Cannabis Study House - NORML Weekly News in Audio 2008.6.4

Weekly News in Audio

June 4, 2008

"Radical" Russ Belville
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Pot Prohibition Linked To More Potent Marijuana Use, Study Says

NORML Responds To Latest Marijuana And Brain Damage Fears

California: Mendocino County Voters Restrict Pot Possession Rules

Santa Cruz, CA:
Pot Prohibition Linked To More Potent Marijuana Use, Study Says

Adults who live in areas where marijuana is criminally prohibited are more likely to report a preference for stronger strains of pot as compared to adults who live in areas where the sale of the drug is legally regulated, according to survey data to be published in the forthcoming issue of the International Journal of Drug Policy.

An investigator at the University of California at Santa Cruz randomly surveyed the marijuana use patterns of more than 400 experienced cannabis consumers in San Francisco and Amsterdam. The survey reported that respondents in Amsterdam, where the sale of small quantities of cannabis is regulated in retail stores, were significantly more likely than those in San Francisco to prefer "mild" and "moderate" cannabis over "strong" or "very strong" varieties.

"[B]ecause the cannabis markets in San Francisco remain illicit, users are more apt to feel they can never be certain of potency and so are more likely to choose stronger strains," the study reported. By contrast, "In Amsterdam three decades of de facto decriminalization have fostered a stable and translucent retail cannabis market in which users are reliably able to buy cannabis of the potency they prefer."

Over two-thirds of respondents in both cities reported that they moderated their use of cannabis depending its potency 窶� typically consuming lesser quantities of stronger pot.

Survey respondents in both Amsterdam and San Francisco said that the price of cannabis had little impact on their use, suggesting that "policies designed to reduce aggressive demand for cannabis … by increasing its price are unlikely to have a large impact."

Respondents in both cities also reported that they perceived their risk of being arrested for using marijuana to be "very unlikely." Respondents in both cities reported that they could obtain cannabis within "a few hours," though those who lived in San Francisco were far more likely to report that they obtained their marijuana from "friends."

Age of onset, age at first regular use, and age at the start of periods of maximum use were "nearly identical" in both cities. By contrast, marijuana users in Amsterdam were far less likely than users in San Francisco to have experimented with other illicit drugs, including cocaine, crack, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and opiates.

"The differences in response patterns between samples of experienced users in different legal-policy milieux suggest that various aspects of drug policy interact in complex ways with both user cultures and the broader cultures in which they are situated," the study concluded. "But the fact that we found more similarities than differences across the contrasting drug control regimes provides further support for the view that cannabis use is a deeply embedded cultural practice that is not easily reached by drug policy."

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-500 or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org.
Full text of the study, "Cannabis policies and user practices: Markey separation, price, potency, and accessibility in Amsterdam and San Francisco," will appear in the International Journal of Drug Policy.

Washington, DC:
NORML Responds To Latest Marijuana And Brain Damage Fears

The results of a recent study reporting hippocampal volume reductions in long-term, heavy users of cannabis are based on only 15 cases, and are inconsistent with previously published research, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said today.

The widely reported study, published this week in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, found that chronic cannabis smokers (who averaged at least five joints per day for a period of 20 years) experience a measurable (via structural magnetic resonance imaging) reduction in the hippocampus and amygdala compared to non-users.

Commenting on the new study, Armentano said that although the exceptionally heavy use of cannabis may pose unique yet subtle health hazards, these potential risks are likely irrelevant to the overwhelming majority of cannabis consumers who use the drug in moderation.

"While these preliminary results are a cause of concern, they must be replicated in a much larger sample size before we can begin making any determinations regarding whether there may exist a cause-and-effect relationship, or whether these results may hold any significance for the millions of Americans who consume cannabis on a far more limited basis," he said.

Armentano added that a previous assessment of long-term cannabis use on hippocampal volume found no adverse effects associated with marijuana use.

Numerous studies of cannabis use on neurocognitive abilities have also failed to indicate that marijuana use has residual adverse impacts on cognition.

Armentano concluded: "While we have known for decades that chronic alcohol use is toxic to the brain, this fact is not a justification for arresting and incarcerating the millions of Americans who enjoy a glass of wine or beer with dinner. As is the case with alcohol, the findings of this study 窶� even if we are to take them at face value 窶� are an argument in favor of legalization, education, and moderation 窶� not criminal prohibition."

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-500 or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org.

Ukiah, CA:
California: Mendocino County Voters Restrict Pot Possession Rules

Voters in Northern California's Mendocino County voted 55 to 45 on Tuesday to repeal an eight-year-old county law that legalized the possession of up to 25 marijuana plants.

Passage of the new county law seeks to cap the number of plants adults may legally possess at six. However, activists are expected to challenge the validity of the law in court, arguing that a recent state District Court of Appeals decision prohibits municipalities from imposing limits on the quantity of marijuana patients may possess under state law.

For more information, please contact Dale Gieringer, California NORML Coordinator, at (415) 563-5858.

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