As always, the first casualty in war is truth — and nowhere is this more evident than in Great Britain, where Prime Minister Gordon Brown appears intent on recriminalizing cannabis over the vehement objections of his own scientific advisory panel of experts and even the police.

Hysteria Over Cannabis Getting In The Way Of Truth
via The Observer

First, cannabis remains the most commonly used illegal drug. But its use has been falling steadily since 2000, with no hint that this decline was affected by reclassification. Home Office statistics show that cannabis use by 16- to 24-year-olds has fallen by about 20 per cent since 2004. So, if we naively argue from correlations (the basis of so much of the evidence about harm), returning cannabis to B would be expected to increase its use.

Second, there is concern about the message that reclassification has sent. But there is no evidence that classification influences the attitude of young people to drugs. Amphetamines, cocaine and ecstasy are all runners-up to cannabis in the league table of popularity in this country - and they are all class A. Usage of cocaine has grown over the past eight years, as that of cannabis has declined.

Third, there is, quite rightly, a particular worry about young people. Yet the the government’s own figures show that only one 11-year-old in 150 has tried cannabis in the last year, while 4 per cent have sniffed glue and fully 21 per cent have drunk alcohol.

Read the full article here.

And speaking of hysteria, cannabis, and British PM Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister has recently begun claiming that pot is “lethal,” despite the well-known fact that a human overdose from weed is physically impossible.

Pot lethal?! Hardly.

Pot prohibition on the other hand…

Timothy Garon is dead. Why did he die?

The medical records will show that he died due to complications associated with massive liver failure. He would have likely survived longer if he received a timely organ transplant but was denied access because he followed his physician’s recommendation, used medical cannabis during his treatments for liver disease, therefore testing positive for THC metabolites and rather than receive the gift of a potentially longer life—instead doctors at the University of Washington deferred to federal prohibition laws and mores, handing Tim a death sentence.

There are no pharmacological or physiological reasons why Tim Garon, or any medical marijuana patient, should logically be denied access to life-saving or life-enhancing organ transplants.

In my view, commonsense and humanity were completely lacking here on the part of the doctors who denied Tim and his family a chance at a continued life together.

Full Story

A funny thing happens when the US government begrudgingly allows for double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials evaluating the therapeutic efficacy of inhaled cannabis.  

Investigators discover time after time that it works! 

Here are the results from the latest study, conducted at California’s Center for Medical Cannabis Research.   

Low-dose pot eases pain while keeping mind clear
via Reuters News Wire

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) — Giving carefully calibrated doses of smoked marijuana to people with neuropathic pain, which can be difficult-to-treat and extremely painful, can ease their pain without clouding their minds, California researchers report.

Read the full story here. 

Unfortunately, according to recently released legal filings, fewer than 20 investigators in the United States currently possess federal approval to conduct legal clinical research on whole smoked cannabis. (Not surprisingly, most of these researchers are conducting trials that seek to assess the potential physical and mental harms allegedly associated with the drug.) In addition, state funding for the CMCR — which has backed virtually all of the medical cannabis research conducted over the past several years — has dried up and no new appropriations are likely.

Of course, federal officials could readily step in with grant money to keep this important clinical research going — after all, just last month the US National Institute on Drug Abuse announced that it would be spending millions to establish the first-ever ‘Center on Cannabis Addiction‘ — but, needless to say, I’m not holding my breath.

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

New Hampshire: House Bill 1623, which would decriminalize the possession of small amounts of cannabis, was passed by the House on March 18. The Senate Judiciary Committee will now hold an important hearing on this bill at 3:00 PM on April 22. All supporters are encouraged to attend. Additionally, our allies at NH Common Sense are now encouraging supporters to contact Governor John Lynch directly and urge him to rethink his assertion that he will veto HB 1623 if it reaches his desk. New Hampshire supporters are strongly encouraged to urge their Representatives and the Governor to support these bills via NORML’s online advocacy system.

Minnesota: Minnesota’s House Ways and Means Committee has approved Senate File 345, along with its companion bill, House File 655. From Ways and Means, it now goes to a House floor vote, and if passed there, the Governor’s desk. This legislation would ensure that medical marijuana patients in Minnesota would no longer have to fear arrest or prosecution from state law enforcement. However, Governor Pawlenty has indicated that he is inclined to veto this bill if it gets to his desk. Minnesotans are strongly encouraged to urge their Representatives and the Governor to support these bills via NORML’s online advocacy system.

California: In an important victory for medical marijuana patients, the California Assembly Judiciary committee approved Assembly Bill 2279, sponsored by Assemblyman Mark Leno. This bill would protect Prop 215 patients from employment discrimination, most notably via urine testing. (The bill does not protect workers in safety-sensitive jobs, including law enforcement). The measure was approved on a party-line vote with 6 Democrats in favor, 3 Republicans opposed, and one Democrat abstaining. NORML will continue to update you on the progress of this important bill.

Rhode Island: The Rhode Island Senate Committee on Health and Human Services unanimously approved Senate Bill 2623 on Wednesday, April 9. SB 2693 would set up a dispensary system for Rhode Island’s state-qualified medical cannabis patients, and will now go before the Senate floor. Rhode Islanders are strongly encouraged to write their Senate and House members in support of this measure and its companion bill, House Bill 7888, through NORML’s online advocacy system.

According to US government-speak, the answer is “because they’re addicted.”   

Fortunately, more rational minds know differently. Most recently, a Canadian research team took the time to actually interview various cannabis consumers. Their findings appear in the current issue of the journal Substance Use and Misuse, and provide a telling, albeit predictable, look into the motivations of the ‘typical’ marijuana user.

Why do tens of millions of adults all over the world smoke pot?

In short, because they enjoy it!

Understanding the Motivations for Recreational Marijuana Use Among Adult Canadians

Substance Use & Misuse, Vol. 43, Issue 3 & 4, February 2008: pages 539-572

The primary purpose of this study was to develop a better understanding of what motivates a selected group of adult[s] to use marijuana and to explore the social contexts in which it is used. …. Using interviews to gain insight into the subjective experiences of the participants, this research corroborated the results of previous studies that found that most adult marijuana users regulate use to their recreational time and do not use compulsively. Rather, their use is purposively intended to enhance their leisure activities and manage the challenges and demands of living in contemporary modern society. Generally, participants reported using marijuana because it enhanced relaxation and concentration, making a broad range of leisure activities more enjoyable and pleasurable.

According to a recent UPI news wire story, researchers are now proposing prescribing the psychoactive prescription drug Lithium to so-called ‘pot addicts’ to help them kick the habit.  But just who are these alleged ‘addicts?’    

According to the latest statistics from the US Department of Health and Human Services, a startling high number of US government-defined marijuana ‘addicts’ don’t even smoke pot! That’s right, according to a recent DHS report, more than one-third of Americans entered into drug treatment with a primary diagnosis of marijuana ‘dependency’ haven’t used pot in the month prior to their admission.

How’s this possible? It’s possible because the majority of folks admitted to ‘drug treatment’ for pot don’t need treatment at all, but were arrested and ordered by a judge to attend rehab in lieu of going to jail.

Nevertheless, the White House touts this phony ‘data’ as evidence that marijuana is allegedly more dangerous than cocaine or heroin, and NIDA touts these numbers as evidence to support multi-million dollar ‘Cannabis Addiction Centers.’

Looking for the truth about marijuana use and dependency? Look no further than my recent Alternet.org essay on the subject here, or you can ‘digg’ it here.