Cannabis Study House - NORML Weekly News in Audio 2007.1.25

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Weekly News in Audio

January 25, 2007

Cannabinoid Agonist Significantly Increases ALS Life Span, Study Says

UK: Police Inconsistently Enforce Pot 'Warning' Policy, Study Says

African American Youth Disproportionately Represented In Criminal Justice System, Study Says

Little Rock, AR:
Cannabinoid Agonist Significantly Increases ALS Life Span, Study Says

Administration of the selective cannabinoid agonist AM-1241 significantly increases the survival of mice with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and may ultimately lead to the development of new cannabis-based medications to treat the disease in humans, according to preclinical findings to be published in the Journal of Neurochemistry.

Investigators at the University of Arkansas, College of Medicine, reported that mice administered high daily doses of AM-1241 after ALS symptom onset lived up to 56 percent longer than controls.

"[T]he magnitude of effect produced by AM-1241 initiated at symptom onset rivals the best yet reported for any pharmaceutical agent, even those given pre-symptomatically," authors wrote. "[The] findings from this study indicate that [cannabinoid] agonists may ultimately be developed as novel therapeutic drugs that can be administered alone or in combination with other agents at symptom onset for the treatment of ALS in human patients."

Previous studies with THC report that it delays motor impairment and increases survival in animal models of ALS at rates slightly less than those obtained by the administration of low doses of AM-1241.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by the selective loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord, brain stem, and motor cortex. An estimated 30,000 Americans are living with ALS, which often arises spontaneously and afflicts otherwise healthy adults. More than half of ALS patients die within 2.5 years following the onset of symptoms.

Currently, no effective pharmaceutical medications exist to stave ALS progression.

Some investigators speculate that the endocannabinoid receptor system may protect against certain neurodegenerative disorders like ALS by exhibiting neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory actions to combat disease symptoms.

York, United Kingdom:
UK: Police Inconsistently Enforce Pot 'Warning' Policy, Study Says

A two-year-old British policy calling on police to verbally caution but not arrest individuals found in possession of small amounts of cannabis is only sporadically enforced by law enforcement, according to the findings of a study published this week by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

According to the report, British police issue warnings in fewer than half of all pot possession cases, despite the 2004 law change calling on law enforcement to cease arresting minor marijuana offenders unless they encounter special "aggravated" circumstances. The report also found that minorities were over-represented among those defendants arrested for marijuana violations.

Authors of the report state: "When cannabis was reclassified as a Class C drug [in January 2004], guidelines were issued advising officers to give street warnings for most possession offenses, arresting only in aggravated circumstances. [However,] we found that street warnings were issued for under half of possession offenses."

They continued: "Over half of officers were against the downgrading and many said that cannabis arrests often led to the detection of more serious crimes. In fact, we found that this occurred in less than one percent of cases."

Authors did note that despite poor police compliance, the guidelines had led to a decline in overall pot arrests, from a high of 84,000 arrests in 1998 to less than 50,000 in 2004. They estimated that the policy change had resulted in a savings of three-and-a-half million pounds ($690,000) or just over a quarter of a million officer hours among the 43 police forces surveyed.

In 2004, Parliament downgraded cannabis from a Class B to a Class C scheduled drug, marking the first substantial change to the nation's 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act in more than 30 years.

Oakland, CA:
African American Youth Disproportionately Represented In Criminal Justice System, Study Says

African Americans and other minorities are over-represented in every stage of the juvenile justice system -- from arrest to detention to adjudication and sentencing, according to the findings of a new report published by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency.

According to the report, minority youth typically receive harsher treatment than white youth for similar offenses, particularly drug crimes.

"Despite significant governmental efforts, the problem of disproportionate minority incarceration has not improved," the report states. "Throughout the system, youth of color -- especially African American youth -- receive different and harsher treatment for similar offenses."

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