PRESS RELEASE - 21st NOVEMBER, 2003

Edition 20.

Cannabis News Items From Around the World

ONE AND A HALF MILLION U.S. DRUG ARRESTS LAST YEAR

Pubdate: Fri, 31 Oct 2003
Source: Drug War Chronicle (US Web)
Contact: psmith@drcnet.org
Website: http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2514
Author: Phillip S. Smith, Editor

Nearly 700,000 for Marijuana, FBI Reports

The US crime rate entered its third year of virtual stagnation in 2002 and is dramatically lower than a decade ago, the FBI reported on Wednesday, but the war on drugs continues to scoop up Americans by the millions. According to the FBI's annual uniform crime report, "Crime in the United States 2002," more than 1.5 million people were arrested on drug charges last year, roughly 80% of them for simple possession. Marijuana users made up nearly half of all drug arrests, with some 693,000 pot busts last year, 88% of them for simple possession.

The marijuana arrest figure is down slightly from 2001's 723,000 arrests and the all-time high of 734,000 arrests achieved during the last year of the Clinton administration. By contrast, in 1993, the year Bill Clinton took office, the number of arrests was 380,000. In a virtual hempen holocaust, more than six million Americans have been arrested on marijuana charges in the past decade alone.

Marijuana activists were quick to jump on the findings. "It's ironic and sad that marijuana arrests remain at record levels at the same time that Americans are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the repeal of alcohol prohibition. Americans agree that alcohol prohibition failed to eliminate alcohol use, and this latest FBI report shows that marijuana prohibition is not preventing people from using marijuana," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project (http://www.mpp.org). "Marijuana prohibition is an example of how a cure can be more harmful than the disease it's intended to treat. The simple use of marijuana ruins relatively few lives, but arresting 700,000 adults for marijuana disrupts the lives of millions of marijuana users and their families every year."

While law enforcement sources contacted by DRCNet for various stories almost uniformly claim that marijuana is a low priority, the numbers strongly suggest that somebody is arresting pot-smokers like crazy.
"These numbers belie the myth that police do not target and arrest minor marijuana offenders," said Keith Stroup, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (http://www.norml.org), who noted that at current rates, a marijuana smoker is arrested every 45 seconds in America. "This effort is a tremendous waste of criminal justice resources that should be dedicated toward combating serious and violent crime, including the war on terrorism."

But the "war on terror" notwithstanding, there is just not that much crime these days, according to the FBI. Violent crime decreased 0.9% last year, making the level 7% lower than five years ago and a whopping 26% lower than in 1993. Similarly, the most violent crime -- murder -- is down 34% from a decade ago. Likewise, while property crime was up 0.1% over 2001, last year's figures are 14.5% lower than in 1993. The measure of serious crimes per 100,000 population is also down significantly. The current figure of 4,119 serious crimes per 100,000 is 11% lower than 1998 and 25% lower than in 1993. Still, total arrests increased by 0.5% last year.

Drug arrests made up about 10% of all arrests and constituted the single largest grouping of arrests. With more than 1.5 million drug arrests, there were more than twice as many drug arrests as arrests for all violent crimes combined (620,000), for larceny (1.16 million), for drunk driving (1.46 million), or for liquor law violations and drunkenness arrests combined (1.23 million). Only when minor theft (larceny) is added to the list of property crimes does its total (1.61 million) slightly exceed drug arrests.

Marijuana possession accounted for almost 40% of drug arrests, followed by heroin and cocaine possession (21%), "other dangerous non-narcotic drugs" (16%), and synthetics (3%). Simple possession arrests constituted four-fifths of all drug arrest in 2001. But when it comes to drug sales and distribution, heroin and cocaine take the lead with more than 40% of all sales arrests, while marijuana sales or manufacture accounted for 22% of all drug arrests.

