	Nimbin HEMP Embassy click here to email the HEMP Embassy
HOME - ABOUT - PAST - CANNABIS NEWS - CANNABIS HISTORY Medical - Industrial - Legal - Links Cannabis Cafes - Hempen Images - Old Press Releases Nimbin MardiGrass - Nimbin HEMP Bar - HEMP Party Last Update: February 26, 2007 11:50 PM

PRESS RELEASE - 10th MARCH, 2004

The Law is the Crime! Edition 32.

Cannabis News Items From Around the World

MEDICAL MARIJUANA AND ITS WITLESS ENEMIES

MEDICAL MARIJUANA AND ITS WITLESS ENEMIES

Anti-Drug Advocates Continue to Ignore Credible Science

Modern cancer treatments have saved countless lives, but they can be a cruelly mixed blessing. Chemotherapy, often indispensable in curing cancer, sometimes is enough to make you ill, causing violent nausea and vomiting.

Luckily, there is a well-established and safe remedy recommended by many cancer physicians that sometimes provides relief when nothing else can. Not so luckily, the remedy is marijuana. Under federal law, cannabis is forbidden--even for therapeutic use by seriously ill people who have no more interest in getting high than they do in bungee jumping. The Bush administration, in its generosity, is willing to let these patients have any medicine except the one they need.

In the campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, John Kerry and John Edwards often sound nearly indistinguishable on the issues. But when it comes to medical marijuana, there is plenty of space between them. Edwards sounds like President Bush, while Kerry has dared to suggest that the established federal policy has been a grave mistake.

Under the Carter administration, the federal government recognized the medical potential of cannabis and set up a "compassionate use program" that not only allowed some patients to use pot but gave them a supply. This humane concession, however, didn't survive the first Bush administration, which slammed the door on new patients.

Anyone expecting better from Bill Clinton, that child of the '60s, was doomed to disappointment. The president who didn't inhale made sure no Republican could portray him as soft on drugs. His administration refused to change federal policy and vehemently crusaded against state measures legalizing medical marijuana.

The current Bush administration has been equally horrified by the idea that marijuana could be anything but evil. Not long after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when you might have thought the Justice Department had more urgent priorities, federal agents continued raiding "cannabis clubs" that furnish pot to patients whose doctors have prescribed it, in accordance with state law.

As if it weren't enough to dictate what goes into patients' mouths, U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft also took it upon himself to dictate what could come out of doctors' mouths: The administration made it illegal for physicians to prescribe or even discuss marijuana with their patients as a treatment.

But the administration's campaign has lately run off the rails. Last year, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said the policy was unconstitutional, and the Supreme Court let that decision stand. Then, the same appeals court ordered an end to the prosecution of California cannabis club patients and suppliers.

The court ruled that the matter was a state concern beyond the legitimate reach of the federal government. Conservatives, who have often applauded the Supreme Court's decisions reinvigorating the power of states against the encroachments of Washington, were surprised to find that the same doctrine could be used to corral a conservative administration.

But that hasn't stopped the president's lieutenants from pursuing their vendetta. Andrea Barthwell, deputy director of the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy, denounced the 9th Circuit's reasoning. "There is no scientific evidence that qualifies smoked marijuana to be called medicine," she declared.

Her opinion rejects the view of many medical professionals, including those at the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, which has called for rescinding the federal ban. It also ignores a 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences, a federal body, which recognized "the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation."

It's true that there may be safer and better ways to ingest the drug than by smoking it. But anyone who believes that should favor extensive federal research into alternative systems--something that has not been of great interest to the Bush administration.

The next administration might be better, or it might not. John Edwards has rejected marijuana as medicine while endorsing the federal raids on cannabis clubs. John Kerry, however, supports federal legislation allowing the medical use of marijuana with a doctor's approval. Asked last year if he would halt the Drug Enforcement Administration raids, he didn't give one of those long-winded answers that Edwards has mocked. His reply was a model of brevity: "Yes."

On this issue, Kerry is in perfect step with public opinion. Ten states have legalized medical marijuana, and more than 30 have passed resolutions in favor of it. Polls indicate that the great majority of Americans think cannabis should be available for whatever medical value it has.

