Weekly Press Release Source: NORML New Drug Czar Report Relies Primarily On Unpublished Data May 19, 2005 - Washington, DC, USA Washington, DC: A report released this week by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) purporting to "set the record straight" regarding the number of inmates incarcerated for marijuana-related offenses relies almost entirely on "unpublished estimates" from a 1997 Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) survey. The report, entitled "Who's Really in Prison for Marijuana," cites "unpublished BJS estimates" on six occasions to imply that few, if any, marijuana offenders are behind bars. However, a similar, published 1997 BJS paper referred to by the ONDCP in its report states that 13 percent of state drug offenders and 19 percent of federal drug offenders are incarcerated for marijuana offenses. A 1999 NORML report, based on the 1997 BJS data, estimated that one in seven drug prisoners (or 39,188 total inmates, not including those held in county jails) were incarcerated for marijuana offenses. The ONDCP report did not address FBI data indicating that annual arrests for marijuana offenses have more than doubled in the past decade, peaking at a record high 755,000 arrests in 2003, at the same time that overall criminal arrests have declined. Of those arrested for marijuana offenses, nearly 90 percent are charged with minor possession only, not cultivation or sale. According to a recent analysis of marijuana arrest data by the NORML Foundation, the enforcement of state and local marijuana laws annually costs US taxpayers an estimated $7.6 billion. Commenting on the Drug Czar's report, NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said: "Police have arrested over seven million Americans for marijuana violations since 1990, and now average more than 700,000 arrests per year - primarily for marijuana possession. While not all of those individuals arrested are eventually sentenced to long prison terms, the fact remains that the repercussions of a marijuana arrest alone are significant - including: probation and mandatory drug testing; a criminal record; loss of driving privileges; loss of federal college aid; asset forfeiture; revocation of professional driver's license; loss of certain welfare benefits such as food stamps; removal from public housing; loss of child custody; and loss of employment. In other words, whether or not marijuana offenders ultimately serve time in jail, the fact is that hundreds of thousands of otherwise law-abiding citizens are having their lives needlessly destroyed each year for nothing more than smoking marijuana." For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500. Full text of NORML's 2005 marijuana arrest report, "Crimes of Indiscretion: Marijuana Arrests in the United States," is available online at: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6411 DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6534 Congress To Outlaw "Anti-Drug Testing" Industry May 19, 2005 - Washington, DC, USA Washington, DC: Members of Congress this week vowed to introduce legislation to prohibit the use and sale of commercial products intended to influence drug test results, such as diuretic teas and chemical adulterants. "These products ... endanger the public," said Rep. Ed Whitfield (R), Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, who called this week's hearing. "I can't think of any reason why we'd allow these products in interstate commerce." Presently, 14 states have enacted laws prohibiting the sale of such products. Members of the Committee said they intend to introduce similar federal legislation before the end of the year. Of the estimated 55 million drug tests performed annually, approximately 90 percent of those are urine tests, which may be influenced by dilution or adding an adulterant to the sample. Over the past decade, numerous commercial businesses have begun selling various products promising to influence drug test results, including herbal teas and substitute urine. While often referred to as an impairment test, urinalysis cannot detect the presence of parent drugs, and only indicates that a particular substance may have been previously consumed at some unspecified point in time. In the case of cannabis, non-psychoactive marijuana metabolites (compounds produced from chemical changes of a drug in the body) may be detectable in urine for days or even weeks after past use. As a result, the US Department of Justice affirms that a positive urine test, even when confirmed, "does not indicate ... recency, frequency, or amount of [drug] use; or impairment." Responding to the proposed Congressional action, NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said, "It's ironic that Congress is trying to quash legitimates businesses that have successfully emerged in the free market - particularly when the market for this industry is a direct result of politicians' zeal to intrusively search the bodily fluids of tens of millions of law abiding Americans without cause." For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500. DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6533 Medical Journals Tout Therapeutic Effects Of Cannabinoids May 19, 2005 - Washington, DC, USA Washington, DC: Clinical reviews published in the current issues of the journals Nature Reviews Immunology and Trends in Neurosciences tout the ability of cannabinoids and cannabis-derived medications to treat multiple sclerosis, cancer and numerous other medical conditions. The first clinical review, published by researchers at London's University College, Institute of Neurology, notes that "abundant experimental data ... combined with data from recent trials points to the prospect of cannabis as a medication in the treatment of multiple sclerosis and numerous other medical conditions." The second clinical review, published by a researcher at the University of South Florida College of Medicine and appearing in the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Immunology, notes that cannabinoids have proven immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties and may be useful in the treatment of "chronic inflammatory diseases," as well as various other conditions, including cancer and spasticity. For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the review, "Emerging properties of cannabinoid medicines in management of multiple sclerosis," appears in the May issue of Trends in Neuroscience. Full text of the review, "Cannabinoid-based drugs as anti-inflammatory therapeutics," appears in the May issue of Nature Reviews Immunology. DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6535 Source: NORML Foundation (DC) Published: May 19, 2005 Copyright: 2005 NORML Contact: norml@norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/ Link to article: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread20706.shtml