Cannabis Study House - NORML Weekly News in Audio 2006.9.13

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

Weekly News in Audio

September 13, 2006

NEW NORML REPORT SUMMARIZES THE ROLE OF CANNABIS IN MODERATING DISEASE PROGRESSION - Review Of 120+ Recent Scientific Trials Reveals That In US, Politics Trumps Science

Missouri: Federal Judge Limits Random Drug Testing Of Public Employees

Boston Freedom Rally Celebrates 17 Years This Weekend

Washington, DC:
NEW NORML REPORT SUMMARIZES THE ROLE OF CANNABIS IN MODERATING DISEASE PROGRESSION - Review Of 120+ Recent Scientific Trials Reveals That In US, Politics Trumps Science

Recently published clinical and preclinical research on the therapeutic use of cannabis indicates that cannabinoids may curb the progression of various life-threatening diseases - in particular, autoimmune disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, as well as neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's disease) - according to a comprehensive new report published today by the NORML Foundation.

The NORML Foundation report summarizes over 120 recently published trials assessing the therapeutic utility of cannabinoids for the treatment of fifteen specific disease indications: Alzheimer's disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, diabetes mellitus, dystonia, fibromyalgia, gastrointestinal disorders, gliomas, hepatitis C, hypertension, incontinence, osteoporosis, pruritis, rheumatoid arthritis, sleep apnea, and Tourette's syndrome.

"Despite continued political debates regarding the recreational use of cannabis, clinical investigations of the therapeutic use of cannabinoids are now more prevalent than at any time in history," states the report's author, NORML Foundation Senior Policy Analyst Paul Armentano. "In some of these cases, modern science is now affirming longtime anecdotal reports of medicinal cannabis users. In other cases, this research is highlighting entirely new potential clinical utilities for cannabinoids."

Whereas initial clinical investigations into the therapeutic use of cannabis focused primarily on whether cannabinoids might provide symptomatic relief, investigators today are exploring the potential role of cannabinoids to inhibit the progression of several life-threatening diseases including cancer, Armentano says.

"Arguably, this latter trend represents far broader and more significant applications for cannabinoid therapeutics than researchers could have imagined some thirty or even twenty years ago," he concludes. "Unfortunately, because of the US government1s strong public policy stance against any use of marijuana, the bulk of this modern research is taking place outside the United States and continues to go unrecognized in North America. Nevertheless, the emerging body of clinical and preclinical work published over the past six years makes it clear that the US government's stance against the therapeutic use of cannabis and cannabinoids is based on politics, not science."

Full text of the report, "Emerging Clinical Applications For Cannabis & Cannabinoids: A Review of the Recent Scientific Literature, 2000 - 2006" is available online in HTML and PDF formats at: http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7002.

Jefferson City, MO:
Missouri: Federal Judge Limits Random Drug Testing Of Public Employees

A US federal court judge this week struck down the practice of random drug testing for the majority of Missouri's Department of Mental Health (DMH) employees, finding that the blanket policy violated Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches by the state.

US District Judge Nanette Laughrey ruled Tuesday that the Department failed to demonstrate a "special need" to justify drug testing all of its employees without probable cause.

" In the end, DMH's decision to subject the Plaintiffs to random drug tests is nothing more than a 'gesture or symbol' that DMH does not approve of illegal drug use," she opined. "Every public employer has an interest in ensuring that its employees are not under the influence of illicit drugs. ... Because this interest is so pervasive, if it alone were enough to justify warrantless drug testing, the Fourth Amendment's protection for public employees would be meaningless."

The judge did uphold random drug testing as it applies to employees in state habilitation centers, determining that employees who work with this "particularly vulnerable" population may be subjected to stricter state scrutiny.

Approximately one-third of the state's 10,000 DMH employees would continue to be randomly drug tested under the ruling, said attorney Dan Viets, who brought the suit on behalf of Missouri NORML. "While the Court's order allows such testing under circumstances where there is a reason to suspect drug use, and of some employees of state habilitation centers, the most offensive and pervasive for of testing - random drug testing - has been permanently stopped by this order," he said.

Boston, MA:
Boston Freedom Rally Celebrates 17 Years This Weekend

Event organizers are expecting more than 50,000 attendees at this weekend's 17th annual NORML Mass/Cann Boston Freedom Rally, taking place this Saturday at the Boston Commons in downtown Boston. The annual event is the largest marijuana law reform rally held on the east coast.

Speakers at this year's event include NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, High Times Magazine Associate Publisher Rick Cusick, and Kris Krane, Executive Director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), among many others.

For a complete listing of Freedom Rally speakers and performers, please visit: http://www.masscann.org

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