The grassroots resistance movement continues to grow, as these protesters take to the street in Livingston, Michigan, where a dispensary was raided and the owners arraigned on charges they delivered marijuana to an undercover officer posing as a medical marijuana patient.
As a mother of four children, Robin Schneider sympathizes with women who try to provide medical marijuana in a safe, legal place.The Lansing-area woman uses a medical marijuana ointment on her back to relieve chronic pain from a serious fall when she was 19, and she said she won’t travel to a “back alley” to get a substance voters have determined is now legal for limited use in Michigan.
Schneider was one of 15 protesters outside Brighton’s District Court, where a Handy Township couple, who operated a medical marijuana dispensary that was twice raided by police, was being arraigned on charges they delivered marijuana to an undercover officer posing as a medical marijuana patient.
One of the owners, Christi Marshall, is a mother, Schneider noted.
“I’m grateful to them for helping so many people obtain medical marijuana safely,” she said.
Patient and medical marijuana supporter Robin Schneider, left, and Jamie Lowell carry signs outside Brighton's District Court protesting recent raids and legal action against Handy Township's Marshall Alternatives.
Caregiver Anne Johnson protests recent busts in Livingston County as she stands outside of Livingston County District Court in Brighton Thursday morning. Photo taken 06/23/2011 in Brighton Michigan. Photo by ALAN WARD / DAILY PRESS & ARGUS
7/7/2011 by Jahan Marcu – The annual International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) meeting is taking place this week in Chicago. I’m here with over 250 researchers to take in 55 presentations on the subject of Cannabis and cannabinoids. This year I’m also honored to be presenting some of my recent work. The ICRS meeting is a unique and concentrated pool of cannabinoid science showcasing the latest breakthroughs.
The morning presentations on the opening day were devoted to the study of cannabinoids in learning and memory.
Indole derivatives such as WIN55212, a compound that is related to JWH-018, may disrupt learning and memory in a way that is much more distinct than THC.
The first talk was given via Skype with Dr. Robert Hampson from Wake Forest University in North Carolina. WIN55212 suppresses the encoding of new information but does not suppress memory recall. The research supports the role of cannabinoids in learning and memory, modulating the strength of neural encoding for long and short term storage. This research may help develop drugs for the treatment of PTSD or learning disabilities.
Next Marocoita Gilbert of East Carolina University gave a stunning presentation on the effects of cannabinoids on memory in birds (Finches). Birds and humans learn to communicate through vocal learning, imitating sounds of the parents. In birds the song can be passed down from parents to offspring. WIN55212 reduced the ability of birds to memorize songs, which was directly correlated with a down regulation in an important brain protein known as ARC. These finches tended to improvise the song! In a sense, the finches that were given a cannabinoid would preform jazz instead of classical.
Dr. Jerry Wright Jr. of Scripps Research Institute conducted a study on the effects of visual memory and learning in monkeys, using pure THC. The monkeys correct responses were affected by the number of stimuli given to the monkeys. Conceptually, if the monkeys were only doing one task, there was no difference. However, as the number of tasks increased, the monkeys incorrect responses increased. Interestingly, the psychomotor or coordination of monkeys was unaffected in raisin and pellet acquisition tests which required manual dexterity.
The research presentations then focused on pain and inflammation. In short, the following studies showed that Endocannabinoids such as PEA are effective in treating models of arthritis, pain, and inflammation.
Dr. Barbara Costa began by discussing that existing arthritis drugs are restricted to analgesics (pain management) with limited efficacy and lots of side effects. Cannabinoids may represent a reasonable approach to this chronic condition. PEA speeds recovery. Strong decreases could be found in inflammation, pain, and positive increase in peripheral nerves; where arthritis impairs movement. Dr. Costa suggested that endocannabinoids should be compared with a steroid; compared or co-applied with NSAIDS.
James Burton of the University of Nottingham showed that PEA was also able to inhibit immune cell migration, a hallmark of tissue damage and inflammation. Sharleen Yuan from the University of South Dakota complimented the pain research by showing data that outlined the mechanisms modulating EC signaling in neurons.
Ending the first symposium of the ICRS conference, Aron Lichtman from Virginia Commonwealth University shared research on a new drug, JZL184 which shares many properties of THC without motor skill effects.
The second session focused on the effects of cannabinoids on the gut and intestinal disease.
Poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are precursors to many important biological factors. Amino acids are thought to form conjugations with fatty acids to mediate important events related to neuro-transmission. Dr. Kitty Verhoeckx shared her team’s discovery of fatty acid serotonins which were able to inhibit the FAAH enzyme, which raises the levels of endocannabinoids in the body. The research studied the effect of various combinations of oils (fish, sunflower) on the metabolism of these N-Acyl serotonins in animals. The production of fatty acid seratonins was directly related to diet.
Erin Rock from the University of Guekph presented research on Cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is usually the second most adundant cannabinoid on the Cannabis plant. CBD does not appear to activate the cannabinoid receptors, CB1 or CB2. Instead CBD appears to interact with serotonin receptors (5HT-1A) to reduce nausea and vomiting. CBD may be an effective anti-nausea and anti-vomiting drugs for cancer patients.
Steven Kinsey of the Virginia Commonwealth University showed that THC could block the formation of gastric hemmorages. Additonally, the protective effect of THC was mimicked by raising endocannabinoids through FAAH inhibition. FAAH is the enzyme that breakdown endocannabinoids. JZL184 knocked down and almost completely blocked hemorrhages, but tolerance developed after 6 days, if larger doses are administered chronically.
Dr. Alhouayek from the University of Louvain shared her work on inflammatory bowl disease (IBD) and cannabinoids. IBD occurs in about 10,000 people a year in developed countries. The root causes of IBD are unknown and a curative therapy remains elusive. Activating CB receptors is protective while blocking the receptors makes Colitis or IBD much worse. AEA is known for its protective effect but little is known about the effectiveness of 2-AG. Mice with IBD were effectively treated by raising the body’s own natural endocannabinoids, using synthetic compounds known as JZL184 and URB597. Colon tissue was shown to be protected by raising the levels of endocannabinoids. The protective effects were stopped by blocking by CB1 and CB2 receptors. CB1 and CB2 activity is important for a healthy colon. However, it was the elevated levels of the endocannabinoid 2-AG that were thought to be responsible for the beneficial effects.
The day ended with a flurry of cancer research highlighting the effectiveness of CBD to treat wide variety of cancers.
Members of Cristina Sanchez’s and Manuel Guzman’s labs from Spain discussed mechanisms of cancers, demonstrating the role of CB2 and GPR55 in cancer pathogenesis.
Dr. Alessia Ligresti from the Italian Endocannabinoid Research Group looked at 12 different plant cannabinoids and found that CBD was a potent anti-cancer agent against prostate cancer.
Dr. Sean McAllister from the California Pacific Medical Center demonstrated the effectiveness of CBD to treat aggressive cancer cells that were removed from cancer patients.
Lastly, Gabriella Aviello from the University of Naples showed how CBD may prevent or treat colon cancer, one most common and deadliest forms of cancer in the western world.
CBD was the star of the show on opening day here at ICRS, demonstrating potent anti-cancer effects in a variety of cancer types. CBD shows great promise, and may be used in an upcoming clinical trial with breast cancer, organized in part by Dr. Sean McAllister.
Jahan Marcu is currently investigating the pharmacology of cannabinoid receptors. He was working at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute when exciting discoveries were made showing enhanced anti-cancer effects with THC and CBD from the Cannabis plant. The findings were published in the Journal of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. In 2009 he received the Billy Martin Award from the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS). Jahan is currently the vice-chair the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board at Americans for Safe Access (ASA). Questions? Contact [email protected]
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent any University, business or affiliates. While the information provided in this blog is from published scientific studies it is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease.
WNYC, the local public radio station for America’s biggest metropolis, trained their microphones on the police practices concerning marijuana arrests. NYC has the dubious distinction of having the greatest number of marijuana arrests for any locality – it surpasses many whole states. Still, the urban police practice of targeting young, African-American marijuana consumers is not isolated to the Big Apple. Similar racial disparities exist in Philadelphia and likely in most other large cities.
[This is the first story in a two-part series. Read the second part here.]
Police arrest 140 people every day in New York City for possessing small amounts of marijuana. It’s now by far the most common misdemeanor charge in the city, and thousands of these arrests take place when police stop-and-frisk young men in the poorest neighborhoods. While police say these stop-and-frisks are a way to find guns, what they find more often is a bag of marijuana.
An investigation by WNYC suggests that some police officers may be violating people’s constitutional rights when they are making marijuana arrests. Current and former cops, defense lawyers and more than a dozen men arrested for the lowest-level marijuana possession say illegal searches take place during stop-and-frisks, which are street encounters carried out overwhelmingly on blacks and Latinos. READ FULL STORY
By – Jahan Marcu, Science EditorThere are numerous references in popular Cannabis literature which claim that Cannabis strains can smell like mango, melon, and even grapes. Well, it might not be their imagination. The odor of cannabis comes from over 120 terpenes (a.k.a. terpenoids fragrance molecules) that are made by the plant(1).Continue reading full article at cannabination.com
5/11/2011 – The number should be zero, but marijuana possession arrests in New York City have soared to over 50,000 per year. That’s almost as many pot arrests that are seen annually in New Jersey and Pennsylvania combined. A new bill has been introduced in Albany that is looking to solve this $75 million dollar problem.
SB 5187 would seek to make the Big Apple follow a 1977 New York state law that removed the criminal penalties for the possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults. The bill makes for compelling reading as it succinctly and unequivocally reinforces cannabis decriminalization.
PURPOSE:
To standardize criminal penalties for unlawful possession of marihuana.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS: This bill amends sections 221.05 and 221.10 of the penal law to standardize penalties for unlawful possession of marihuana.
JUSTIFICATION:
In 1977, the Legislature made possession of small amounts of marihuana a violation punishable by a fine, while possession in public view was made a misdemeanor. The intent behind the law was clear.
Chapter 360 of the Laws of 1977 reads: “The legislature finds that arrests, criminal prosecutions and criminal penalties are inappropriate for people who possess small quantities of marihuana for personal use. Every year, this process needlessly scars thousands of lives and waste millions of dollars in law enforcement resources, while detracting from the prosecution of serious crime.”
According to data from the Division of Criminal Justice Services, in 2010, a total of 54,813 people were arrested for this offense in New York – and fully 50,383 of these arrests took place in New York City. One out of every seven arrests in New York City is for marijuana possession, comprising 15 percent of all arrests in that city.
From 1977 -1994, few people were arrested for 221.10. But from 1997 to 2010, the New York City Police Department arrested and jailed more than 525,000 people for this offense. Those arrested were charged with the lowest level criminal offense – a misdemeanor- and nearly every person was handcuffed, placed in the back of a police car or van, and taken to the local police station, where they were photographed, fingerprinted, and then held, often for 24 hours or longer, in one of city’s jails.
The bill goes on-
Many of these arrests are the result a stop-and-frisk encounter and contribute to stark racial disparities in the criminal justice system. In 2009, for example, the NYPD stopped 574,304 individuals. Of those who were the subject of a police stop that year, nearly ninety percent were people of color; and nine of every ten persons stopped were released without any further legal action taken against them. Of the 50,383 people arrested in New York City for marijuana possession in public view, nearly eighty six percent were black and Latino, and nearly seventy percent were between the ages of 16 – 29 even though U.S. Government surveys of high school seniors show that whites use marijuana at higher rates than blacks and Latinos.
These arrests are extremely costly. According to research by Queens College professor Dr. Harry Levine, the cost of each arrest is between $1,000 and 52,000 – thus New York City spent between $50 – $100 million on marijuana possession arrests in 2010 alone. read full bill
Chris Goldstein is a respected marijuana reform advocate. As a writer and radio broadcaster he has been covering cannabis news for over a decade. He volunteers with local groups to change prohibition laws including PhillyNORML and The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey.
5/10/2011 – State Representative Diane Russell started up the testimony on LD 1453 today in front of the Criminal Justice Committee. “We have absolutely no control whatsoever over the marijuana market today. This bill creates a regulatory structure to limit access to marijuana to those under 21. Let me ask you – when was the last time you heard of a drug dealer carding someone?”
Russell continued, “This bill, by my estimates, would bring an additional eight and a half billion dollars in tax revenue.”
LD 1453 would tax and regulate recreational marijuana sales and cultivation. The bill would also expand provision s for medical marijuana care givers.
“Right now because we have no control of this market the vast majority of the marijuana market is in the hands of criminals,” said Russell.
Representative William D Burns (D) is a former state trooper. He posed several questions to Rep. Russell.
Burns-“ Why would I want to support legalizing another drug?”
