NORML // Current TV

Legalize Marijuana, End Drug Cartels and Save Forests

There is a great editorial in a Southern Oregon newspaper today called “Legalize... more

joeeddy
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THis is not surprising, but why wait?

going" to cash in

chrisntom
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5 months ago
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President Obama advertises on NORML’s YouTube Channel

Remember when we were told that “legalization isn’t in the... more

lordsbassman
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This should go aroud to everyone who understands the importance of the phrase "my brother, my friend"

[Editor's note: This post is excerpted from this week's forthcoming NORML weekly media advisory. To have NORML's media alerts and legislative advisories delivered straight to your in-box, sign up here.]

The consumption of cannabis, even long-term, poses few adverse effects on cognitive performance, according to clinical trial data to be published in the scientific journal Addiction.

Investigators at the University of Melbourne and the Australian National University, Center for Mental Health Research assessed the impact of cannabis use on various measures of memory and intelligence in over 2,000 self-identified marijuana consumers and non-users over an eight-year period. Among cannabis consumers, subjects were grouped into the following categories: ‘heavy’ (once a week or more) users, ‘light’ users, ‘former heavy’ users, ‘former light’ users, and ‘always former’ — a category that consisted of respondents who had ceased using marijuana prior to their entry into the study.

Researchers reported: “Only with respect to the immediate recall measure was there evidence of an improved performance associated with sustained abstinence from cannabis, with outcomes similar to those who had never used cannabis at the end point. On the remaining cognitive measures, after controlling for education and other characteristics, there were no significant differences associated with cannabis consumption.”

They concluded, “Therefore, the adverse impacts of cannabis use on cognitive functions either appear to be related to pre-existing factors or are reversible in this community cohort even after potentially extended periods of use.”

Separate studies have previously reported that long-term marijuana use is not associated with residual deficits in neurocognitive function. Specifically, a 2001 study published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry found that chronic cannabis consumers who abstained from the drug for one week “showed virtually no significant differences from control subjects (those who had smoked marijuana less than 50 times in their lives) on a battery of 10 neuropsychological tests. … Former heavy users, who had consumed little or no cannabis in the three months before testing, [also] showed no significant differences from control subjects on any of these tests on any of the testing days.”

Additionally, studies have also implied that cannabis may be neuroprotective against alcohol-induced cognitive deficits. A 2009 study by investigators at the University of California and San Diego reported that binge drinkers who also used cannabis experienced significantly less white matter damage to the brain as compared to subjects who consumed alcohol alone.

For more information regarding the impact of cannabis on brain function, see NORML’s factsheet ‘Cannabis and the Brain: A User’s Guide,’ here.

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[Editor's note: This post is excerpted from this week's forthcoming NORML... more

chrisntom
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7 months ago
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Who Are America’s Medical Marijuana Patients

Analysis by California NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer, Ph.D An interesting new... more

lordsbassman
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7 months ago
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4 comments

It was forty years ago today… The “War on Drugs” from Nixon’s White House Tapes

It was forty years ago today, Richard Nixon taught the world to hate The people who... more

love_is_my_religion
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8 months ago
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Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis

Medical Marijuana From Sea to Shining Sea? A Lawsuit Wants to Force Feds to Say Yes to Pot

joeeddy
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9 months ago
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The Tea Belt of America slipped in a cute new law that's pretty scary...

God forbid you were born prior to 1950 and/or your birth certificate was improperly... more

dawgkat
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9 months ago
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245 comments

Enough With The Pot Jokes

This is Serious - it affects all of us, and it should be the easiest thing to cut to decrease the nation's debt. Alcohol Prohibition didn't work, and arresting people for ganja doesn't work, so why not make people who sell card for age verification and get it legal already?
Every one might benefit medically from cannabis at some point in their life, and it prevents cancer and neuro-degenerative diseases, so cut the doctors note bureaucracy and make it over the counter for adults.

In 2007 there were over 850,000 marijuana arrests (PDF). The United States has only 5% of the worlds population but imprisons 25% of its prisoners. The federal government spent over $15 billion on the drug war in 2010, or a rate of $500 a second. Our country is 66% non-Hispanic white people but 70% of our prisoners are non-white. The justice system is overwhelmingly unfriendly to the poor. And on and on.

I don't understand how it can possibly remain the case that these facts are out there and yet marijuana legalization is somehow seen as a less than serious issue. This is a social justice issue. This is a racial justice issue. This is a deficit reduction issue. This is an issue of elementary personal freedoms. But we can't fix things as long as people who are ostensibly in favor of decriminalization continue to say so with a smirk, or relegate the issue to the margins, or treat it as a distraction or joke. It's time to get serious about a serious and deeply troubling issue.

(Photo: Darnell Thomas (L) reads while his cellmate Freddron Mendoza works on his poetry in their cell at Sheridan Correctional Center on November 14, 2005 in Sheridan, Illinois. A dedicated center for the treatment of inmates with drug and alcohol abuse problems, the state opened Sheridan in January 2004 to combat a recidivism rate of 54% in its penal system. Nearly 69 percent of all inmates in the Illinois prison system are serving time for drug or alcohol related offenses. The recidivism rate for prisoners who have served time at Sheridan is only 7.7 percent. By Scott Olson/Getty Images)This is Serious - it affects all of us, and it should be the easiest thing to cut to... more

juicie
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11 months ago
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10 comments

Pot Growers Portrayed as Terrorists

What were they smoking? Federal, state and local officials carrying out a... more

rodstradamus
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1 year ago
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5 comments

The Flower - A great littile important animation! Must see!

"The Flower contrasts a utopian society that freely farms and consumes a pleasure... more

PoliticalGeek
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1 year ago
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CT: Decriminalization Bill

After 2007's marijuana decriminalization bill was thrown out due to a threat by... more

Dmerza1989
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1 year ago
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URGENT CALL FOR SOLIDARITY

The life of Bernard Rappaz, Swiss hemp pioneer and activist imprisoned since 20 March,... more

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1 year ago
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Funny weed smokers comedy Show Ep2Pt3of4

Funny weed smokers comedy Show where we have an editorial on the Michael Phelps... more

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1 year ago
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New Strain Of Medicinal Marijuana Announced

NORML - Next week’s Patients Out of Time (P.O.T.) conference in Rhode Island features numerous speakers and interesting topics, but the announcement by Harborside Health Center of the development a new Cannabidol-centric strain of cannabis I suspect will be of great interest to patients, medical providers and cultivators.

I think it also a shining example of why the Drug Enforcement Administration should not bust and harass laboratories contracted or operated by cannabis wellness centers that test and analyze cannabis that is sold into the medical collective for the very reason that these forensic labs provide necessary patient information regarding potency, purity and medicinal effects based on plant strain.

The availability of a new type of medical cannabis strain will be presented for the first time by Steve DeAngelo, who has been featured on CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, and The New York Times as Executive Director of one of the nation’s top model and non-profit medical cannabis dispensaries, Harborside Health Center in Oakland, California.

DeAngelo will announce the availability of this type of non-psychoactive cannabis that has been lab tested with California strains with CBD (Cannabidol) at the 6th Annual National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics on Friday, April 16th at 12PM Noon at The Crown Plaza Hotel, 801 Greenwich Avenue, Warwick, Rhode Island.

Conference information can be found at: www.medicalcannabis.com

For three decades, DeAngelo has been an engaging speaker as he cuts through the stigma, and delivers the true facts about cannabis. His exciting and important presentation will include results of the first large scale analytical study of California’s medical cannabis supply, which revealed that one of the most medically efficacious cannabinoids—CBD—has been bred out of plants grown primarily for psychoactive effect. Only within the past year have CBD-rich cannabis varieties been identified, thanks to an analytical chemistry lab that DeAngelo helped launch.

Recent research has demonstrated that CBD is effective in slowing or reversing a number of different types of cancer; as well as other serious illnesses. In response to the shortage of CBD rich cannabis varieties, Harborside has initiated a program to identify such strains, and encourage growers to propagate them. Because CBD modulates the psycho activity of THC, some patients respond better to varieties of cannabis which couple low THC levels with high CBD levels, because they enhance medical efficacy while reducing or eliminating psycho activity. This is particularly true for cannabis-naïve patients, who have no prior experience with it, prior to receiving a recommendation from their doctor. “Ultimately, there will be greater demand for CBD-rich cannabis, than there is for cannabis that just gets you high” predicts DeAngelo. “Only a small percentage of people enjoy the psycho activity of cannabis, but almost everybody can benefit from its medical properties”.

The 6th Annual Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics is the only one of its kind in the United States for health professional to learn about the many benefits of cannabis therapeutics. Medical professionals can receive their CME (Continuing Education) credits for attending this forum through the University of California, San Francisco.
http://blog.norml.org/2010/04/09/new-strain-of-medicinal-marijuana-announced/NORML - Next week’s Patients Out of Time (P.O.T.) conference in Rhode Island... more