But Bush and Edwards want to continue a vindictive policy that ignores the experience of medical professionals, shortchanges science and treats suffering people as criminals.

It's enough to make you ill.

'HIGH TIMES' POST-9/11

Pubdate: Sat, 21 Feb 2004
Source: Newsday (NY)
Copyright: 2004 Newsday Inc.
Contact: letters@newsday.com
Website: http://www.newsday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/308
Author: Ellis Henican
Cited: High Times http://www.hightimes.com

'HIGH TIMES' POST-9/11

Richard Stratton knows what it's like to run a magazine with unconventional demographics. Before he took over as publisher and editor-in-chief of High Times, he ran Prison Life, a beloved but now
dead journal for men and women behind bars.

A fascinating subject, for sure - but not exactly the upscale population that most advertisers seek. "The readers didn't have much money to spend," Stratton conceded with a smile. "And they couldn't
get out to the store."

Well, compared to that captive audience, how hard can the just-say-yes crowd be?

So Stratton, who himself did eight years in prison on a marijuana-smuggling conviction, has now turned his attention to the venerable marijuana magazine. This is one readership that has a proven
history of spending on its cravings, legal and otherwise. The mission: Deliver High Times, kicking and screaming if necessary, into the post-9/11, John Ashcroft world.

"The High Times sensibility is libertarian - more than left-wing or right-wing," Stratton was saying at week's end. "It's a lifestyle magazine for people who don't think the government should tell them
how to live," whether they choose to get high or not.

"It's the whole outlaw attitude," added his editor, Annie Nocenti. "And it's a fundamental part of the American character."

The two of them, Stratton and Nocenti, are sitting together in the magazine's lofty office on Park Avenue South. Stratton is solid and squinting and his face is well-lined. The past few years, he's made a serious name for himself at the gritty end of the TV-and-movie world. (Showtime's "Street Time," the film "Slam.") He tends to mumble.

Nocenti, a screenwriter and celebrated comic-book author who was an editor at Scenario magazine and Prison Life, is the extrovert in the room, tossing off ideas and quick opinions. Along with executive editor John Buffalo Mailer, a budding playwright and the famous novelist's 26-year-old son, they are asking themselves: Can a pot magazine still matter today?

"We have this 30-year-old brand name known around the world," Stratton says. "But we have to be more than a pot magazine."

So comedian Dave Chappelle is on the cover this month, anchoring a package on race. Other pieces touch on white supremacists and the terrorist-detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Yes, there are still ads for rolling papers and grow lights.

Stratton and his crew have decided to split the old High Times franchise into two magazines: The newly launched Grow is a tightly focused trade magazine for the serious marijuana cultivator, packed with helpful hints on seed selection and irrigation techniques.

That has freed High Times to broaden its scope.

"We want to elevate our argument beyond 'Yo, babes, bongs and the right to smoke,' " Nocenti said.

"The question is: What kind of world do you want to live in?" Stratton said. "A world where people go to prison for small amounts of drugs?"

In 1974, he was part of the informal brain trust around the magazine's late founder, fellow pot smuggler Tom Forcade. "The magazine was really created as a marketing tool," Stratton said. "A load of Colombian pot had come into the city. The challenge was, 'How are you going to educate the market about what this stuff is?' Start a magazine!"

Over the years, High Times became a Hagstrom's for the youth culture, a practical road map for stoners and their friends, treading a wavy line just this side of the drug laws. The magazine created and continues to host the Cannabis Cup, an Oscars for pot growers held each fall in Amsterdam.

The magazine was almost silenced several times by various branches of Washington's War on (some) Drugs. Police and prosecutors circled, using terms like "ancillary criminal enterprise." Advertisers were squeezed. But the magazine puffed on.

Since Stratton and his group took over late last year, they've thrust High Times back into the broader countercultural buzz. The magazine is opening a Los Angeles office next week. There's talk of High Times movies and TV projects. The magazine is publishing a protest guide to this summer's Republican National Convention in New York. On Thursday night, the editors hosted a hip-hop summit, tied to pieces on race.

