cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - September 11, 2008





NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - September 11, 2008
Posted by CN Staff on September 11, 2008 at 10:40:41 PT
Weekly Press Release
Source: NORML
 Second Study In Two Months Touts Cannabis' Germ-Fighting AbilitiesSeptember 11, 2008 - Oxford, MIOxford, MI: Non-cannabinoid constituents in marijuna possess anti-bacterial properties against malaria, methicillim-resistant Staphyloccus aureus (aka MRSA), and other potentially drug-resistant pathogens, according to findings to be published in the journal Phytochemistry.
Investigators at the University of Mississippi, National Center for Natural Products Research reported the discovery of eleven new non-cannabinoid constituents in cannabis, several of which possess strong “anti-microbial,” “anti-malarial,” and “anti-leishmanial” (a common skin parasite) activity. Scientists reported that several of the compounds also possessed anti-inflammatory properties and acted as potent anti-oxidants.Commenting on the study, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, “Therapeutic cannabis means just that - the therapeutic prowess of the whole plant. We should not advocate for, or accept, anything less.”A previous study published online in August by the Journal of Natural Products reported that at least five cannabinoids - THC, CBD (cannabidiol), CBG (cannabigerol), CBC (cannabichromine), and CBN (cannabinol) - possess germ-killing abilities against various strains of multidrug-resistant bacteria, including MRSA.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director. Full text of the study, “Non-cannabinoid constituents from a high potency Cannabis sativa strain,” will appear in Phytochemistry.DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7696 Cannabis Spray Demonstrates Long Term Efficacy In Neuropathic Pain, Study Says September 11, 2008 - Porter Down, United KingdomPorter Down, United Kingdom: Long-term administration of Sativex, an oral spray consisting of whole plant cannabis extracts, reduces neuropathic pain compared to placebo, according to clinical trial data released this week by the biotechnology company GW Pharmaceuticals.Forty-one patients with multiple sclerosis and central neuropathic pain completed the double blind, placebo-controlled "randomized withdrawal" study. Volunteers in the study were administered either Sativex or a placebo daily for four weeks following their long-term use of the cannabis spray."In the patients who were randomized to Sativex pain scores remained stable," the company announced in a press release. "In the patients randomized to placebo, pain and sleep scores deteriorated. … The results of all other symptom-related endpoints showed that Sativex patients maintained or improved their response whilst the symptoms of those who switched from Sativex to placebo worsened in the four weeks following cessation of active treatment."Previous open-label extension trials of Sativex have reported that patients required fewer daily doses of the drug and reported lower median pain scores the longer they took it. This trial is the first placebo-controlled trial to confirm the efficacy of Sativex long-term.Last month, clinical investigators at the University of California at San Diego reported that inhaled cannabis significantly reduces HIV-associated neuropathic pain. The study is the third clinical trial published in the past 18 months demonstrating that inhaling cannabis ameliorates chronic neuropathy.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, or visit. - http://www.gwpharm.com/DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7695Arkansas: Fayetteville Voters To Decide “Lowest Law Enforcement Priority” Initiative September 11, 2008 - Fayetteville, ARFayetteville, AR: Fayetteville voters will decide this November on a municipal initiative that seeks to make marijuana law enforcement the city's "lowest priority." Proponents of the measure, Sensible Fayetteville, gathered nearly 5,000 signatures from registered voters to place the proposal on the November ballot.The measure would direct law enforcement to make activities related to the investigation and prosecution of adults who possess up to one ounce of cannabis their lowest priority. Local voters approved a similar 'deprioritization' measure in Eureka Springs, Arkansas in 2006.Under state law, marijuana possession is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to one year in jail.If enacted, the ordinance would also require the city clerk to submit a letter to state and federal legislators urging them to "take immediate steps to enact similar ['deprioritization'] laws." Voters have enacted similar initiatives in Seattle, Washington; Oakland, California; Columbia, Missouri; and Denver, Colorado.Sensible Fayetteville is a coalition of statewide organizations, including the University of Arkansas chapter of NORML and the Alliance for Drug Reform Policy in Arkansas.For more information, please visit. - http://www.sensisblefayetteville.com/DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7697Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: September 11, 2008Copyright: 2008 NORML Contact: norml norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/CannabisNews NORML Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/NORML.shtml 
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Comment #20 posted by FoM on September 13, 2008 at 06:04:33 PT
ripit
I'm sorry to read you are in pain. The spray isn't available here in the states as far as I know. I have read mixed reviews for those who have tried it in Canada. To sum it up whole cannabis seems to work better.
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Comment #19 posted by Paint with light on September 13, 2008 at 01:35:48 PT
wiki
A small group called the Diggers tried to bury hippie in an act of street theatre but the concept still exists to this day.Equal with alcohol is all I ask.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippie
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Comment #18 posted by ripit on September 12, 2008 at 23:48:35 PT
i wonder if and
how i could get this spray if it would work for me?my pain has been gettin more intense lately an i really am starting to lose hope anymore.i keep wishing that nobody else ever has to feel this way ever.wouldn't that be a wonderful thing indeed?
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Comment #17 posted by Paint with light on September 12, 2008 at 22:41:16 PT
definitions
I prefer to get my word meanings from a dictionary not from a pseudo authority.Words change by use and abuse.Equal with alcohol is all I ask.
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Comment #16 posted by fight_4_freedom on September 12, 2008 at 19:36:14 PT
Who needs college 
When you have a website full of posts by Museman :)
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Comment #15 posted by museman on September 12, 2008 at 11:59:55 PT
hippies
Don't actually exist at all. The actual 'hippy' was laid to rest in San Fransico in 1969.
The word 'hippy' was taken up by Nixon/Reagan/republican/right-wing-xtian/prohibition/earth-raping-rednecks, and other slimy ilk as a good box to put members of my generation in that didn't 'go along with the program.'Up til recently it has been my experience that those who refer to themselves as 'hippies' were grasping at social identities (having no clue who and what they really are) and those referred to as 'hippies' by the snarks and snobbies actually usually think of themselves as 'human beings.'Having had the label foisted on me from the day I stopped cutting my hair (for reasons only slightly related to the '60s) I finally got tired of the battle with the ignorance and accepted it. But only for those who feel they must 'seperate and distinguish' my 'difference' for their own comfort or something. I never liked the label 'freak' either since in the counterculture its meaning is having to do with an obsession. I don't let my 'freak flag' fly, it is my 'free flag.'Having lived the lifestyle often associated with the hippy - off the grid, grew my own, explored and utilized alternative resources, practiced recycling at least 2 decades before it was recognized by the mainstream as a legitimate practice, home birthed, home-schooled my children, tripped the light fantastic on the frontiers of awareness, and hold many things to be sacred (not many of them are sacred to the white-man 5-sense reality)- I guess I am as qualified as any to say 'what a hippy is, or isn't' (even though they really don't actually exist).
Well they do, but the stereotype is in error. It is deliberately derogatory and demeaning, like the ad.A natural human being has hair. It grows. Before WW1 long hair was worn by many peoples, for different cultural or other reasons. Before the '60s a 'long hair' was a musician.The native Americans wore their hair long until they were conquered and made to cut it by law! It is only recently (partly thanks to the 'hippy' concept and the 60s revolution) that they have gone back to their traditional long hair.The consciousness represented in that ad is none. No consciousness at all. The stupidity of this illegal government, its false systems of values and its literal trampling on the real true things of value in this world, making mockery of the things that humanity should be pursuing instead of the almighty dollar and materialistic, selfish, destructive, and wasteful practices currently devouring the planet at breakneck speed, is going to come to an end. At this point my compassion for humanity is overwhelmed by my disgust at the adamant stupidity of most americans, and mostly white americans at that. The ones who are in power, who claim superiority by their grooming practices and bank account (scratching the BS surface) the TV image - the sparklingly white teeth, suit and tie, no-hair-out-of-place, polished shoes, and all the latest in design and technology, they lead falsly. The support for that ideology is in the masses, who will follow whatever 'leader' provides the best available entertainment, and who bakes the best and tastiest 'bread' (whether there is any 'wheat' of substance there or not.)Tolerance for ignorance is fine as long as that ignorance has no power, but alas it not only has power, but it prevails! Blissly ignoring the ugly truth may be in the interest of our immmediate comfort, but it is doing nothing to address the fundamental roots of the problems. But we are a 'band-aid' society, a 'take-a-pill-for-what-ails-you' and a 'lets make a war on it' philosophy.Why is a the image of 'hippy' considered to be negative in the mainstream social sense? Because those of us who lived the life, walked the walk, and talked the talk are right. Pure and simple. Denial only makes it harder in the long run, because that consciousness came about for a reason, and contrary to the stunpidity of the status quo, that consiousness didn't go away, it quietly grew out on the land, while those who couldn't make the grade jobbed out in the towns and cities. Its OK if they didn't make it then. We did the work for them, we broke the ground of consciousness, and there is still time to come back to the flow, many more in this generation now coming of age have embraced the truth than is currently realized.Hanging on to the straws and strings of the status quo is only making it harder for everyone in the long run.
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Comment #14 posted by FoM on September 12, 2008 at 07:10:37 PT
Just a Note
I hope everyone enjoys the weekend. For those in Texas I hope everything goes ok as the hurricane gets closer and finally hits. It doesn't seem like a strong hurricane but they are saying it really is. I haven't found any news but that's not unusual these days with the elections being so important.
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Comment #13 posted by Paint with light on September 12, 2008 at 01:11:15 PT
hippies
The Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection at Indiana University has 24 pictures he took of the hippies in San Francisco in 1967.I am going to try to post the link.Just go to search and type in hippie.Warning! You can spend a lot of time at this site looking at the recent past.Equal with alcohol would work for me.
http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/cushman/index.jsp
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Comment #12 posted by afterburner on September 11, 2008 at 21:53:54 PT
OT- Medical Freedom: Small Progress, Big Task 
Medical schools and journals fight drug industry influence.
September 11, 2008.
Comments on this story (0). 
Linda A. Johnson, 
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://healthzone.ca/health/article/497358
{
TRENTON, N.J. – Just about every segment of the medical community is piling on the pharmaceutical industry these days, accusing drugmakers of deceiving the public, manipulating doctors and putting profits before patients.Recent articles and editorials in major medical journals blast the industry. Medical schools, teaching hospitals and physician groups are changing rules to limit the influence of pharmaceutical sales reps. And three top editors of the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine last month publicly sided against the drug industry in a U.S. Supreme Court case over whether patients harmed by government-approved medicines may still sue in state courts.
}Almond Growers Sue USDA to Halt Mandatory Chemical Fumigation of Raw Almonds. 
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 by: Mike Adams (see all articles by this author).
Key concepts: USDA, The USDA and Food
http://www.naturalnews.com/024132.htmlCodex Alimentarius: Population Control Under the Guise of Consumer Protection. 
Wednesday, September 10, 2008 by: Dr. Gregory Damato, Ph.D. (see all articles by this author).
Key concepts: CODEX, Food and Population control 
http://www.naturalnews.com/024128.html
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Comment #11 posted by Hope on September 11, 2008 at 20:59:32 PT
News
The world is in turmoil today.
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on September 11, 2008 at 15:11:13 PT
Off Topic
http://www.coasttocoastam.com/gen/page2727.html?theme=lightFawn and Dog on CouchI don't know if it's fake. But it's so sweet... and sad and wonderful.
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Comment #9 posted by Hope on September 11, 2008 at 14:54:57 PT
Graehstone
"... they couldn't even get a real Hippie for the silly commercial".I thought the same thing myself. Or even an actor who looked like one?The slapstick is stupid and silly.
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Comment #8 posted by Graehstone on September 11, 2008 at 14:28:18 PT
Hippie Ad
Lmao, they couldn't even get a real Hippie for the silly commercial. No self respecting Hippie would ever fall for that.Highly 
IntelligentPersonPursuingIndividual 
EnlightenmentPeace - Pot - Microdot ... Long live Hippies!
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Comment #7 posted by Hope on September 11, 2008 at 14:12:49 PT
I think that ad is disgusting and stupid.
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_10431246
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Comment #6 posted by Hope on September 11, 2008 at 14:07:31 PT
awesome and amazing
Really. There are no other adjectives better to describe this increasingly stunning evidence of the amazing gift to mankind that cannabis/hemp/sativa is.
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Comment #5 posted by Hope on September 11, 2008 at 14:04:07 PT
Way to go, Paul Armentano!
Commenting on the study, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said, “Therapeutic cannabis means just that - the therapeutic prowess of the whole plant. We should not advocate for, or accept, anything less.”
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Comment #4 posted by Hope on September 11, 2008 at 13:59:48 PT
It's awesome and amazing... what else?
Second Study In Two Months Touts Cannabis' Germ-Fighting Abilities
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on September 11, 2008 at 13:40:58 PT
Sembler and spouse
Now there's a name that's hard to think about. I pretty much see them as evil of several kinds, incarnate.Money talks and Sembler money has said and done some terrible things, I believe. I know. The only way I could not know would be if I were able to reject the truth when I hear it.Their supporters might say I only believed what I wanted to hear.Believe me. The truth about what the Semblars and their "pals" sponsored and continue to sponsor is most certainly NOT what I wanted to hear. But I made myself hear it and I knew it was true.Every time they are shut down they pop up under another name. They're like the monster in the movies that just keeps coming back to life after being seemingly killed again and again. Only it's not a movie. It's real.
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Comment #2 posted by mykeyb420 on September 11, 2008 at 12:47:59 PT
catnip, not pot
Man claims seized substance is catnipA marijuana activist who was allegedly busted with a pound of pot claims police have no proof that what they seized is not catnip -- and he intends to try to prove it in court. "It's a simple mistake -- it looks like good stuff," said Ron McInnes, 60, owner of The Pot Shop in Orillia, which sells pipes, bongs and a variety of deliciously-flavoured rolling papers. McInnes, who is charged with possession for the purpose, yesterday was set to defend himself at his trial, but the court ran out of time and his case was adjourned. His plan is to show that catnip, which he keeps around his home and even grows in his yard for his two chubby cats, tests positive for THC -- the psychoactive chemical in cannabis marijuana. While his plan to do the test in court yesterday went up in smoke, McInnes demonstrated his defence back at his shop. He dipped a handful of catnip into a container of water and shook it up, then used an MP Rapid test kit specifically designed to test for THC in Marijuana. Seconds after putting droplets of the liquid onto the test card, two pink lines appeared in the test window -- indicating a positive sample for THC -- even though there is no THC in catnip. McInnes claimed that testing done by the police is no more accurate than his test. "Their testing equipment is just more expensive, that's all," he insisted. McInnes said bags of catnip are a common treat around his home because it grows wild around his dwelling. To make a point, he went out and pulled a large stock of the herb from his overgrown backyard and gave it to one of his fat cats, which promptly started chewing on it. "My cats get the best," he quipped.
http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1194822
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Comment #1 posted by observer on September 11, 2008 at 12:25:02 PT
Mel Sembler, Using Ol' Propaganda Theme #1
Looks like Mel Sembler (staunch Republican prohibitionist money-bags, Straight, Inc. founder, and medical pump infamy) is at it again. Note the way the image of a "hippie", all these years later, is still used to try to smear political opponents. This is pure drug war propaganda theme #1. Obviously the Republicans there have click-tested that hated-pot-hippie propaganda theme with their target audience and political base: the good Americans at old folks' homes across Colorado. 
The latest attack ad in Colorado's acrimonious Senate battle shows a hippie standing next to a VW van and talking about Democrat Mark Udall's support for a Department of Peace. As the hippie opens the side door to the Volkswagen, smoke billows out."Whether that's pot smoke or not . . . you know, it could just be an engine overheating," said Tim Pearson, a spokesman for Freedom's Watch, the deep-pocketed conservative group paying for the ad, which began running statewide Tuesday...But independent groups have been aggressive players so far in the state's Senate race - a key congressional battleground. Freedom's Watch, the ad's sponsor, has close ties to former Bush administration officials and is chaired by Mel Sembler, a major Bush fundraiser, according to Federal Election Commission records. 
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_10431246
propaganda theme number one: hated groups
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