"Marijuana legalization would remove this behemoth financial burden from the criminal justice system, freeing up criminal justice resources to target other more serious crimes, and allowing law
enforcement to focus on the highest echelons of hard-drug trafficking enterprises rather than on minor marijuana offenders who present no threat to public safety," pointed out NORML's Stroup.

The FBI figures also strongly suggest that the war on drugs is becoming a war on youth. While most other crime fell dramatically during the last decade, drug arrests were up 37% over 1993, and for people under 18, the increase was an even more dramatic 59.1%, with more than 116,000 teens busted for drugs in 2001. With youth crime also down dramatically in the past decade -- murder was down by 64%, robbery down 38%, car theft down 50%, weapons offenses down 46% -- drug busts appear to be one of the few remaining ways to arrest young
people. There were also increases in teen arrest rates for "offenses against families and children" (up 48%), drunk driving (up 45%), and curfew violations (up 35%), but given the general decline in teen crime, these arrests may be driven by tougher enforcement rather than greater actual offense levels.

And, of course, blacks remain disproportionately targeted by the drug war. Although African Americans constitute about 13% of the population and a like percentage of drug users, they made up 32.5% of all drug arrests, the FBI reported.

Visit http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm to read the Uniform Crime Report online.

U.S. FEDERAL FOOLISHNESS AND MARIJUANA

Pubdate: 30 Jan 1997
Source: New England Journal of Medicine
Copyright 1997 Massachusetts Medical Society
Author: Jerome P. Kassirer, M.D., Editor

FEDERAL FOOLISHNESS AND MARIJUANA

The advanced stages of many illnesses and their treatments are often accompanied by intractable nausea, vomiting, or pain. Thousands of patients with cancer, AIDS, and other diseases report they have obtained striking relief from these devastating symptoms by smoking marijuana. ( 1 ) The alleviation of distress can be so striking that some patients and their families have been willing to risk a jail term to obtain or grow the marijuana.

Despite the desperation of these patients, within weeks after voters in Arizona and California approved propositions allowing physicians in their states to prescribe marijuana for medical indications, federal officials, including the President, the secretary of Health and Human Services, and the attorney general sprang into action. At a news conference, Secretary Donna E. Shalala gave an organ recital of the parts of the body that she asserted could be harmed by marijuana and warned of the evils of its spreading use. Attorney General Janet Reno announced that physicians in
any state who prescribed the drug could lose the privilege of writing prescriptions, be excluded from Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, and even be prosecuted for a federal crime. General Barry R. McCaffrey, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, reiterated his
agency's position that marijuana is a dangerous drug and implied that voters in Arizona and California had been duped into voting for these propositions. He indicated that it is always possible to study the effects of any drug, including marijuana, but that the use of marijuana by
seriously ill patients would require, at the least, scientifically valid research.

I believe that a federal policy that prohibits physicians from alleviating suffering by prescribing marijuana for seriously ill patients is misguided, heavy-handed, and inhumane. Marijuana may have long-term adverse effects and its use may presage serious addictions, but neither long-term side
effects nor addiction is a relevant issue in such patients. It is also hypocritical to forbid physicians to prescribe marijuana while permitting them to use morphine and meperidine to relieve extreme dyspnea and pain. With both these drugs the difference between the dose that relieves symptoms and the dose that hastens death is very narrow; by contrast, there is no risk of death from smoking marijuana. To demand evidence of therapeutic efficacy is equally hypocritical. The noxious sensations that patients experience are extremely difficult to quantify in controlled experiments. What really counts for a therapy with this kind of safety margin is whether a seriously ill patient feels relief as a result of the intervention, not whether a controlled trial "proves" its efficacy.

Paradoxically, dronabinol, a drug that contains one of the active ingredients in marijuana (tetrahydrocannabinol), has been available by prescription for more than a decade. But it is difficult to titrate the therapeutic dose of this drug, and it is not widely prescribed. By contrast, smoking marijuana produces a rapid increase in the blood level of the active ingredients and is thus more likely to be therapeutic. Needless to say, new drugs such as those that inhibit the nausea associated with chemotherapy may well be more beneficial than smoking marijuana, but their
comparative efficacy has never been studied.

Whatever their reasons, federal officials are out of step with the public. Dozens of states have passed laws that ease restrictions on the prescribing of marijuana by physicians, and polls consistently show that the public favors the use of marijuana for such purposes. ( 1 ) Federal
authorities should rescind their prohibition of the medicinal use of marijuana for seriously ill patients and allow physicians to decide which patients to treat. The government should change marijuana's status from that of a Schedule 1 drug ( considered to be potentially addictive and with no current medical use ) to that of a Schedule 2 drug ( potentially addictive but with some accepted medical use ) and regulate it accordingly. To ensure its proper distribution and use, the government
could declare itself the only agency sanctioned to provide the marijuana. I believe that such a change in policy would have no adverse effects. The argument that it would be a signal to the young that "marijuana is OK" is, I believe, specious.

This proposal is not new. In 1986, after years of legal wrangling, the Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA ) held extensive hearings on the transfer of marijuana to Schedule 2. In 1988, the DEA's own administrative-law judge concluded, "It would be unreasonable, arbitrary,
and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record." ( 1 ) Nonetheless, the DEA overruled the judge's order to transfer marijuana to Schedule 2, and in 1992 it issued a final rejection of all requests for
reclassification. ( 2 ) Some physicians will have the courage to challenge the continued
proscription of marijuana for the sick. Eventually, their actions will force the courts to adjudicate between the rights of those at death's door and the absolute power of bureaucrats whose decisions are based more on reflexive ideology and political correctness than on compassion.

References

1. Young FL. Opinion and recommended ruling, marijuana rescheduling petition. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration. Docket 86-22. Washington, D.C.: Drug Enforcement Administration, September 6, 1988.

2. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration. Marijuana scheduling petition: denial of petition: remand. ( Docket No. 86-22. ) Fed Regist 1992;57( 59 ):10489-508.

Alcohol dominant problem for publicly funded drug and alcohol treatment services, and cannabis comes second ?????

Link to PDF of Report

http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/hse/adtsa01-02/adtsa01-02.pdf

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

MEDIA RELEASE

Alcohol dominant problem for publicly funded drug and alcohol treatment services

Problems with alcohol dominate the activities of publicly funded alcohol and other drug treatment services, according to a report published today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The Alcohol and Other Drug Treatment Services in Australia 2001–02 report shows that alcohol was the principal drug of concern in 37% of treatment episodes, followed by cannabis (21%), heroin (18%) and amphetamines (11%).

Statistics in the report cover 121,000 treatment episodes across 505 agencies, focusing on clients using publicly funded treatment services, the types of drug problems for which treatment is sought, and the types of treatment they received. The report is part of the monitoring and evaluation components of the Australian Government’s National Drug Strategy.

Two-thirds of alcohol and other drug treatment episodes involved male clients and most treatment episodes (61%) were for clients aged between 20 and 39 years of age.

Counselling was the most common form of main treatment received by clients (39% of treatment episodes), followed by withdrawal management (detoxification) (19%), assessment only (15%) and information and education only (10%).

Withdrawal management was more common among clients aged 40 years or more (24% of these treatment episodes) than in clients aged under 40 years (18%).

Report co-author Gail Weaving said that alcohol as the principal drug of concern was particularly prevalent among older age groups.

‘Alcohol was the most common drug of concern for 42% of treatment episodes among clients aged 30-39, 62% in clients aged 40–49, 79% in clients aged 50–59, and 80% for clients aged 60 and over’, Ms Weaving said.

‘In contrast, in the 10–19 age group, almost half (46%) of the treatment episodes were principally for problems with cannabis, followed by alcohol on 15%.’

‘In the 20–29 year age group heroin was the principal drug of concern at 26%, closely followed by cannabis on 25% and alcohol on 22%.’

Canberra, 5 November 2003
Further information: Gail Weaving, AIHW, tel. 02 6244 1050 or mobile 0407 915 851
Background briefings: Chrysanthe Psychogios, tel. 02 6244 1068
Media copies of the report: Publications Officer, tel. 02 6244 1032

GW and Bayer Announce Marketing Agreement to Bring Sativex(R),
Cannabis-Based Medicine, to Canadian Market

TORONTO, Nov. 6 /CNW/ - GW Pharmaceuticals plc ("GW") and Bayer HealthCare,
Pharmaceuticals Division - Canada ("Bayer") announce a marketing agreement to bring Sativex(R), GW's cannabis-based medicinal extract product, to the Canadian market.

Sativex(R), has been developed by GW to provide a cannabis-derived pharmaceutical product for the treatment of the debilitating symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis ("MS") and severe neuropathic pain. The product is a whole plant medicinal cannabis extract containing Tetranabinex(TM)
(tetrahydrocannabinol or THC) and Nabidiolex(TM) (cannabidiol or CBD) as its principal components. The medicine is administered by means of a spray into the mouth.

Bayer HealthCare AG obtained exclusive rights to market Sativex(R), in the UK in May 2003 at which time Bayer also secured an option to negotiate the marketing rights in selected other countries. This new agreement for Canada is the first such extension concluded under these option arrangements.

Approximately 50,000 people in Canada are diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Pain occurs in 80% of MS patients and 20 to 50% report experiencing significant pain (O'Connor 2002). A Canadian survey of patients with neuropathic pain found that 73% had inadequate pain control
(Boivie 1999).

Dr Geoffrey Guy, Executive Chairman of GW, said, "I am delighted to be announcing a further extension of our partnership with Bayer, as envisaged at the time of our original agreement earlier this year. Over the last few years, GW has held positive discussions with officials in Canada regarding the introduction of Sativex(R), and we look forward to working with Bayer to bring Sativex(R), to market in Canada at the earliest opportunity."

Philip Blake, President and CEO of Bayer Inc., said, "We are pleased to partner with GW to bring this innovative cannabis-based product to the Canadian market. We believe that Sativex(R) can make a substantial difference in the lives of patients with MS and those who suffer from
neuropathic pain."

GW plans to submit a New Drug Submission for Sativex(R) to Health Canada in the near future. GW submitted a product licence application for Sativex(R), to the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency ("MHRA") in March 2003.

http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2003/06/c9200.html

WORLD'S BIGGEST MS TRIAL SHOWS BENEFITS OF CANNABIS

Results from the world's largest study into the medical effects of cannabis have shown that the drug can reduce pain and improve the lives of people with multiple sclerosis. Scientists concluded that patients for whom other treatments have failed should be given tablets made from cannabis derivatives.

The three-year study, published in the medical journal The Lancet today, is the first clinical appraisal of whether cannabis-derived drugs can help treat MS.

Mike O'Donovan, chief executive of the Multiple Sclerosis Society said: "These improvements to quality of life can make a significant difference to people with MS. On the evidence now available, the MS Society believes those who might benefit should be able to have treatment prescribed on the NHS."

Patients say that smoking the drug reduces symptoms such as muscle stiffness and tremors, and gives them greater mobility. Pharmaceutical companies are working urgently to develop drugs using cannabinoids, the natural chemicals found in cannabis which appear to soothe pain and
alleviate muscle stiffness.

About 85,000 people suffer from MS in Britain, and it is the most common neurological disease affecting young adults in the Western world.

Researchers from the University of Plymouth tested more than 600 patients with MS, giving some of them cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and the others a placebo. The groups were not told whether they were taking THC or the placebo.

When the researchers used standard clinical tests, they found little evidence that THC reduced muscle stiffness. But in interviews, 60 per cent of the THC patients said they had less muscle stiffness, compared with 46 per cent of the placebo group. Fifty-four per cent of the THC group said their pain was reduced, compared with 37 per cent of those taking the placebo. Twelve per cent of those on THC found it easier to walk a short distance, compared with 4 per cent of the other group.

Dr John Zajicek, the lead researcher, said: "Our findings provide some evidence that cannabinoids could be clinically useful in treatment of symptoms related to multiple sclerosis, but more work is necessary."

Professor Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the Medical Research Council which funded the study, said: "This work underlines the importance of funding large-scale clinical trials of possible treatments so the evidence can be weighed up."

A Department of Health spokeswoman said:"It is important to try to evaluate the claims on a proper scientific basis ... If the benefits of a cannabis-based medicine were to be scientifically demonstrated, the Government would be willing to amend the misuse of drugs controls to allow
the prescribing of such a medicine."

UK: South African 'Dagga' Brings Riches To New Drug Barons

Pubdate: Sun, 02 Nov 2003
Source: Observer, The (UK)
Copyright: 2003 The Observer
Contact: letters@observer.co.uk
Website: http://www.observer.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/315
Author: Tony Thompson

'DAGGA' BRINGS RICHES TO NEW DRUG BARONS

South African cannabis now dominates illegal trade

A new generation of young British drug barons are becoming overnight millionaires by importing high-quality cannabis direct from South Africa.

The gangs are taking advantage of the rock-bottom price of the South African product - known locally as dagga - to enjoy profit margins as high as 4,000 per cent and police are warning that those behind the trade could become richer and more powerful than those trafficking cocaine and heroin.

Cannabis from South Africa and neighbouring countries is some of the most potent in the world and now accounts for the vast majority of seizures in the UK.

In Britain, high quality 'skunk' cannabis sells for around UKP 3,500 a kilo. In South Africa the same product can be bought for UKP 20 a kilo, less if bought in bulk. In some areas, dagga is said to be on sale for only 40p a kilo.

The rapid growth of the market is creating overnight multi-millionaires who invest their new-found wealth in other areas of criminality.

Last week MPs voted to approve proposals to downgrade cannabis from Class B to Class C. The move, which is intended to allow police to focus attention on cocaine and heroin, is expected to increase demand for the drug, now smoked regularly by more than three million Britons.
Although penalties for trafficking cannabis will be increased, they will be considerably lower than those for Class A drugs.

Those running the trade rely on a network of couriers to bring suitcase-sized loads of the drug to the UK, often via France, Germany and in particular Ireland.

Over the past year at least 100 South African couriers have been detained at Dublin International Airport, leading one judge, Patrick McCartan, to declare the situation 'out of control'. During the
summer, eight out of 10 drug smugglers arrested in Dublin were South African.

The gangs have now switched tactics and are flying into other airports. Customs officials at Birmingham have dealt with a string of cases of South African couriers in recent months. Authorities in South Africa have also seized shipments bound for the West Midlands.

Most of the mules are white Afrikaaners who have fallen on hard times. They are given a plane ticket and paid around UKP 500 to carry a suitcase holding up to 25 kilos of marijuana. The drugs are wrapped in plastic and covered in coffee and carbon paper to avoid detection. The
couriers, usually women, are given telephone numbers to call on arrival in Dublin and then get tickets to complete their journeys to the UK.

One police source told The Observer: 'A lot of what is going on involves testing out routes. Because the amount of money invested is low, the traffickers can afford to lose a shipment or two. The average amount the couriers carry is 25 kilos. That costs UKP 500, but is worth UKP 75,000 in the UK.'

Interpol now rates South Africa as the fourth-largest cannabis producer in the world. Around a quarter of worldwide seizures involve South African cannabis. The trend is confirmed by a a report by the Institute for Security Studies in Cape Town, which says that most of the marijuana seized in the UK, and a third of that seized globally, is now of South African origin.