And marijuana becomes almost a metaphor.

Comedian Tommy Chong was sent to jail last year for manufacturing smoking paraphernalia, Richard Stratton recalled. "A lot of people have a real problem with government power being used that way, even people who don't use drugs. We'll keep highlighting that kind of thing."

"You can almost compare the magazine to marijuana itself," said Nocenti, before heading back to work. "People have tried to stamp it out. They've never been able to. It's a weed that grows naturally. It just keeps coming back."

West Oz Industry praises hemp bill as major boost for retailers

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1059423.htm

Pubdate: 5th March, 2004

A Western Australia hemp retailer has welcomed the passage of the industrial hemp bill through the State's Parliament.

The legislation allows for the commercial cultivation and processing of industrial hemp under licence to make textiles and oil, and follows trials in the south-west of the State and the Kimberley.

The co-owner of the Margaret River Hemp Company, Georgina Wilkinson, says it will be a major boost for hemp retailers and could mean cheaper prices for consumers.

"We think it's absolutely great. It's been going on for a long time now and compared to other states here in Australia we're actually a long way behind. So it's quite good to actually catch up to everybody else," she said.

"And we actually buy all our fabrics from overseas and get people to make it here in Australia. But obviously it would be a lot better if we could make it here in Australia ourselves."

Greens MLC Christine Sharp says the industry has enormous potential if the Government does its part.

"Removing the legal impediment to the growing of hemp in Western Australia is great, but it is certainly not enough for us to have a successful hemp industry," Ms Sharp said.

"And we now need a massive amount of research to find the right strains of hemp for growing in WA."

CAN TAKING CANNABIS MAKE YOU AN EVEN BETTER DRIVER?

Pubdate: Sat, 24 Jan 2004
Source: Evening News (UK)
Copyright: 2004 Archant Regional
Contact: EveningNewsLetters@archant.co.uk
Website: http://www.eveningnews24.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/141
Section: Motoring Supplement
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/cannabis+driving

CAN TAKING CANNABIS MAKE YOU AN EVEN BETTER DRIVER?

While no responsible person would ever advocate the use of drugs for drivers, tests using a recently developed video game called Burnout have thrown up some surprise statistics.

The testers found that a moderate amount of cannabis actually improved driving performance among those they studied.

Results from another recent study apparently also show that people drive both faster and safer while under the influence of the drug.

A group of 20 drivers aged 21-40 were recruited for the Burnout study, all of whom had not previously owned a video games machine or described themselves of players of video games.

Ten of them smoked approximately 0.15 milligrams of cannabis, equivalent to about half a "joint".

The other half declared that they had not had any stimulant for at least 72 hours before the test.

They were then given a thorough demonstration of Burnout and were subsequently asked to take the controls and play the video game themselves.

Participants' skills at different elements of the game - reaction times, speed, concentration levels and road safety - were thoroughly analysed and evaluated.

The results showed that for those who had smoked 0.15 mgs of cannabis: * 80 per cent demonstrated superior reaction times * 60 per cent finished a lap faster * 70 per cent experienced a lower number of collisions * 60 per cent reached a higher level in the game.

The cannabis takers were then pitched against the non-cannabis takers in a head-to-head challenge on Burnout.

In this competitive setting, the cannabis users came out on top in eight out of ten of the match-ups.

The drivers under the influence of cannabis appeared to have more confidence in their ability and be much calmer.� Burnout is aid to be "a fast-paced and adrenalin-stoked" game and the cannabis could have helped keep them in control of their nerves..

For the second stage of the experiment, the group who had already smoked cannabis smoked some more, increasing their total intake to about 0.58 milligrams, equatting to approximately two "joints".� The driver performance on Burnout then showed a significant decrease. With a total of 0.58 milligrams of cannabis in their system:

* 60 per cent demonstrated superior reaction times * 30 per cent finished the game faster * 40 per cent experienced a lower number of collisions * 20 per cent reached a higher level in the game.

In the second part of the challenges, the cannabis smokers won only three races against their non-cannabis counterparts, an indicator of worsening driving performance.

Simon smith Wright, Burnout's Communications Director, said: "The results of our test clearly show indicate that a small or moderate amount of cannabis is actually quite beneficial to someone's driving
performance.

"Further amounts then tend to start to impinge on performance, although interestingly reactions times appear to best withstand the increased amount of the drug in the system.

"Obviously Burnout is a video game and whilst extremely realistic, we cannot claim that these findings translate to real life driving, nor are we encouraging anyone to try out the theory."

The RAC's position is that, in every circumstance, the drug is detrimental to anyone at the wheel.

GOVT KICKS OFF HIGH SCHOOL CANNABIS EDUCATION KIT

Newshawk: JimmyG
Pubdate: Sun, 29 Feb 2004
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34

GOVT KICKS OFF HIGH SCHOOL CANNABIS EDUCATION KIT

Two cannabis education kits launched by the New South Wales Government this weekend are a first in Australia.

The kits, which have been developed for high schools, are part of a drive to highlight the dangers of cannabis use and change the perception that it is a safe recreational drug.

NSW Special Minister of State John Della Bosca says the State Government is serious about tackling the issue in the education system.

"It's the first kit of its kind in Australia, it's part of a comprehensive strategy which is the first serious attempt by government to address the problem of cannabis in young people from a public health perspective," he said.

"We've established cannabis clinics, these are a world first specialising in providing counselling and medical assistance for young people using and abusing cannabis."

POLICE GIVEN POWERS TO SEARCH KING'S CROSS CAFE FOR DRUGS WITHOUT WARRANT

Newshawk: JimmyG
Pubdate: Tue, 02 Mar 2004
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web)
Copyright: 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Contact: comments@your.abc.net.au
Website: http://www.abc.net.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34

POLICE GIVEN POWERS TO SEARCH CAFE FOR DRUGS WITHOUT WARRANT

New South Wales police now have the power to look for illegal drugs in a so-called "cannabis cafe" in Kings Cross without a getting a search warrant.

Police say the Bliss Cafe has been declared a restricted premises by the Supreme Court, which allows officers to search for drugs at any time.

The Police Minister John Watkins says it will help police to close cafes where cannabis is sold.

"It is the first time that this power has been exercised by the Supreme Court after an application by police and it means police now have very strong powers to move against this cafe when they believe
that drugs are being sold," he said.

U.S. Government Report Exposes Deceitful White House “Marijuana Treatment” Claims

March 2, 2004

Countering bogus claims by White House Drug Czar John Walters that hundreds of thousands of marijuana addicts are flocking to drug treatment, a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report shows that 82.5% of people seeking treatment for marijuana – a stunning majority – are doing so only because of government coercion. The report shows that many of those in treatment for marijuana do not enter because of problems with the drug but because they are first-time offenders arrested for marijuana possession who have been given the option by a judge or drug court to choose drug treatment or jail.

According to the government report, fifty-seven percent of the 255,000 individuals admitted for primary marijuana treatment in 2001 were referred by the criminal justice system – that is, they chose treatment over jail. Many of these individuals are youth who have been caught with the drug. Admissions involving primary marijuana and no alcohol increased by an astonishing 520% from 1992-2001, the nine-year period covered by the report, and made up 15% of all admissions. This highlights the astonishing time and cost spent targeting marijuana users in the taxpayer funded "war on drugs". In the final year of the report, 800,000 Americans were arrested on marijuana charges – most of these are arrested for possession.

Major UK Reform of Marijuana Policy Has Taken Effect

Pubdate: 29th January, 2004

Major UK Reform of Marijuana Policy to Take Effect Today, Most Will No Longer Be Charged for Personal Possession

Majority of British Public in Favor of Decriminalization or Legalization, Says New Poll

U.S. Increasingly Isolated in Costly War on Marijuana

For Immediate Release: Thursday, January 29, 2004. Contact: Tony Newman 212-613-8026 or Elizabeth Berry 212-613-8036

Thursday January 29 – In what CNN called "the biggest shake-up of Britain's drug laws in 30 years," a new marijuana policy will take effect today in the UK, disallowing most people in possession of small quantities of cannabis to be arrested. A January 26 Daily Telegraph/YouGov Poll found that the reform had widespread public support. The poll, one of the United Kingdom’s largest ever investigations into public attitudes on drugs, found that a majority of those surveyed not only supported the new law, but were in favor either of complete decriminalization or legalization of marijuana. The British public also dismissed many of the U.S. government’s arguments made against marijuana: that it is a gateway drug that leads to “harder” drugs, that it is seriously addictive, and that marijuana users are violent criminals.