Russell – “It’s not a perfect science but it works a heck of a lot better than outing people in jail.”
Another former state trooper took a different tactic at the hearings. Jack Cole, the founder of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), testified in favor of the bill.
“It will save us billions of tax dollars while creating addition revenue of billions more,” said Cole.
After spending 14 years as part of an undercover narcotics team, Cole had some stark assessments.
“For 40 years we’ve fought this war with one and a third trillion dollars and ever harsher policies. We’ve made over 41 million arrests in that time of non violent drug offenders – More than half were for marijuana charges.”
Chris Goldstein is a respected marijuana reform advocate. As a writer and radio broadcaster he has been covering cannabis news for over a decade. He volunteers with local groups to change prohibition laws including PhillyNORML and The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey.
6/29/2011 – Pennsylvania recently passed a law banning some synthetic cannabinoids and New Jersey has pending legislation. These new prohibitions are intended to curb to the use of fad drugs that are sold under hundreds of brand names but commonly referred to as “K2” or “Spice.” Users seek a high with the ability to pass a standard drug screen.
Earlier this year the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) permanently prohibited six synthetic cannabinoids, including a common Spice ingredient JWH-018.
Dozens of chemicals, including some synthetic cannabinoids, are found in the products. The chemicals are sprayed on random plant material (never real marijuana) and packaged as fragrant, mood affecting incense.
Wholesale K2 suppliers have purchased advertising on websites and in magazines (even setting up booths at trade shows) that target natural marijuana consumers. But, compared to the ubiquitous market for natural cannabis these synthetics were fairly uncommon…until states started banning them.
In a predictable irony, K2 sellers have benefited greatly from the effort to ban their products. Massive advertising campaigns have appeared on billboards, in print and on television that are funded by drug prevention groups and even tax dollars. The awareness efforts have skyrocketed the drugs out of obscurity and successfully made them a household name.
Part of the problem is that prohibitionists have mislabeled the K2 fad drugs as “synthetic marijuana.” But now authorities are finding that K2 manufacturers have altered their recipe. New K2 products have ingredients that are not technically illegal. This makes the bans fully ineffective and the products continue to be sold in retail stores and online.
Another shift for the issue is that a Willow Grove, Pa. based company started marketing urine tests for synthetic cannabinoids this year. But these tests are not widely available.
Freedomisgreen.com Editor Chris Goldstein and Science Editor Jahan Marcu have been covering the K2 story since late 2009. Below is an interview that was originally published at www.celebstoner.com
Jahan Marcu is one of the few cannabinoid scientists in America. He also serves on the medical advisory board of the national medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access.
Marcu is uniquely familiar with both natural marijuana cannabinoids and these new synthetics. He published a landmark research paper proving the anti-cancer properties of THC and is considered one of the top experts in this field. I sat down with Marcu to discuss this strange new trend of people smoking laboratory chemicals.
As someone who is familiar with JWH-018 and these other synthetic cannabinoids in the lab, what is it like to see these things on the streets?
Think about the guys who invented JWH-018. This is probably the worst nightmare imaginable for a researcher to have the product of their hard work for many years, decades maybe, turned into a designer drug of abuse. Because then it gets banned and essentially your chapter in research history is over because your access to the drug vanishes. If they go systematically down the list banning all of the JWH compounds, those are less compounds we can use to enhance our knowledge of how the endo-cannabinoid system works.
What do you think of the recent bans of K2 and Spice products?
Well, I’m not a politician. I’m not a legislator and I’m not in law enforcement. And they need to do what they think is necessary to protect people. As some who’s in research and education my idea would be: Well, let’s see how dangerous these compounds are. Let’s go ahead and fund a bunch of small studies in animals. Let’s have some people who are already taking these drugs volunteer for some tests. Then we can look at them with side-by-side comparisons with alcohol and marijuana for impairment, and really get a good risk assessment. But that’s not going to happen,. There’s just going to be bans and an absence of knowledge.
From the stand point of a cannabinoid researcher, are these synthetic cannabinoid compounds something that humans should be smoking?
I would go with: No. The main reason is the animal data that is coming back is not that promising. There are a lot of JWH compounds and JWH is unique; it’s very potent at low doses. What is a little scary is that around 10 mg per kilogram in rats there was some decreased breathing. We’re talking about 1 milligram per kilogram that was able to cause catalepsy in mice.
