Thursday, December 18, 2003

ACLU Challenges DEA's Use Of RAVE Act To Target NORML Events Portland, OR: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oregon recently filed a complaint with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) over the agency's effort to shut down the second annual Oregon Medical Cannabis Awards Banquet, sponsored by Oregon NORML. Though the Banquet went on as scheduled at the Doubletree Hotel, DEA officials approached the venue's management prior to the event and warned them that they could be federally fined and prosecuted under the "RAVE Act" if it took place. Under the provisions of the "RAVE Act," formally known as the Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2003, federal law enforcement may prosecute business owners if they make their property available for "the purpose of manufacturing, distributing, or using any controlled substance." ACLU of Oregon spokesperson David Fidanque said that the DEA is misusing the Act to try to silence opponents of the government's drug policies. "The only two instances the DEA has used this law have been against NORML, where NORML was publicizing medical marijuana laws and their opposition to federal law and federal policies," he said. "We think it's clear that the DEA did this for political reasons because of their political opposition to NORML's politics." Findanque also noted that uniformed Portland police officers were posted outside the banquet room doors, and that their presence may have violated Oregon laws and city policies prohibiting police from spying on the political activities of individuals and organizations. This was a bad law that never should have been passed (Senator Joe Biden for all of you in Delaware), and despite the DEA's assurance that it would not be mis-used, is bound to be used to harrass drug policy reformers. And Karen Tandy, the head of the DEA, has made it clear that she won't specify the criteria the DEA uses. 7:20:40 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

FDA Approves First Ever Clinical Trial Comparing Inhaled Marijuana To Vaporized Pot Via NORML: Washington, DC: The US Food and Drug Administration has granted permission for investigators funded by California's Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR) to conduct the first ever human trial comparing inhaled marijuana to vaporized cannabis. The clinical trial, which will be conducted by Dr. Donald Abrams of the University of California at San Francisco, will commence in early 2004, according to a news release issued by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). The pending study will compare subjective effects, cannabinoid blood levels, and carbon monoxide levels in inhaled breath in volunteers following both smoking and vaporizing marijuana. MAPS President Rick Doblin said that the use of vaporizer technology in clinical research "will demonstrate that we can address all reasonable concerns about the safety of marijuana as medicine." According to a previous laboratory analysis study completed earlier this year by California NORML and MAPS, toxins in marijuana smoke produced by combustion are eliminated by the use of a vaporization device. In that study, marijuana vapors produced by the Volcano vaporizer were found to consist overwhelmingly of THC, and contained only minute amounts (less than 5 percent) of a suspected carcinogen, according to a gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GCMS) analysis of the vapor. By contrast, combusted smoke contained over 100 other chemicals, including several polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), carcinogenic toxins that are common in tobacco smoke. In general, the respiratory hazards of marijuana smoke are due to toxic byproducts of combustion, not the active ingredients of the plant, known as cannabinoids. Vaporizers heat marijuana at a temperature sufficient to vaporize cannabinoids (about 200° C), but short of the point of combustion, which is approximately 250° C. This is important, because the Drug Czar keeps using the "medicine isn't smoked" argument to negate all medical benefits of marijuana (it's all they have left). Eventually, the sheer magnitude of scientific evidence for medical marijuana has got to topple the administration's war on the sick. 7:11:03 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Bill Maher on Larry King Yesterday's Larry King show, included this exchange with Bill Maher and a caller: KING: Oakville, Ontario, hello. CHAMNEY: Hi, Mr. Maher, I'm absolutely thrilled to be speaking with you. MAHER: Well, I'm thrilled to be talking to you, too. CHAMNEY: My question for you is, do you plan on staying behind the marijuana mission? I don't know if you've realized... MAHER: I do. CHAMNEY: But you've saved peoples' lives up here in Canada and the United States. It was because of you discussing it on TV and a Web site called The Marijuana Mission that made my family understand what marijuana does for people. And it actually stopped my grandma's seizures. So, I'm no longer considered an epileptic just because I smoke it every day. And I appreciate you so much. And we talk about you up here all the time. You should run for Congress, sir. MAHER: Thank you. CHAMNEY: You remind me so much of my lawyer Alan Young, and he is the greatest one up here speaking about marijuana and you keep on talking down there, buddy. MAHER: You keep puffing as the president said, let's roll. It's a good opportunity for me to bring up Tommy Chong. Tommy of "Cheech and Chong," you know he's in jail right now. He was... KING: I didn't know. MAHER: On the anniversary of 9/11, that's how brazen this Justice Department is. On the anniversary of 9/11, they arrested Tommy Chong for selling bongs over the Internet, Larry. We cannot allow that to happen. Do you feel safer? Do you feel safer now? This is what I would like to say to the Bush administration about that. You can't have it both ways. Either 9/11 was such a transforming event and is such a dire threat that we need the Patriotic Act, the Patriotic Act II which could curtail a lot of civil liberties that we need to go to Iraq or you can bust Tommy Chung. You can't it have both ways. You can't have the Patriotic Act and curtail the civil liberties because 9/11 was that bad and also have the time to go after Tommy Chung for selling bongs on the Internet. Can't have it both ways. KING: You favor the legalization? MAHER: Of course. Another no-brainer. There's a religion out there, too, having to do with drug laws. It's also nonsense. KING: You'd legalize all drugs? MAHER: I would. Yes. But obviously other drugs, it is a different situation, because other drugs can be very dangerous... Thanks to Tim Meehan for the tip 7:03:40 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []