Using and selling marijuana would be legal under a bill debated by state legislators.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Charles Weed of Keene, told colleagues Wednesday that legalizing marijuana would give police more resources to tackle violent crime.

He also said that existing laws governing marijuana are too harsh and lead to users being jailed with people who use or sell much more dangerous drugs, such as cocaine and heroin.

We don't really know how many people smoke it. Some sources say 10 million Americans, others say 35 million. But a lot of people smoke pot and they don't seem very sick. Marijuana just won't go away. Everybody talks about it—many quite fondly. About everyone I know under 55 has smoked it. And they're all right. A few have that pothead "oh wow" personality, but so what? I don't know of one case of serious marijuana-related disease among my friends, family and acquaintances.

At work I have to report the same thing. I've been in hospitals and around sick people for 26 years now. I've admitted plenty of patients who have owned up to using pot. I think I can often tell by how they act. But do the health effects of pot seem very serious? As dangerous as those of alcohol, tobacco, overworking, fashion magazines or overeating? Nope. In fact, the health effects of pot are not nearly as dangerous as the jail they throw you in for possessing it. Not even close. I'm not an oncologist, but I haven't seen a case of lung cancer clearly related to dope smoking. Memory loss, depression, anxiety? Could it be as bad as turning 50? As for it being a gateway drug — how about beer?

New research shows that the active ingredient in marijuana may prevent the progression of Alzheimer's by preserving levels of an important neurotransmitter that allows the brain to function.

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in California found that marijuana's active ingredient, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, can prevent the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from breaking down more effectively than commercially marketed drugs.

Oxford, UK: In a new marijuana policy book edited by best-selling academic author Mitch Earleywine, Ph.D., two chapters about religious denominations' opinions reveal substantial support for less punitive marijuana laws. Pot Politics: Marijuana and the Costs of Prohibition, just released by Oxford University Press, is the first book to compile the official marijuana policy positions of dozens of the largest religious groups in the United States.

Religious bodies officially endorsing the removal of criminal penalties for marijuana possession include the United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), and Central Conference of American Rabbis. The Unitarian Universalist Association advocates regulating marijuana just like alcohol. More than 20 others support policy changes such as allowing the medical use of marijuana or repealing mandatory minimum sentencing laws.

Las Vegas, NV: A ballot initiative to allow Nevadans to possess small amounts of marijuana for recreational use has a better chance of passing than most people think, according to a newly released internal poll conducted on behalf of the proposal's backers.

In the new poll, respondents were read the actual text that will appear on their November ballots. Of the 600 likely Nevada voters interviewed statewide by a respected national polling firm, 49 percent said they would vote yes on the question and 43 percent said no. Advertisement

Previously, survey after survey has shown that Nevadans are resistant to a ballot initiative that would, in its words, "control and regulate marijuana." But those results, such as a recent Reno Gazette-Journal poll that found 55 percent of likely voters opposed to the measure and just 37 percent in favor of it, were misleading because they asked the wrong question, advocates of the marijuana initiative said.

Columbia, MO: Past use of cannabis is not associated with an increased risk of injury requiring hospitalization, according to the findings of a case-control study published in the March/April issue of the journal Missouri Medicine.

Investigators at the University of Missouri, Department of Medicine, assessed the association between past cannabis use and injury among adults age 18 to 60. Researchers conducted interviews with 2,161 injured subjects requiring emergency room treatment and 1,856 controls matched for age and gender.

Compounds in marijuana inhibit cancer cell growth in animals and in culture on a wide range of tumoral cell lines, including human breast carcinoma cells, human prostate carcimona cells, and human colectoral carcinoma cells, according to preclinical trial data published in the May issue of the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.

Investigators at Italy's Instuto di Chemica Biomolecolare assessed the anti-cancer activity of various non-psychoactive cannabinoids - including cannabidiol (CBD), cannabigerol (CBG), and cannabichromine (CBC) - in vivo and in vitro. Researchers reported that CBD acts as a more potent inhibitor of cancer cell growth than other cannabinoids, including THC, and noted that the compoud is particularly efficacious in halting the spread of breast cancer cells by triggering apoptosis (programmed cell death).

It seems logical that inhaling enough smoke will give you lung cancer. But a new study of Los Angeles residents suggests that smoking marijuana--even more than 22,000 joints in a lifetime--doesn't increase cancer risk. The results surprise many researchers, who point out marijuana has other ill health effects...

Moderate-to-heavy adolescent cannabis use does not appear to be damaging to the developing brain, according to clinical trial data published this week in the Harm Reduction Journal.

Researchers at the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research and the New York University School of Medicine found "no ... evidence of cerebral atrophy or loss of white matter integrity" attributable to cannabis use in the brains of frequent adolescent marijuana users compared to non-using controls, after performing MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans and other advanced imaging technology...

Mexico City -- Owning marijuana, cocaine and even heroin will no longer be a crime in Mexico if the drugs are carried in small amounts for personal use, under legislation passed by the Congress.

Police will not penalize people for possessing up to 5 grams of marijuana, 5 grams of opium, 25 milligrams of heroin or 500 milligrams of cocaine, under a bill passed by senators late on Thursday and earlier approved by the lower house.

People caught with larger quantities of drugs will be treated as narcotics dealers and face increased jail terms under the plan.

The government says the measure allows police to focus on major drug dealers, and President Fox is expected to sign it into law.

A week after the US Food and Drug Adminstration (FDA) issued a one-page opinion claiming marijuana has no proven medical uses -- a position that ignores the much more comprehensive analysis done by the National Academy of Science's Institute of Medicine in 1999 -- a bipartisan group of 24 House members led by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) has called on the agency to explain its reasoning and offer scientific proof for its positio.

"Despite the fact that you are responding to a scientific question, your press release failed to provide any scientific expertise," the representatives wrote in a Thursday letter to FDA Acting Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach. "We call on you to show us the purported scientific evidence for the basis of this response. There is no evidence that you have new scientific proof or that you oversaw clinical trials. It perplexes us that even though the FDA is responsible for protecting public health, the agency has failed to respond adequately to the IOM's findings seven years after the study's publication date."

Leiden, the Netherlands: Vaporization is a "safe and effective" cannabinoid delivery system for patients desiring the rapid onset of action associated with inhalation, but who are seeking to avoid the respiratory risks of smoking, according to clinical trial data to be published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Researchers at Leiden University's Institute of Biology (the Netherlands) found that use of the Volcano vaporizing device delivered set doses of THC to subjects in a reproducible manner while suppressing the intake of respiratory toxins.

"Our results show that with the Volcano, a safe and effective cannabinoid delivery system seems to be available to patients," investigators concluded. "The final pulmonal uptake of THC is comparable to the smoking of cannabis, while avoiding the respiratory disadvantages of smoking."

London, United Kingdom: A recent statement by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alleging that no animal or human data support the use of cannabis for medical purposes lacks "common sense," according to an editorial in today¹s edition of The Economist.

The editorial notes that the FDA's conclusion contradicts the findings of a comprehensive 1999 review by US Institute of Medicine, and ignores the reality that "today, cannabis is used all over the world ... to relieve pain and anxiety, to aid sleep, and to prevent seizures and muscle spasms."

The Food and Drug Administration released an advisory last week claiming that marijuana has no medicinal value, ignoring a substantial body of scientific evidence to the contrary.

This announcement contradicts a 1999 report by the Institute of Medicine, the scientific arm of the National Academy of Science, which said that marijuana has medical potential and should be tested in clinical trials. This report was issued by a panel of independent scientists and doctors who reviewed the body of scientific knowledge on the subject. The FDA statement, on the other hand, did not refer to any new science to support its claim.

The announcement is the latest example of an ongoing, politically-driven effort to block marijuana from medical use. In its advisory, FDA claimed that "no sound scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana for treatment in the United States." However, private research efforts around marijuana have been chilled by a Drug Enforcement Administration policy that keeps production of marijuana for research under government monopoly. Adequate competition in the manufacture of Schedule I drugs - such as marijuana - to be used for research purposes is actually required by law, and clinical trials would be necessary for an evaluation for possible FDA approval. The current DEA restrictions on research marijuana do not exist for any other drug.

On Thursday, April 6th, DrexelNORML put together a show to raise awareness about the issue of legalizing cannabis. For such a controversial topic, many people were supportive and curious about our cause.

Opening at the Millcreek Tavern were The Bassists, a Drexel band which consists of 2 bass players who sing and a drummer. They were very well received, and they sounded great!

The second act was a little more crazy. The Unholy Sideshow came on and dazzled the audience with acts such as the "Human Pin-cushion", the "Human Blockhead", walking on glass, playing with dry ice, and others! Another very well received act.

The headliner for this show was The Hydrogen Jukebox, a local west Philly band who are well known in the community. They played an amazing show, with songs such "Morphus Indigenous Sound", "Big Bang Theory", "Calamari Conception", "Hydrogen Jawn", and "Golden Nugget", they brought the bar to life. Check out the media page for pictures and a couple video clips from the show!

Also making an appearance was Dave Baker, the Green party candidate for the 2nd Congressional District in PA. He and his campaign support legalizing marijuana and ending the war in Iraq, among other things.

All in all it was a great show, everyone had a great time, and people learned about the failure of the war on drugs and why legalization is the right choice.

A multiple sclerosis patient who hopes to use marijuana to ease the painful symptoms of her disease became the first person to apply for state permission to legally use the drug under a new Rhode Island law Wednesday.

Rhonda O'Donnell submitted a two-page application and a $75 check to the Department of Health. Once the department confirms her doctor's diagnosis, she will be issued a photo ID card and will be allowed to buy or carry up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana.

"I am just so thankful that our legislators have been compassionate enough to care about the disabled," O'Donnell said.

Raphael Mechoulam, Ph.D., is the Lionel Jacobson Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he has been working on cannabinoid chemistry (a term he coined) for over forty years. Throughout this time Dr. Mechoulam and colleagues have made some of the most important contributions to the field of cannabinoid research. His lab was the first to identify and synthesize delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis. This discovery in 1964 (with Dr. Yehiel Gaoni) opened the door to a whole new field of medical research that began exploring, not only the therapeutic potential of THC (marketed as Marinol in America), but other natural and synthetic cannabinoids as well, and offered exciting new insights into how the brain functions.

Washington, DC: Nearly one out of two Americans support amending federal law "to let states legally regulate and tax marijuana the way they do liquor and gambling," according to a national poll of 1,004 likely voters by Zogby International and commissioned by the NORML Foundation.

Forty-six percent of respondents -- including a majority of those polled on the east (53 percent) and west (55 percent) coasts -- say they support allowing states to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. Forty-nine percent of respondents opposed taxing and regulating cannabis, and five percent were undecided.

"Public support for replacing the illicit marijuana market with a legally regulated, controlled market similar to alcohol -- complete with age restrictions and quality controls -- continues to grow," NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said. "NORML's challenge is to convert this growing public support into a tangible public policy that no longer criminalizes those adults who use marijuana responsibly."

It's interesting to note that legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco cause more problems - family, health and economic - than all the illegal drugs combined.

There is a prevailing theory that the use of soft drugs, such as marijuana, inevitably leads to the use of harder drugs such as heroin.

That same thought pattern helped lead to Prohibition, which of course meant that no one would have alcoholic problems ever again. All that produced was that a non-existen organization, the Mafia, got a foothold in American society, which has since become emblazoned in concrete.

And it seems to me that what we are now doing in maintaining the illegality of grass and cocaine, etc., is exactly the same thing.

Utrecht, the Netherlands: Frequent cannabis use is not associated with cognitive deficits in memory or attention, according to trial data published in the forthcoming issue of the journal Psychopharmacology.

Investigators at the Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience assessed brain function in "frequent but relatively moderate" cannabis users in the domains of working memory and selective attention using functional magnetic resonance imagining (fMRI).

"No evidence was found for long-term deficits in working memory and selective attention in frequent cannabis users after one week of abstinence" compared to non-using healthy controls, authors concluded. "Furthermore, cannabis users did not differ from controls in terms of overall patterns of brain activity in the regions involved in these cognitive functions."

Previous trials on cannabis use and cognition have reached similar conclusions. An October 2004 study published in the journal Psychological Medicine examining the potential long-term residual effects of cannabis on cognition in monozygotic male twins reported "an absence of marked long-term residual effects of marijuana use on cognitive abilities."

A 2003 meta-analysis published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society also "failed to reveal a substantial, systematic effect of long-term, regular cannabis consumption on the neurocognitive functioning of users who were not acutely intoxicated," and a 2002 clinical trial published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal determined, "Marijuana does not have a long-term negative impact on global intelligence."

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the study, "Long-term effects of frequent cannabis use on working memory and attention: an fMRI study," will appear in the journal Psychopharmacology. A summary of clinical studies assessing the impact of cannabis on cognition is available online at http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6812