This may indicate some off-target effects. What I mean by that is some interaction with the opioid receptors or something else. We’re seeing decreased breathing rates in rats and sort of respiratory depression from these compounds that strongly suggests that those effects are not mediated through the cannabinoid receptor system.
I have seen some rumors of people seeking the benefits of medical marijuana turning to these synthetic compounds so they can beat their workplace drug tests. Would they have any medical benefit?
At least when you’re going to whole plant cannabis, you can look to the scientific literature and know what you’re getting. There are over 500 compounds in the cannabis plant, but we know what they are. We even know what happens when it burns. No one has done those kinds of studies on Spice. No one has hooked up a Spice cigarette to a gas chromatograph and analyzed the smoke. Those studies have been done with tobacco and marijuana for decades. We have a wealth of information about whole plant marijuana. So you know way more what you are getting into when you use a drug like cannabis.
What’s up with the new urine test for K2?
The game might be over for some of the K2 and Spice compounds. The original research article on the metabolite in Spice – what the body does with them – was published by a group in Moscow. Basically, since only a small amount of the drug is needed to produce an effect, the levels of detection must be very sensitive in order to find these JWH-018 metabolites.
The structure of JWH-018 and (natural) THC is very different. If you looked at the two compounds side-by-side you would not have to be a chemist to see that they look vastly different. The unique part of JWH is the indol ring: It’s a two-ring structure with one nitrogen; this is a common motif found in other hallucinogens like LSD, mescaline and psilocybin, but is not found in (natural) THC.
Researchers have found that the body modifies the indol ring in JWH-018 and thus have developed the drug test around that modification. I’m not sure if it’s the same thing I saw marketed in California, but that is what is in the literature right now.
Do you think these will be effective tests or because of the detection levels someone will have to smoke a lot of this stuff to show up?
You’d have to be smoking a fair amount of Spice to be found in a urinalysis. It’s unclear right now because those studies just haven’t been done yet.
How is the lab community dealing with this K2/Spice phenomenon?
It definitely puts a time crunch on things. These compounds are very important to research. It would be a great loss to the scientific community if these compounds were no longer available for research. It’s a shame that unscrupulous business practices are ruining this for the scientists.
In the end, because there is no real labeling of these products, the most dangerous things in Spice may not be the chemicals we actually know about, but what we don’t. Some have been found to have synthetic opiates, Vitamin E and even acetone.
The continued prohibition of natural marijuana seems to be the only driving force behind the emergence of these new synthetic drugs. States that have decriminalized marijuana seem to have less of an issue with the fad drugs.
To advocates, this is an additional and rather poignant public safety reason for natural marijuana to be fully legalized, right now.
Chris Goldstein is a respected marijuana reform advocate. As a writer and radio broadcaster he has been covering cannabis news for over a decade. Questions? [email protected]
Hearings were held in Maine yesterday on bills to reduce the penalties for adult marijuana possession. State Representative Diane Russell (D-Portland) is co-sponsoring the reduction but she made waves when she announced her plans to go further: Russell will introduce a bill in April that will fully legalize, tax and regulate marijuana.
This bill is unique because it handles every aspect of cannabis legalization. Along with a system to grow and sell marijuana to adults 21 and over it also includes provisions for adults to cultivate their own marijuana at home. But the strongest innovations are provisions for existing medical cannabis caregivers and for the large scale farming of industrial hemp.
Diane Russell took time today to speak with Editor Chris Goldstein. This is part one of our interview.
Tell us about the legislation that you are working on right now
There are actually a few that are in the works. We had hearings yesterday on a couple of bills that Rep. Ben Chipman a colleague of mine in Portland that would further decriminalize marijuana. The fines right now are around $1,000 and these would further reduce the fines to around $250. I am a co-sponsor of those two bills, but the bill that I am most passionate about actually legalizes marijuana, regulates it and taxes it. On that bill I am the primary sponsor. We are still finalizing it, but it should be out in the next two weeks.
What does the legalization bill do?
Essentially what it does is to provide a mechanism to bring the underground market onto the regular market and to begin actually having some oversight. One of things that most concerns me is that marijuana seems to be much easier to access for young children and teenagers than say alcohol or tobacco. And that’s because we’re sort of turning a blind eye to this market and not recognizing that it exists.
That said; I want to make sure that we are not unnecessarily turning otherwise law abiding citizens into criminals. I mean if you are an adult and you are not harming anyone by driving why is it a crime to be smoking marijuana or, as some people do, consume it though baked goods? So this will take away any criminal aspect of marijuana.
We would tax it at 7% sales tax rate which is important because our sales tax rate for food and alcohol at restaurants is 7%. So what this does is move marijuana into a tax structure that isn’t different from everything else. The IRS and the DEA are not going to be able to say , “Oh your goods are taxed at 6.5% and there’s only one thing taxed at that rate under state law, so we know you are selling marijuana.”
We have seen the IRS begin actions against medical marijuana providers in California and Oregon. So these bills look ahead to try and protect small businesses operating legally under Maine state law.
Absolutely. But I did it actually for different reason – I like things to be as simple as possible. Other places that look at taxing it go by volume and it gets really complicated. Why can’t we just have a clean tax rate? But then I heard some folks who were concerned about having a separate tax structure for their product too.
What are some of the details about how the bill regulates marijuana?
The other piece to it is that you must be 21 years old to purchase and possess marijuana. It also allows a person to cultivate and store marijuana for personal use within 75 square feet of space and purchase seedlings from someone licensed to sell the products.
So individuals would be able to grow and store their own marijuana. Under our medical marijuana law caregivers and patients can grow up to six plants, but there is no provision if a plant produces a lot all at once there are no provisions for storing it. So we decided to go with square footage instead to trying to quantify per se exactly how much you are supposed to have at one point. It’s sort of like growing tomatoes – they go into harvest all at one time …same idea, you can’t really play with Mother Nature that much!
There is a commercial aspect. We call them growers …I don’t like that term because someone who does grow tomatoes is not a “grower” they’re a “farmer.” So I use the term farmers…So farmers could purchase one of 300 licenses – current caregivers under the medical law would be grandfathered in – and then they could have up to 2,000 square feet to raise the plants and then store the product.
There are some strict provisions in there – when you look at what happened to Prop 19 in California there were concerns about school safety and workplace safety along with concerns about different municipalities having different systems. And we addressed a lot of those. We made sure that we addressed those issues in the bill we’re putting together and that it is very clear.
We did our best to protect our children and that’s one of the reasons I want this happen, I want to get it out of the hands of children. But I do believe that if you are an adult you have the right and responsibility that goes with that right to be able to consume things in your own home.
The other reason I did this is that, like many states, we have a major budget crisis and we have to really cut back on services that help vulnerable communities. So I want to make sure we have revenue coming that was not a new tax per se.
So this would provide new revenues but also help with community policing. We have a huge problem with cocaine in Maine, I’m not sure of people realize that. We have huge problems with opiates and prescription drugs. So let’s make sure we are channeling resources into the things that are truly dangers and marijuana is not one of those concerns. So some of that revenue would go to community policing, housing weatherizing projects also to education and some to farming and getting capital investments into farms.
So being able to raise revenue and channel them towards programs and initiatives that really help build a sustainable economy is something that is very important to me. We need to be smart about how to allocate the revenue from this, it will be critical.
The final part of the bill is that we included a provision for growing industrial hemp so that we could start allowing those farmers whose land has gone fallow to plant this in order to rejuvenates nutrients. They could raise hemp on that land because it doesn’t have the same impact as fruits and vegetables.
So the revenue will be coming from two areas with this bill, increasing the positive financial impact…
Well that’s what I’m looking for to be honest Chris is the economic impact of this. As a state lawmaker I have a fiduciary responsibility to my state. I really feel strongly that we need to build a long-term sustainable economy. I’m part of a younger generation I’m 34 and my dad always said in his thick Maine accent, “Jeez Diane we should just legalize it and tax the hell out of it.” And so I’m sort of doing this in honor of my Dad. He’s right. Why are we letting this market go to waste? We’re one of the states where marijuana is already the top cash crop… this is so basic.
Visit freedomisgreen.com this weekend for the second part of this interview.
Chris Goldstein is a respected marijuana reform advocate. As a writer and radio broadcaster he has been covering cannabis news for over a decade. He volunteers with local groups to change prohibition laws including PhillyNORML and The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey. He enjoys old-school hip-hop, vintage airplanes and changing the world. Contact chris { at } freedomisgreen.com
Neill Franklin speaking in Philadelphia – by C. David Freitag
5/13/2011 – Tonight in Washington DC there was a memorial for police officers killed in the line of duty. One of those keeping vigil was Neill Franklin. He worked undercover on the streets of Baltimore but now he is one of America’s leading voices calling for an end to the war on drugs as the executive director of LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.