Specific poll results include:

52% of respondents support the new legislation disallowing arrests for most cases of cannabis possession
51% believe that marijuana should be either decriminalized (28%) or legalized (23%)
87% do not believe that marijuana creates a craving for harder drugs
Marijuana ranks 8th in terms of perceived addictiveness, behind tobacco, alcohol, and coffee
"We hope that U.S. politicians will learn from their British counterparts," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "As our closest allies start to recover from the failure of cannabis prohibition, we look more and more like a friend in serious denial."

Today’s legal change, which will place Britain in the majority of Western European nations in easing marijuana laws, will be achieved by re-classifying cannabis from a class “B” to a class “C” drug. Instead of arrest – and possibly jail – most people found in possession of small quantities of marijuana will be given a warning, a caution or a summons to court. The government action followed recommendations of a parliamentary committee in May 2002, and a 2001 report by the Police Foundation last year, which concluded that the penalties for marijuana possession in Britain— the harshest in Europe—did more damage than the drug itself, by wasting police resources and saddling otherwise law-abiding citizens with a criminal record.

Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to enforce and even step up their failed marijuana policy, spending more and more taxpayer money on policies that don’t work. This weekend, for example, the Office of National Drug Control Policy will unveil a new pair of costly television ads that target teenage marijuana use during the Superbowl and Survivor: All Stars. This media blitz is part of the ONDCP’s $150 million taxpayer-funded media budget. Previous ads compared American marijuana users to terrorists.

"Roughly 700,000 Americans are busted on marijuana charges every year, almost all of which are for possession alone," continued Nadelmann. "They can even lose their jobs or student loans or access to public housing. Alcohol prohibition did more harm than good. The same is true for marijuana prohibition."

The British public rejected key elements of the ONDCP’s alarmist rhetoric in the Daily Telegraph/YouGov Poll. Conducted by one of Britain’s most respected pollsters, the poll included more than 2,500 participants. It found that the majority of respondents thought of cannabis as less addictive than legal drugs like coffee, alcohol, and cigarettes. The majority (74%) also did not think that cannabis users were a lot more likely to use hard drugs. If a cannabis user also used hard drugs, the vast majority of respondents (83%) felt that it was not a result of cannabis creating a craving for harder drugs, but that they did so because "cannabis users find themselves part of a ‘drug culture’ with dealers pushing both hard and soft drugs." They also didn’t think of drugs as making addicts mentally unstable and therefore likely to commit crimes; any crime they associated with drugs they saw as the result of addicts stealing to get money to buy them.

In the U.S., marijuana, along with heroin and LSD, is classified as a "Schedule I" drug, despite substantial evidence that it is less harmful than tobacco or alcohol. The majority of western European countries -- including Switzerland, Spain, Belgium and Portugal -- have eliminated criminal penalties for cannabis possession, consumption, or both. In The Netherlands, sale of small quantities of cannabis is permitted in coffee shops. Switzerland has proposed a law that allows for the regulated sale and production of cannabis, putting the country on the cutting edge of reform in Europe.

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS!

Back to THE CANNABIS NEWS INDEX

HOME - ABOUT - PAST - CANNABIS NEWS - CANNABIS HISTORY

Medical - Industrial - Legal - Links

Cannabis Cafes - Hempen Images - Old Press Releases

Nimbin MardiGrass - Nimbin HEMP Bar - HEMP Party

Nimbin HEMP Embassy
51 Cullen Street, Nimbin, NSW 2480.
http://www.hempembassy.net/
Copyright � 2002 Nimbin HEMP Embassy.