NORML's Weekly News Bulletin -- October 13, 2005

[IndianaToker]

Weekly Press Release
Source: NORML

California Medical Marijuana Refugee Seized By Canadian Officials,Turned Over To US Authorities While Hospitalized October 13, 2005 - Seattle, WA, USA

Seattle, WA: US medical cannabis refugee Steven Tuck has been turned over to American authorities after Canadian law officials took him into custody while he was undergoing hospital treatment in Vancouver. Tuck is currently being held in jail in Seattle without access to medical treatment, despite a court order mandating his hospitalization, according to the Associated Press.

Federal authorities are seeking to prosecute Tuck, who uses cannabis medicinally to treat chronic pain among other symptoms, on charges that he grew marijuana while living in California in 2001. Tuck, who claims that his marijuana cultivation was legal under state law, had relocated to Canada because federal law forbids defendants from arguing that their use of cannabis was for medical purposes.

Tuck, along with several other Californians facing federal prosecution in the United States on medical marijuana-related charges, was seeking asylum status from the Canadian government. Canadian authorities had recently denied his request and Tuck was in the process of appealing that decision.

NORML Legal Committee member Douglas Hiatt of Seattle is currently handling Tuck's defense.

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500 or visit http://www.marijuananews.com for daily updates.

DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6702




Cannabis Poses Less On-Road Risk Than Alcohol, Study Says

October 13, 2005 - Arcueil, France

Arcueil, France: Drivers under the influence of cannabis are far less likely to be culpable in traffic fatalities than drunk drivers, according to epidemiological data to be published in the British Medical Journal.

Researchers at France's National Institute for Research on Transportation and Safety collected data from approximately 8,000 accidents. Authors found that alcohol intoxication and speeding were nearly ten times more likely to be an attributing factor in traffic fatalities than the use of cannabis. Overall, researchers estimated that cannabis' psychomotor impairment was similar to that exhibited by drivers with blood alcohol levels ranging from .02 to .05 ­ well below the legal limit for drunk driving in the United States.

The French findings echo previous research comparing cannabis' psychomotor effects to those of alcohol. A 1993 study conducted by the Netherlands University of Maastrict found: "THC in single inhaled doses ... has significant, yet not dramatic, dose-related impairing effects on driving performance. ... THC's effects on road-tracking ... never exceeded alcohol's at BACs of .08% and were in no way unusual compared to many medicinal drugs."

A follow up study in 2004 affirmed, "The degrees of impairment observed in laboratory or actual driving tests after [the ingestion of] THC were comparable to the impairing effects of an alcohol dose producing a BAC [of approximately] .05. "

Last month, an analysis of on-road crashes by an international expert panel reported that: "Drivers with THC concentrations in whole blood of less than 5 ng/ml have a crash risk no higher than that of drug-free users." THC blood levels typically fall below 5 ng/ml in recreational cannabis users within 60 to 90 minutes after inhalation.

Under French law, drivers who test positive for even trace levels of THC in their blood face up to two years in prison.

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Expert, at (202) 483-5500 or download a copy of NORML's report, "You Are Going Directly to Jail: DUID Legislation: What It Means, Who's Behind It, and Strategies to Prevent It."

DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6700




Cannabinoids Promote Neurogenesis In The Brain, Study Says

October 13, 2005 - Baltimore, MD, USA

Baltimore, MD: The administration of synthetic cannabinoids promotes the proliferation of newborn neurons (nerve cells) in the rat brain and likely accounts for the drug's anti-anxiety and mood elevating effects, according to preclinical trial data published today in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Investigators found that the administration of synthetic cannabinoids increased neurogenesis in the rat hippocampus and significantly reduced measures of anxiety and depression-like behavior. Neurogenesis (the birth of neuronal cells) is thought to enable organisms to adapt to their environment and influence their learning and memory throughout life.

"Cannabinoids appear to be the only illicit drug whose capacity to produce increased hippocampal newborn neurons is positively correlated with its anxiolytic and antidepressant-like effects," authors concluded.

Alcohol consumption has also been associated with a decrease in neurogenesis in adults.

"These findings add to the growing body of scientific evidence indicating that cannabis is non-toxic and may hold significant neurological benefits, including the treatment of certain neurologic diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease," NORML Senior Policy Analyst Paul Armentano said.

Previous research has shown cannabinoids to be neuroprotective in animals against brain damage caused by alcohol and/or stroke.

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Cannabinoids promote embryonic and adult hippocampus neurogenesis and produce anxiolytic- and depressant-like effects" is available in the November issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6701

Source: NORML Foundation (DC)
Published: October 13, 2005
Copyright: 2005 NORML
Contact: norml@norml.org
Website: http://www.norml.org/
Link to article: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21187.shtml