Franklin spent a career in Baltimore and then at the Maryland State Police Academy, so he has been to the event before, but in a different capacity. He attended the candlelight memorial service this year to honor his partner, Ed Toatley, who was shot during a cocaine buy in 2000 while on an FBI assignment.
Neill’s perspective is both moving and resolute. Still, this was the first time he attended Police Week as the director of LEAP.
We caught up with Neill for a telephone interview as he kept up a busy schedule.
Tell us about why you are attending the memorial event tonight?
Many years ago there was fund started to erect a police officer’s memorial in Washington DC. It’s similar to Viet Nam Memorial where the names are carved into stone. Every year the officers that die in the line of duty are engraved into the memorial with thousands of others. But during Police Week they they also have bike rides, torch runs – one from Philadelphia all the way down to DC Friday- and the vigil at 8:00pm.
It has been many years since I was at this event. The work I’m doing right now with LEAP kind of rung a bell for me …this October was 11 years since Ed Toatley’s assassination. I thought well this year I’m going back to DC for the vigil to celebrate and remember his life and try to make a stament this week that we can save officers lives by ending the war on drugs.
It’s not just police officers here in the US but many hundreds of officers are dying in Mexico, Venezuala, all over the world really. So it’s an international statement we’re making as well.
Chris I have to tell you that this is not a popular position to take among the law enforcement community.
So while I’m at the memorial yeah it’s probably going to be a little awkward if I’m in conversations with the other folks there; who are there to honor those who fallen. But if you look back at history there are so many things were never popular at the beginning – but it has to be done.
Have you seen some thawing on the part of active law enforcement that you have encountered when it comes to prohibition?
There has been more of that at the bottom of the ranks; at the patrol officer level, those out in the streets.
First of all they understand that this is a numbers game – to use the example of New York City; how can we miss that? Fifty thousand arrests! They know it’s a numbers game they see it’s a numbers game. This is how the federal funding comes into the coffers of local law enforcement agencies.
But if we at LEAP continue to do what we do, at least educate these officers to get the facts about the war on drugs – if they pause to let it sink in – they realize that this also makes their job much more dangerous than it needs to be.
When we talk about the Drug War many people many think of it in academic terms, but you experienced it right at the front of the conflict. It seems like police are given an awful job here to make war on their own communities?
This is what has happened. But because of our drug policies, over time, police have now become somewhat removed or physically separated themselves from their communities.
I’ve got to mention this – When I was growing up in Baltimore city the teenagers would all hang out at the end of my block. We weren’t the best kids … we did mischievous things. Some would smoke marijuana down there in the hood. But when the police car turned at the top of the hill no one scattered or yelled 5-0. But we walked over to the car and greeted Officer Rex. And if we were doing something that we shouldn’t be doing he would say ‘DON’T DO THAT! ‘and we stopped.
But he was part of the community. If something were to happen, if something were to go down and Officer Rex was to get in the middle of some real trouble, that community would be there to support and protect him. Let me ask you – Would that happen today?
Now that same neighborhood when the police car turns the corner the people scatter. If there is any communication at all there is no greeting.
This shift in relationship between police and community rests on the foundation of prohibition.
Back when was I was policing undercover I never carried a gun. We went out and worked our cases, many times without backup. That was the 1980s. Today it is unheard of to work without backup and firearm. That tells you how dangerous this job has become.
If the police were in fact a part of the community – which they should be because they often spend more time in the community they police than their homes – But if the police were just there to take a violent person out of the community they would have overwhelming support. That is how it should be.
So can these soldiers, our police, can they come around to get that community relationship back?
I believe so. It wouldn’t happen overnight. We have to begin by handling this huge wall that is put between them and their communities and it really is prohibition.
That’s why they go to search homes; for drugs. That’s why they search cars and search people, all looking for drugs. If you remove prohibition you can begin to re-build that relationship.
Because of this policy police are put in an awkward position. When you have people dying among them they shut down more and more ….they expect to deal with the worst. The policy creates the criminal market and that’s what creates the violence. Why are so many guns in our community today? Prohibition is the foundation of that too.
So there’s a real need, a necessity, to breakdown this huge barrier that has been constructed over the past 40 years.
Many of us thought we would never see the Berlin Wall come down – why can’t we do that here? Let’s end the madness of prohibition so that we can reduce the overall violence in America.
Chris Goldstein is a respected marijuana reform advocate. As a writer and radio broadcaster he has been covering cannabis news for over a decade. He volunteers with local groups to change prohibition laws including PhillyNORML and The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey.
3/16/2011 – A recent medical case-report highlights a striking association between inhaled Cannabis and anti-tumor effects in young adults with brain cancer. This gives scientists new evidence that the chemical compounds from the Cannabis plant (known as cannabinoids) may have significant anti-cancer effects in humans.
The 13 year-old patient showed up at the hospital suffering from increasing headaches, nausea, and vomiting. She had prolonged memory problems and began to deteriorate rapidly. An emergency MRI scan revealed a tumor mass in her brain. She underwent a craniotomy and most of the tumor mass was removed. Her doctors then followed the remaining tumor mass closely with subsequent MRI scans.
The authors note that this patient volunteered that she began smoking cannabis at age 14, after her diagnosis, and continued almost daily from age 16 up to 19 years of age. As they scanned her brain over time, the tumor mass became smaller with each checkup. According to the study, the tumor in the teenager had almost completely disappeared six years after the operation.
The paper states, “The regular use of Cannabis coincided with the time course of radiological tumor regression.” This patient received no further medication or medical treatment. The biggest variable in her remission seemed to be “Cannabis Inhalation.”
This was not a completely unique case. The 11 year-old patient in the same report arrived at the hospital with a history of headaches that gradually became worse and ultimately lead to nausea, vomiting and confusion. An MRI revealed a tumor mass and she underwent a craniotomy. A small remnant of the cancer was left behind, later confirmed by a follow up MRI. Over the next three years, the tumor would demonstrate the features of regression. Then, around the time the patient was 14, the tumor began to regress. Finally, six years post-surgery, the tumor remnant had nearly disappeared.
The authors write, “The only significant feature in the history was the consumption of Cannabis via inhalation, on average three times a week. This occurred in the last 3 years of follow up, namely between the ages of 14 and 17, and coincided with the time course of the regression of the residual tumor.”
Foroughi and his team suggest there may be plant synergy and recommend studying the whole Cannabis plant, “since any beneficial effect may not be caused by one compound, molecule, or cannabinoid alone.” This theory is supported by previous research; published evidence shows that cannabinoids have an enhanced anti-tumor activity when they are applied in combination.
The report concludes that “more research may be appropriate to investigate the therapeutic use of these substances” and goes on to say, “Such research will be difficult to achieve because Cannabis is illegal in many jurisdictions.”
There has never been a clinical trial studying the anti-cancer effects of smoked marijuana. However, there has been one clinical trial with pure Delta9-THC and brain cancer. Several patients in Spain were admitted to a study focused on the issue of safety of using cannabinoids in the clinic. The patients were administered Delta-9 THC by direct injection into the site of the tumor. A slight reduction in cancer proliferation was reported but the treatment did not cure any of the patients.
The authors write, “Cannabinoid delivery was safe and could be achieved without overt psychoactive effects.”
Since this was a pilot trial on the safety of injected THC, the most important point is that none of the patients died during the study and no serious adverse effects were reported. A review of the evidence can be read here and a follow-up study is being conducted in Spain.
Can marijuana contribute to the regression or remission of certain cancers? Given the slow progress of clinical trials for whole plant Cannabis, it can be frustrating waiting for years, even decades, trying to answer these vital questions. But for the two young women with brain cancer in Dr. Foroughi’s report, a shift to a cannabis lifestyle may have made a difference.
Jahan Marcu is currently investigating the pharmacology of cannabinoid receptors. He was working at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute when exciting discoveries were made showing enhanced anti-cancer effects with THC and CBD from the Cannabis plant. The findings were published in the Journal of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. In 2009 he received the Billy Martin Award from the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS). Jahan is currently the vice-chair the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board at Americans for Safe Access (ASA). Contact: science { at } freedomisgreen.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent any University, business or affiliates. While the information provided in this blog is from published scientific studies it is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease.