A spokeswoman for the National Criminal Intelligence Service told The Observer: 'This is an area of particular interest to us, as criminals who make money from trafficking cannabis may use the profits to fund other criminal activity. In addition, a consignment of cannabis may well include
Class A drugs.'

The potential for vast profit from South African cannabis was highlighted last week when five members of a gang led by unemployed 24-year-old Robert Beal were jailed for varying terms totalling 30 years.

Beal was arrested at a north London flat along with two South African accomplices, businessmen Aaron Reichlin, 53, and 40-year-old Katiso Molefe, when police carried out a search in connection with a robbery. They found 25,000 ecstasy pills, 5.2 kilos of cannabis and a cache of
firearms, including a sub-machine gun and two semi-automatic pistols.

They also found details of a shipment of two electrical transformers from South Africa which were awaiting collection in Ipswich. When police searched the transformer units at the dockyard they found 825 kilos of high quality herbal cannabis. They resealed the empty containers and put them under surveillance as they were taken to an industrial estate in Wembley, north-west London, where police arrested the three other gang members.

Beal had paid UKP 65,000 for the cannabis concealed in the transformer units. In the UK, its value was UKP 4.5 million.

Dagga Analysis by Independent body:

http://www.ukcia.org/research/medline/6.htm (Relative Potencies of Cannabis Variants)

Authors
Field BI, Arndt RR
Title
Cannabinoid compounds in South African Cannabis sativa L.
Source
Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmacology
Date
1980 Jan
Issue
32(1)
Pages
21-4
Abstract
"Dagga (Cannabis sativa L.) samples were collected from various geographical regions of South Africa. These were classified into age, sex and plant part and the cannabinoids were analysed quantitatively by gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Analytical results show that there appears to be at least three chemovariants of Cannabis sativa growing in South Africa with respect to relative cannabinoid content. One of these variants appears to be unique to Southern Africa. It also appears that South African C. sativa ranks among the world's more potent C. sativa variants in terms of its delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol content."

Gun-toting US Police Burst Into A South Carolina High School

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/07/national/main582492.shtml


Drug Raid At S.C. High School

GOOSE CREEK, S.C., Nov. 7, 2003

Gun-toting police burst into a South Carolina high school, ordering students to lie down in hall ways as they searched for drugs. The commando-style raid has parents questioning the wisdom of police tactics.

The raid occurred Wednesday at Stratford High School in Goose Creek, S.C. Surveillance video obtained by CBS Affiliate WCSC in Charleston shows the police waving their guns and searching lockers as students lie flat on their stomachs or sides.

The school's principal defends the dramatic sweep, caught on the school's surveillance tape. Police came into the school with guns at the ready, ordered all students to lie on the floor and then
handcuffed anyone who apparently didn't comply quickly enough.

"We received reports from staff members and students that there was a lot of drug activity. Recently we busted a student for having over 300 plus prescription pills. The volume and the amount of marijuana coming into the school is unacceptable," said principal George McCrackin.

Police didn't find any criminals in the armed sweep, but they say K-9 dogs smelled drugs on a dozen backpacks. Goose Creek police and school administrators defend the draconian measures as necessary for crime prevention.

The parents of some students who were subjected to the sweep disagree.

"I was just upset knowing they had guns put to their head and a K9 was barking at them and about to bite somebody. It was awful," parent Latonia Simmons told WCSC.

The Post And Courier newspaper in Charleston reports the high school is one of the largest in the state with 2,760 students. It has an academic reputation as one of the Lowcountry's best.

The paper quoted Lt. Dave Aarons of the Goose Creek Police Department as saying that the suspected drug dealers appeared to be knowledgeable about where the school surveillance cameras were. He said he watched school surveillance tapes from four days that showed
students congregating under cameras, periodically walking into a bathroom with different students and coming out moments later.

"They know where the cameras are. If they stand directly under them, the camera's don't look directly down,'' Aarons told the paper.

THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS!