Cannabis Study House - NORML Weekly News in Audio 2006.3.9

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6650

Weekly News in Audio

March 9, 2006

Frequent Cannabis Use Not Associated With Cognitive Declines In Working Memory, Selective Attention

Marijuana Production, Availability Rising, Federal Report Says

Washington, DC:
Register For The 2006 National NORML Conference In San Francisco - Join NORML April 20-22 -- Sign Up Today For Discounted Pricing

Online registration for NORML's 2006 National Conference in San Francisco is now available at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6828. Join us in one of the world's most cannabis-friendly cities to be a part of the largest and most respected marijuana law reform conference in the United States.

The three-day "extravaganja" will take place April 20-22 at the Holiday Inn Golden Gateway in downtown San Francisco. Discussion panels at this year1s event include:

Grassroots to Grasstops: Activists Effectively Working Together at All Levels
Reefer, Rhetoric and Retorts: Winning Ways to Frame The Marijuana Debate
A Look Ahead at This Fall's Pot Initiatives
Cannabis Dispensaries and Their Carrying Capacities
Cultivation and Hash Making: Toward Patients' Self-Sufficiency
Marijuana and Health: Myths, Facts and Mysteries
Religion, Sacrament and Marijuana
Big Brother Is Watching: Drugged Driving, Student Drug Testing and Dog Searches
Emerging Clinical Applications For Cannabis

Network with the nation's top marijuana activists and advocates, mingle with celebrities and members of High Times magazine, as well as NORML's staff and board of directors, and enjoy a variety of unique after-hours events. Register today and take advantage of special discounted pricing on both the conference and hotel accommodations.

"NORML's 2005 National Conference attracted over 600 attendees and we expect this year's gathering to be even more successful," says NORML's Executive Director Allen St. Pierre. "If a person is serious about changing America's misguided cannabis laws, the annual NORML conference is the gathering place for medical cannabis patients, cannabis consumers and concerned citizens."

NORML's 2006 conference agenda is now available online at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6830
Information on discounted room reservations is available at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6756 (Discounted rooms will be available until March 27.)
Secure online registration is available at:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6828

Utrecht, the Netherlands:
Frequent Cannabis Use Not Associated With Cognitive Declines In Working Memory, Selective Attention

Frequent cannabis use is not associated with cognitive deficits in memory or attention, according to trial data published in the forthcoming issue of the journal Psychopharmacology.

Investigators at the Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience assessed brain function in "frequent but relatively moderate" cannabis users in the domains of working memory and selective attention using functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI).

"No evidence was found for long-term deficits in working memory and selective attention in frequent cannabis users after one week of abstinence" compared to non-using healthy controls, authors concluded. "Furthermore, cannabis users did not differ from controls in terms of overall patterns of brain activity in the regions involved in these cognitive functions."

Previous trials on cannabis use and cognition have reached similar conclusions. An October 2004 study published in the journal Psychological Medicine examining the potential long-term residual effects of cannabis on cognition in monozygotic male twins reported "an absence of marked long-term residual effects of marijuana use on cognitive abilities."

A 2003 meta-analysis published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society also "failed to reveal a substantial, systematic effect of long-term, regular cannabis consumption on the neurocognitive functioning of users who were not acutely intoxicated," and a 2002 clinical trial published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal determined, "Marijuana does not have a long-term negative impact on global intelligence."

Washington, DC:
Marijuana Production, Availability Rising, Federal Report Says

Marijuana production and the amount of cannabis available domestically are on the increase, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center's (NDIC) 2006 "National Drug Threat Assessment" report.

The report finds that marijuana production in Mexico, Canada and the US is rising, with domestic cannabis production increasing sharply in 2005 to its "highest recorded level."

Marijuana availability is also increasing, the NDIC finds. Among those state and local law enforcement agencies polled in the study, 98 percent rank pot's availability in their area is either "moderate" or "high." Last year's NDIC report estimated that between 12,000 and 25,000 metric tons of marijuana is available in the United States.