have to agree with anything I've said or conform to any restrictions on what you'd say, it would just be your point of view.Do you still like what I'm doing there? http://cannablog.wordpress.com/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #25 posted by Hope on September 09, 2006 at 07:03:00 PT Paris, Texas No sympathy. No mercy. Harsh, harsh place. [ Post Comment ] Comment #24 posted by whig on September 08, 2006 at 17:26:26 PT I should put up a poll... Do you believe the US government has told the truth about September 11, 2001? Yes/Noand for global_warmingDo you believe that people who use cannabis should be locked up? Yes/No [ Post Comment ] Comment #23 posted by Max Flowers on September 08, 2006 at 17:19:31 PT mayan (#11) Watch, before it's over it'll be 75% yes or something like that. It's up to 52% yes (yes the US was involved in causing 9/11) right now. [ Post Comment ] Comment #22 posted by global_warming on September 08, 2006 at 16:51:25 PT Are You Ready? For that leap into Eternity?No Plastic Credit Cards Accepted. [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by global_warming on September 08, 2006 at 16:49:05 PT I Believe That We are the tender sproutsThat The World, The Stars, and The Twinkle Above and In Your Eyes, Marks the Beginning of the Passage Into Eternity. [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by global_warming on September 08, 2006 at 16:43:35 PT Do You Believe You Have A Soul? Do you believe that you can change the world, our society? [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by global_warming on September 08, 2006 at 16:35:42 PT Poll Do You Believe In God? [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by global_warming on September 08, 2006 at 16:32:06 PT Poll Do you believe that people who use Cannabis should be locked up? [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by Toker00 on September 08, 2006 at 16:23:22 PT Poll 50,184 responses.Yes, 51%No, 43%Don't know, 6.3%Mayan's work is paying off.Toke. [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by global_warming on September 08, 2006 at 16:22:17 PT re: 13 + Honor and Respect Honor and Respect is not lost, if you have the pesos, you can still find Honor and Respect.My thanks to the compliment, being called a religious nut, means that i can still see through this plastic society, them damn old computer problems have kept me from responding to this deep.Is there Honor among thieves?Is there Honor at the Guillotine?Hail Cannabis, for that ditch weed is older than the pre-historic dinosaurs, and will bud long after our society of greed, ignorance and destruction.Thank You God. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by FoM on September 08, 2006 at 10:00:25 PT Wayne I saw the poll on Lou Dobbs. I watched a show last night called: What If The Oil Runs Out. It projected how it could be in 2016. It isn't a pretty picture. Suburbia will feel the pinch the worst. SUV's won't be affordable to run. The future looks bleak unless we get on with using corn, hemp, grass or whatever alternative fuel we can develop. The oil days will end and some will get hit really hard when it happens. China will need lots of oil too and they are friendlier with some of the countries in the middle east then we are now because of this administration. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by Wayne on September 08, 2006 at 09:42:58 PT mayan & FoM I voted, mayan. The Yes's & No's are tied now. You're welcome. :-)FoM, there was a poll on Lou Dobbs the other night, asking if people thought their children would achieve more and have more opportunities than they did. 74% said NO. That floored me. That's a complete about-face from 50 years ago. Not a really large stretch of time in this context. But that is just one glaring example of our country's sorry state right now. I guess with the government putting so many laws and limits in place, one can only achieve so much before he is smacked back down. That's not the America I learned about in school, that's for damn sure. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by FoM on September 08, 2006 at 07:35:06 PT Honor and Respect Once upon a time I believed that our country was a magnificent country. I believed that people could achieve the american dream if they worked hard and stuck with it. Now I don't know if that will be possible for many people. We are a country that is like a credit card just plastic and it doesn't mean much of anything. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on September 08, 2006 at 07:31:17 PT Mayan I voted. I haven't been watching the news recently but when I do see it seems this movie has Clinton upset. What is truth? Do they study in school about the 60s and the success of the anti-war protests concerning Vietnam? Are hippies talked about and what they were trying to achieve or has that been left out of the history books too? These are the most complicated of times for us all. Checking out the poll it is very divided. One thing I do believe is we don't trust what is happening as a country anymore. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by mayan on September 08, 2006 at 07:08:24 PT MSNBC 9/11 Poll Do you believe any of the conspiracy theories suggesting the U.S. government was somehow involved in 9/11? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14727720/Please vote. The YES voters are slightly trailing the NO's. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by mayan on September 08, 2006 at 05:43:24 PT THE WASHINGTON POST The Disbelievers: 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists Are Building Their Case Against the Government From Ground Zero: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/07/AR2006090701669_pf.htmlAnd here's a great David Ray Griffin interview...The 9/11 Credibility Gap - Why we still don’t know what really happened: http://www.consciouschoice.com/2006/09/nineeleven0609.htmlThe timing of this is frightening...New Yorkers need to be ready to evacuate: experts: http://reuters.myway.com/article/20060906/2006-09-06T232319Z_01_N0698019_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-SEPT11-EVACUATION-DC.htmlConsidering that NYC is a very blue city in a very blue state and that the NYC 9/11 Truth movement is reaching critical mass we should not be surprised if the neo-cons stage an even more catastrophic attack there. The streets there could be full of 9/11 Truth activists from around the world very soon...NYC - 5th Anniversary 9/11 Truth Events: http://ny911truth.org/events/5th_anniversary.htm I hope and pray that I'm way off but we must be very aware and vigilant. If anyone goes there please be careful!It's crunch time for the neo-cons as we enter the home stretch to the mid-terms as 9/11 Truth is spreading like wildfire. We could be running out of time to spread the truth so let's get with it! It's stand up now or lay down later. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by mayan on September 08, 2006 at 05:10:23 PT whig The ABC "docu-drama" is intended to make the issue appear partisan but members of both parties had to be complicit to some extent in order to carry out the attacks AND the cover-up. Regarding the newly released "Osama" video... Video Shows Bin Laden Meeting With 9/11 Planners: http://tinyurl.com/madc2Bin Laden '9/11 video' broadcast (picture of "Osama"): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5325590.stm"Osama" strongly resembles the old fake Osama...Osama bin Laden gets a nose job: http://www.awitness.org/news/december_2001/osama_nose_job.html The newly released video also supposedly shows alleged hijacker Wael al-Shahri before 9/11 but there's just one problem, he's still alive... Hijack 'suspects' alive and well: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1559151.stmThis kind of reminds me of the video which was found three years after it was recorded that supposedly shows Khalid al-Mihdhar at the airport the morning of 9/11...Video Shows 9/11 Hijackers' Security Check: http://www.prisonplanet.tv/articles/july2004/210704videoshows.htmOnce again, the alleged hijacker Khalid al-Mihdhar is still alive according to that old trusty BBC link.Here are some more links...7 Of 19 FBI Identified Hijackers Located Alive After WTC Attacks: http://www.rense.com/general20/alives.htmAt Least 7 of the 9/11 Hijackers are Still Alive: http://www.whatreallyhappened.com/hijackers.htmlThis sh*t should be on the front page of every damned paper in the world!!! And the mainstream media wonders why they are going the way of the dinosaur? Spread this stuff around! [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by whig on September 08, 2006 at 01:37:49 PT ABC plans 9/11 whitewash http://cannablog.wordpress.com/2006/09/08/propaganda-on-television/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by whig on September 08, 2006 at 01:06:12 PT More Even if I'm generous and assume that the DEA eradicated 100,000 ditchweed plants in each of the other 45 states, that still leaves ditchweed in Indiana to account for over 93% of all eradicated cannabis. [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by whig on September 08, 2006 at 00:54:05 PT In other words 95.3% of all cannabis eradicated by the DEA was ditchweed in Indiana. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by whig on September 08, 2006 at 00:51:51 PT Indiana Ditchweed capital of the United States?So 98% of the domestically eradicated cannabis was ditchweed, and 97.2% of that was Indiana (212,441,768 out of 218,522,825 total ditchweed plants in top five states). [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by mayan on September 07, 2006 at 18:26:33 PT WASTE From the first article...According to DEA figures, Indiana reported seizing over 212 million ditchweed plants - far more than any other state.Mark Souder can be proud that his state has wasted the taxpayer's money by eradicating a bunch of plants that wouldn't get a fly high! What a tremendous waste!THE WAY OUT IS THE WAY IN...28-Year Career CIA Official Says 9/11 An Inside Job: http://www.infowars.com/articles/sept11/cia_official_says_911_inside_job.htmLarry “Lucky Larry” Silverstein: http://www.fourwinds10.com/NewsServer/ArticleFunctions/ArticleDetails.php?ArticleID=10744Dylan Avery to Debate Davin Coburn of Popular Mechanics on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman: http://911blogger.com/node/2595Five Years After and We Still Don’t Know: http://informationclearinghouse.info/article14874.htmMovie Review - 9/11: PRESS FOR TRUTH: http://www.thehubweekly.com/movies/index.php?id=277False Flag Operations: Declassified Military Documents Show How US Government Planned Terrorist Attacks Against its Own Citizens: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/prweb/20060907/bs_prweb/prweb434292_2 [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by lombar on September 07, 2006 at 16:20:37 PT 20 years For having a small bag of dried plant matter. That is just awful. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Storm Crow on September 07, 2006 at 15:55:41 PT Even a rabid Pot Prohibitionist.... Will have to agree that the DEA is overfunded to the tune of 98% of their budget! Take that and the money spent on those ineffectual anti-drug commercial plus the cost of convicting and caring for pot prisoners, foster homes for their kids, and pretty soon, we're talking billions! And it's all paid for with your tax dollars! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by FoM on September 07, 2006 at 14:40:00 PT Jury Gives 20 Years for Marijuana Possession http://www.theparisnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=396b85b8577c457a [ Post Comment ] Post Comment