cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - May 8, 2008 NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - May 8, 2008 Posted by CN Staff on May 08, 2008 at 11:56:31 PT Weekly Press Release Source: NORML Inhaled Cannabis Reduces Central And Peripheral Neuropathic Pain, Study Says May 8, 2008 - Davis, CA, USADavis, CA: Cannabis significantly reduces neuropathic pain compared to placebo and is well tolerated by patients with chronic pain conditions, according to clinical trial data to be published in The Journal of Pain. Investigators at the University of California at Davis, in conjunction with the University of California Center for Medical Cannabis Research (CMCR), assessed the efficacy of inhaled cannabis on pain intensity among 38 patients with central and/or peripheral neuropathic pain in a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial. Researchers reported that smoking low-grade (3.5 percent THC) and mid-grade (7 percent THC) equally reduced patients’ perception of spontaneous pain. "[A] significant … reduction in [a 100-point visual analog scale of] pain intensity per minute was noted from both 3.5 percent and 7 percent cannabis compared to placebo," authors wrote. "Separate appraisals using the patient global score and multidimensional [eleven-point neuropathic pain scale also] revealed that both active agents alleviated pain compared with placebo."Investigators added: "[N]o participant withdrew because of tolerability issues. Subjects receiving active agent endorsed a ‘good drug effect’ more than a ‘bad drug effect.’"They concluded: "In the present experiment, cannabis reduced pain intensity and unpleasantness equally. Thus, as with opioids, cannabis does not rely on a relaxing or tranquilizing effect, but rather reduces both the core component of nociception (nerve pain) and the emotional aspect of the pain experience to an equal degree."The study is the second clinical trial conducted by CMCR investigators to conclude that inhaled cannabis significantly reduces chronic neuropathy, a condition that is typically unresponsive to both opioids and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen. Commenting on the study’s the findings, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: "With the results of each published study it becomes increasingly apparent why the US government has tried consistently to stonewall clinical research on the therapeutic effects of inhaled cannabis. Each new trial the Feds approve provides additional evidence undermining the government’s ‘flat Earth’ position that cannabis is without medical value."For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul norml.orgFull text of the study, "A randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of cannabis cigarettes in neuropathic pain," will appear in the Journal of Pain.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7596 United Kingdom: Parliament To Vote On Enacting Stiffer Pot Penalties -- Prime Minister Gordon Brown Calls Cannabis “Lethal;” Urges Parliament To “Send A Message” May 8, 2008 - London, UKLondon, United Kingdom: Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced plans this week to reclassify cannabis as a Class B drug under British law. If the change is approved by Parliament, it would increase the penalties for minor pot possession from a verbal warning (under current policy) to up to five years in jail.Smith’s recommendation contradicts the findings of Britain’s Advisory Panel on the Misuse of Drugs, which issued a report this week calling for cannabis to remain classified as a Class C ‘soft’ drug. The panel determined that pot lacks the health risks of other Class B drugs such as amphetamines and barbiturates, and concluded that use of the drug is unlikely to cause mental illnesses such as schizophrenia."The evidence for the existence of an association between frequency of cannabis use and the development of psychosis is, on the available evidence, weak," the Panel found. "The council does not advise the reclassification of cannabis products to Class B; it recommends they remain within Class C."It is the third time in six years the Advisory Panel has recommended to Parliament that cannabis be classified as a Class C drug, a category that includes anabolic steroids and Valium.Since taking office last June, Prime Minister Gordon Brown (Labour) has consistently pushed for increasing British pot penalties, claiming that marijuana’s use can be fatal. "[T]he cannabis on the streets is now of a lethal quality and we really have got to send out a message to young people," Brown stated last week. "[T]his is not acceptable."Parliament downgraded cannabis possession to a non-arrestable offense in 2004. Since then, marijuana use by young people age 16 to 24 has fallen approximately 20 percent. According the statistics published by the British Home Office last year, only eight percent of Britons now report using cannabis, the lowest percentage ever recorded by the agency. Home Office statistics also indicate that police seizures of cannabis have increased since 2004, though the total number of Britons arrested for pot-related violations has fallen.A spokesperson for the Association of Police Officers told the UK Guardian newspaper that police would continue to issue verbal warnings to most minor pot offenders – regardless of whether Parliament eventually reclassifies cannabis. For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500, or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul norml.orgDL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7595 Massachusetts: Legal Challenge Argues State Pot Laws Are Unconstitutional May 8, 2008 - Boston, MA, USABoston, MA: A Boston judge will rule on Monday whether to allow evidence to be presented at a pre-trial hearing regarding the constitutionality of the state’s marijuana prohibition laws. The legal challenge, launched by NORML Legal Counsel Keith Stroup and High Times Magazine Associate Publisher Rick Cusick, argues that scientific and epidemiological evidence affirming the relative safety of marijuana does not support a criminal ban on the drug’s possession and use. Stroup and Cusick, who are expected to acknowledge at trial that they were sharing a joint when arrested at the 2007 Boston Freedom Rally, are prepared to call numerous experts – including Dr. Lester Grinspoon (Harvard Medical School), Richard Bonnie, Esq. (University of Virginia Law School), Dr. Jeffrey Miron (Harvard University), and Dr. Keith Saunders (Northeastern University) – if their request for an evidentiary hearing is granted.The defendants and their counsel will appear at trial in Boston Municipal Court, courtroom #10, at 9:00 AM, Monday, May 12.For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Legal Counsel, at (202) 483-5500: keith norml.org or visit: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7494DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7597Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: May 8, 2008Copyright: 2008 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 #8 posted by Richard Zuckerman on May 10, 2008 at 20:10:05 PT: RUNRUFF NEEDS TO APPLY FOR A PUBLIC DEFENDER! YOU NEED AN ATTORNEY, RUNRUFF, REGARDING YOUR COMMENT # 3!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Richard Zuckerman on May 10, 2008 at 20:05:05 PT: UNITED NATIONS TAKEOVER FROM YOUR VOTE!! The Council On Foreign Relations wants the "North American Union" by the year 2010! The U.N. are notorious for their international narcotics treaties. Do not expect them to support Cannabis decriminalization. What you should do is vote for somebody other than Obama or Hillary! Obama's wife controls him and she is a member of the Council On Foreign Relations. Hillary is a member of the Bilderbergs. They could care less for your health and welfare! Their loyalties are to the globalism, the United Nations takeover, the sooner the better!!! Read the article about our rigged public school curriculum entitled "Tavistock" [visit www.newswithviews.com, scroll down to the very bottom of the web page, type "Tavistock" into the web site search engine blank, click on, download, and read]. Read the web article entitled "The History of the Business with Disease", by Dr. Matthias Rath! There is a glimmer of hope, though. The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to provide more money to deport illegal alien criminals. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is planning to require e-verification of employees. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has the case of Lozano v. Hazleton, Pennsylvania, as to whether the local Ordinance is pre-empted by federal immigration laws. The war and the massive influx of illegal aliens are causing fiscal deficits which are ruining this nation, par for their plan to create their "North American Union", similar to the way they created the "European Union". Ralph Nader will get my vote! [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by dongenero on May 09, 2008 at 07:36:17 PT oh sorry..... It's Gro time! - Create your ad and show what you gro!correction.....even better. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by dongenero on May 09, 2008 at 07:34:30 PT how funny I went to look at the original Walters/marijuana that GCW posted in comment #4.There is a Miracle Gro banner embedded in the marijuana article that is soliciting customer created ads. It says:Miracle Gro - Create your ad and show what you gro.I love the irony of that ad placed in Walters' marijuana diatribe. Too funny [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by The GCW on May 09, 2008 at 04:54:12 PT John Walters spins it. Feds: Teen use of pot can lead to dependency, mental illness http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TEENS_DRUGS?SITE=COFRI&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by runruff on May 08, 2008 at 19:07:08 PT: Boston courts. I will tell you the truth here so help me!A condensed version of my petition for habeas corpus.The dishonorable Judge Wolf of Boston ruled on my case. The DEA came onto my property while I was getting eye surgery in LA, Calif. 800 miles away. They came without probable cause just to snoop around. They took what they found to a magistrate and ask for a search warrant after they had searched. I was railroaded through court, threatened with 10 year unless I plead guilty in which case I would be offered 2 years. My fourth amendment rights were scoffed at. I took the bargain.While in prison I filed a writ of habeas corpus. A Perfect case citing violation of my fourth amendment rights. Judge Wolf of Boston did not address my rights or my claim or even my writ which is called a 2241. He said that in my plea I gave up my right to an appeal 2255. No one mentioned a 2255 but him. He changed the subject from apples to oranges and ruled on oranges. Follow? I filled a 2241 which I am entitled, he said I was not entitled to file a 2255 something entirely different. That was his ruling and if I disagree I must file an appeal of his decision. That is is how the game is played. That is why you can't win in court. I'm filling for my appeal now. It has taken 7 months just to do the preliminary work with the 1st Circuit court of appeals. It could drag on for years. This is how they wear you down. Then in the end I've hear the 1st circuit is a bunch of Nazis and will strike you down anyway and you will need to go all the way to the supreme court. I'm fighting on principle. Until you get caught up in the system you have no idea how messed up and crooked it is. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by The GCW on May 08, 2008 at 18:10:05 PT US PA: Students Speak Against Drug Policy US PA: Students Speak Against Drug Policyhttp://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n468/a02.html?397...residue ... [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by OverwhelmSam on May 08, 2008 at 12:41:21 PT Go Keith, Eff Brown I think it's awesome that Keith is forcing the courts to earn their pay check. I wish him luck, he will need it against a corrupt and immune judiciary. Brown is senile, or someone is bending his arm behind his back (US?). I am generally against ad hominem attacks because it's sooo Republican, but Brown is a total JERK. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment