CBS News: “Advocacy Group Seeks Pot Regulation, Education”

It has always struck me as a ironic that under our current drug prohibition policies, cannabis is legally defined as a “controlled” substance. By what definition? Right now, there are tens of millions of Americans of all ages purchasing unknown quantities of marijuana of variable quality from millions of unknown, unregulated dealers.

As for the absurdly titled Office of National Drug Control Policy, what on Earth do they think they’re controlling? Certainly not the domestic production of pot, which has increased ten-fold in the past 25 years from 1,000 metric tons (2.2 million pounds) to 10,000 metric tons (22 million pounds). Not the importation of pot, a mere 10 percent of which is likely interdicted by law enforcement annually. And most certainly not the use of pot, which has been tried by almost 100 million Americans — many of whom, according to the Drug Czar’s own rhetoric, are supposedly starting at younger and younger ages.

It’s drug law reformers — not prohibitionists — that wish to bring regulation and control to what is now an unregulated, illicit black market commodity. It is NORML, not the Drug Czar, that has testified in favor of taxing and regulating cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol — with the drug’s sale and use restricted to specific markets and consumers.

While such an alternative may not entirely eliminate the black market demand for pot, it would certainly be preferable to today’s blanket, though thoroughly ineffective, expensive and impotent criminal prohibition.

Advocacy group seeks pot regulation, education
via CBS News

(UWIRE.com) The response of marijuana advocacy groups concerning the steady increase of the drug’s potency has revealed an underground debate over whether marijuana is a harmful narcotic or a recreational drug, and the groups involved vary from the U.S. federal government and local law enforcement organizations to college students and scientists.

Founded in 1970, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws has provided a voice in the public policy debate for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition and favor an end to the practice of arresting marijuana smokers, the NORML Web site said.

NORML claims to represent the interests of millions of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly, the Web site said.

“Even by the University of Mississippi’s own admission, the average THC in domestically grown marijuana — which comprises the bulk of the US market — is less than five percent, a figure that’s remained unchanged for nearly a decade,” NORML deputy director Paul Armentano wrote in a letter sent to the editorial staff in the Tuesday issue of The Daily Mississippian.

The deputy director did not address the alleged connection between mental illness and marijuana use in his letter, but did later in a phone interview.”Nobody really knows the answer,” Armentano said. “We know those who suffer from depression and anxiety sometimes abuse substances like alcohol and cigarettes.”

Armentano said although he has not seen any research directly linking marijuana use and mental illness, he would not advise those with mental illness or a family history of mental illness to use marijuana.

“Use of any intoxicant has a risk,” Armentano said.

NORML supports regulation and education, he said.

A “targeted education campaign” similar to that of the recent alcohol campaigns would allow the general public to be educated about marijuana and its effects; regulation would ensure the product being sold was taxed and safe for the public to consume, he said.

The argument for regulation is that the government currently has no control over the drug market, Armentano said.Regulation could end the “anarchy” that exists within the system, he said.

NORML’s Weekly Legislative Round Up

Below is this week’s summary of pending state legislation and tips to help you become involved in changing the laws in your state.

California: A statewide sentencing reform measure, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act (NORA), has qualified to appear on the November 2008 ballot. If enacted, the proposal would amend the penalty for marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction – similar to a traffic ticket. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, which is backing the measure, “This single change will protect some 40,000 people a year convicted of simple marijuana possession from the serious and life-long collateral consequences of a criminal record.” You can learn more about NORA by clicking here.

California: Via: California NORML — Senate Resolution SJR 20, which seeks to halt federal law enforcement from prosecuting state-sanctioned medical cannabis patients and dispensaries, is expected to be voted on by the full Senate imminently. Californians may contact their state Senator via NORML’s online advocacy system here.

New York: The state Assembly passed legislation this week, A 4867B, which seeks to allow qualified patients to grow and possess medical cannabis under a doctor’s supervision. The proposal is now before the Senate Rules Committee which, unfortunately, has only hours to act on the bill before the legislature adjourns for the year. For further information on how you can become involved in this effort, please click here.

Florida: Governor Charlie Crist signed legislation into law this week enhancing criminal penalties for marijuana cultivation. As enacted, House Bill 173 (The Marijuana Grow House Eradication Act), allows judges to sentence those who cultivate more than 25 plants in their home to up to 15 years in jail (or up to 30 years in jail if a child is present.) NORML podcaster Russ Belville examines the obvious futility and unintended consequences of this new law here. 

Yet Even More Lies About Pot Potency

Okay, even I’m beginning to grow really, really tired of debunking this tripe.

Leave it to the ever exploitive folks at CASA (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University) to jump on the phony “It’s not your father’s pot” bandwagon. Their bogus claim — which CNN embarrassingly bought hook, line, and sinker — is that today’s allegedly stronger pot is responsible for the spike in the number of Americans enrolled in ‘drug treatment’ for cannabis.

Via Marketwire.com

From 1992 — 2006:

– There was a 175 percent jump in the potency of marijuana (3.2 to 8.8 percent THC concentration in seized samples).

– There was a 492 percent increase in the proportion of teen treatment admissions with a medical diagnosis for marijuana abuse or dependence, compared with a 54 percent decline for all other substances of abuse.

– There was a 188 percent increase in the proportion of teen treatment admissions for marijuana as the primary drug of abuse, compared with a 54 percent decline for all other substances of abuse.  

Notwithstanding that the potency figures cited by U-Miss are by the government’s own admission utter bullcrap, let me try to once again set the record straight in as few words as possible.

The recent spike in so-called marijuana ‘treatment’ admissions has nothing to do with marijuana; rather, it has everything to do with the public policies that criminalize its possession and use.

Noticeably absent from CASA’s press release (and CNN’s hatchet job) is the fact that marijuana arrests skyrocketed during this same period — from a modern low of 288,000 in 1991 to a record 830,000 in 2006.

Predictably, as record numbers of minor marijuana offenders have been arrested, a record number of judges and drug courts have been ordering defendants to attend ‘drug treatment’ in lieu of jail or as a requirement of their probation.

Nationally, according to data compiled by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration and published here, nearly 60 percent of all adolescents admitted to drug treatment for cannabis were ordered there by the criminal justice system. This percentage is almost a 50 percent increase since 1992. During this same time frame, “The proportion of admissions from [all] other referral sources declined.”

In other words, if Drug Czar John Walters and his ilk hadn’t been on a pot-arresting rampage over the past decade and a half — a rampage largely fueled by lies perpetuated by the likes of CASA and regurgitated by the talking heads at CNN — there would likely be fewer Americans in drug treatment for pot now than there were 16 years ago!

On a final note, I want to thank NORML podcaster extraordinaire Russ Belville for so diligently assisting me these past few days in debunking these ‘potent pot’ myths. If you have not heard his articulate call in to The Dr. Drew radio show yesterday — a call that left the good doctor tongue-tied — I suggest you immediately download an archive of the show (of which Drug Czar John Walters and I were both guests) here. Russ also has a comprehensive transcript of and rebuttal to the Drug Czar’s ridiculous on-air statements here.

Exposing ‘Potent Pot’ Myths (Part 3)

UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!! (AGAIN)

I’ll be appearing live this afternoon on the Dr. Drew (Pinsky) Live nationally syndicated radio show to discuss this issue further. I will be appearing at 12:35pm pst (3:35pm est), just minutes after Drug Czar John Walters, who no doubt will claim that supposedly ‘potent pot’ supposedly causes brain damage, depression, addiction and every other malady known to man.

To stream the show live, click here. To find a local radio affiliate in your area, click here.

Several media outlets, including the influential Huffington Post, have run with my rebuttal to last week’s Associated Press story regarding the federal government’s specious claims of ridiculously potent pot.

My personal favorite: Today’s op/ed in The Daily Mississippian, which is the daily newspaper for the University of Mississippi. For those who don’t know, the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy is home to NIDA’s Potency Monitoring Project, the very group responsible for this questionable ‘study.’

Let’s hope that Dr. ElSohly and all of his PMP colleagues read the morning paper!

UPDATE!!! UPDATE!!!

It’s just come to my attention that the following essay is making waves at the Office of National Drug Control Policy, where the Drug Czar’s minions have actually taken the time to respond to it. Now, I know that nobody actually reads the Drug Czar’s blog on their own, so here’s the link. (You can also read Russ Belville’s excellent deconstruction of the Czar’s reply here.)

As Gandhi once said, “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.” Well, I guess it’s safe to say we’re at the stage where they finally fight! You know what comes next.

‘Potency pot’ is all hype
via The Daily Mississippian

by Paul Armentano

Government claims of highly potent pot must be taken with a grain of salt (“Marijuana THC potency levels highest in 30 years,” June 16, 2008). As is the case with any black market commodity, definitive facts are difficult if not impossible to come by.

That said, even by the University of Mississippi’s own admission, the average THC in domestically grown marijuana — which comprises the bulk of the US market — is less than five percent, a figure that’s remained unchanged for nearly a decade.

By contrast, the average strength of imported cannabis has grown in recent years. Nevertheless, non-domestic marijuana comprises only a small fraction of the domestic market. To imply that this rare, unusually potent cannabis is reflective of what is typically available on the US market is highly (and purposely) misleading.

Furthermore, it must be noted that THC — regardless of potency — is non-toxic and incapable of causing a fatal overdose. Currently, doctors may legally prescribe a FDA-approved pill that contains 100 percent THC, and curiously, nobody at the University of Mississippi or at the Drug Czar’s office seems particularly concerned about it.

It should also be noted that most cannabis consumers actually prefer less potent pot, just as the majority of those who drink alcohol prefer beer or wine over hard liquor. If and when consumers encounter unusually strong varieties of marijuana, they adjust their use accordingly and smoke less.

Of course, if lawmakers and government researchers were really concerneda bout potential risks posed by potent marijuana, they would support regulating the drug, so that its potency would be known to the consumer.

So if today’s pot is essentially the same plant it’s always been with any marginal increase in potency akin to the difference between a cup of tea and an espresso why is the government claiming otherwise? Mainly to scare parents, particularly those millions of parents who may have, without incident, experimented with marijuana in the 1970s, when they were about the same age as their children are today. Fortunately for them, while the feds’ latest “reefer rhetoric” may sound alarming, there’s little substance behind the hype. 

“Unlike Law Enforcement, I Interact With Medical Marijuana Patients”

Lawmakers in New York continue to debate legislation that seeks to legalize medical cannabis for qualified patients. Meanwhile, opponents of this compassionate and common sense measure argue that acknowledging the known therapeutic benefits of cannabis and protecting those who could benefit from its use inexplicably “exploits” the seriously ill.

Unlike medi-pot opponents, I actually interact with cannabis patients. Often, they seek me out — writing me testimonials like the one below. Perhaps if more politicians and, God forbid, members of law enforcement shared in these sort of one-on-one interactions, they’d change their tune. Or perhaps, they would do what Presidential hopeful John McCain did, and simply turn their backs.

Letters for June 16, 2008
via The Oneonta Daily Star

Marijuana works as a medicine

Kudos for your editorial support in favor of legally protecting patients who use cannabis therapy under the guidance of their physician (“Medical marijuana makes sense,” June 7).

While authoring the recent publication, “Emerging Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids: A Review of the Scientific Literature” (NORML Foundation 2008), I reviewed more than 150 clinical and preclinical studies assessing the therapeutic value of cannabis and its active compounds to treat symptoms — and in some cases moderate disease progression — in a variety of illness, including multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, diabetes and Lou Gehrig’s disease. Nearly all of the studies cited in my work were published within the past eight years.

Unlike many politicians and law enforcement officials, I frequently interact with medical marijuana patients. Many of them write to me daily, as do their physicians. Often they tell me stories like this: “I was recently diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor inside the left temporal lobe of my brain. I had surgery, and I’ve just started chemotherapy and radiation. The surgeon actually apologized for the fact that he could not write me a prescription for marijuana, but he told me it was safe to smoke. … Marijuana is saving my life right now; it has helped to kill my seizures, nausea, dizziness, and calm my headaches. If marijuana can help me with all my other problems in addition to possibly reducing the size of my tumor and extending my life, then why on earth would our government not allow me to have it?”

Why indeed?

Paul Armentano

Washington, D.C.

Armentano is deputy director of NORML and the NORML Foundation. 

Television ads in favor of pending medical cannabis legislation are now airing in select markets of New York state. To view the ad, click here. To learn more about what you can do to support efforts to legalize medical marijuana in New York, please click here.