Uh, no.

There are TENS OF THOUSANDS of studies. I was amazed to learn this last year when I read this article by Paul Armentano from NORML. That organization fights for cannabis legalization, largely by bringing actual facts about the plant to the public. Please take a few minutes to learn how marijuana has become “the most studied plant on earth.”

There’s Been Over 20,000 Studies On Marijuana; What Is It That Scientists ‘Do Not Yet Know?’

July 1st, 2010 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

US News & World Report recently probed the subject of cannabis science, publishing a pair of stories on the subject here and here.

Neither story particularly breaks any new ground, though the author (who I spoke with extensively prior to the stories publication) does note that investigators are now assessing the use of cannabis for a wide range of disease conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease and the so-called ’superbug’ MRSA (multi-drug resistant bacterial infections).

Quoted in the story is Columbia University researcher Margaret Haney. I’ve written about Haney’s clinical work with cannabis before. In particular, Haney was the lead author of a 2007 clinical trial concluding that inhaled cannabis increased daily caloric intake and body weight in HIV-positive patients in a manner that was far superior to the effects of oral THC (Marinol aka Dronabinol). The study further reported that subjects’ use of marijuana was well tolerated, and did not impair their cognitive performance.

Yet Haney’s comments in US News and World Report ring tepid at best.

“I am not anti-marijuana, I’m not pro-marijuana. I want to understand it.” Haney expresses frustration at what she considers wrongheaded efforts by states to legalize medical marijuana. There is too much, she says, that scientists do not know.

Haney’s refrain is a common one, and at first glance it appears to make sense. After all, who among us doesn’t want to better understand the interactions between the marijuana plant and the human body? Yet placed in proper context this sentiment appears to be little more than a red herring. Here’s why.

Marijuana is already the most studied plant on Earth, and is arguably one of the most investigated therapeutically active substances known to man. To date, there are now over 20,000 published studies or reviews in the scientific literature pertaining to marijuana and its active compounds. That total includes over 2,700 separate papers published on cannabis in 2009 and another 900 published just this year alone (according to a key word search on the search engine PubMed).

And what have we learned from these 20,000+ studies? Not surprisingly, quite a lot. For starters, we know that cannabis and its active constituents are uniquely safe and effective as therapeutic compounds. Unlike most prescription or over-the-counter medications, cannabinoids are virtually non-toxic to health cells or organs, and they are incapable of causing the user to experience a fatal overdose. Unlike opiates, cannabinoids do not depress the central nervous system, and as a result they possess a virtually unparalleled safety profile. In fact, a2008 meta-analysis published in the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association (CMAJ) reported that cannabis-based drugs were associated with virtually no serious adverse side effects in over 30 years of investigative use.

We also know that the cannabis plant contains in excess of 60 active compounds that likely possess distinctive therapeutic properties. These include THC, THCV, CBD, THCA, CBC, and CBG, among others. In fact, a recent review by Raphael Mechoulam and colleagues identifies nearly 30 separate therapeutic effects — including anti-cancer properties, anti-diabetic properties, neuroprotection, and anti-stroke properties — in cannabinoids other than THC. Most recently, a reviewby researchers in Germany reported that since 2005 there have been 37 controlled studies assessing the safety and efficacy of cannabinoids, involved a total of 2,563 subjects. By contrast, most FDA-approved drugs go through far fewer trials involving far fewer subjects.

Finally, we know that Western civilization has been using cannabis as a therapeutic agent or recreational intoxicant for thousands of years with relatively few adverse consequences — either to the individual user or to society. In fact, no less than the World Health Organization commissioned a team of experts to compare the health and societal consequences of marijuana use compared to other drugs, including alcohol, nicotine, and opiates. After quantifying the harms associated with both drugs, the researchers concluded: “Overall, most of these risks (associated with marijuana) are small to moderate in size. In aggregate they are unlikely to produce public health problems comparable in scale to those currently produced by alcohol and tobacco. On existing patterns of use, cannabis poses a much less serious public health problem than is currently posed by alcohol and tobacco in Western societies.”

That, in a nutshell, is what we ‘know’ about cannabis. I’d say that it’s ample enough information to, at the very least, cease the practice arresting people who possess it.  As for what else Dr. Haney and others of a similar mindset would still like to know — and how many additional studies would it take to provide them with that information — well, that’s anybody’s guess.

The full article and many other useful resources are available on NORML’s website.

There are a precious few more LOCAL legal exceptions now, but throughout the United States we still face the daily threat of losing our children, our families, our jobs, our medicine, our freedom.

Despite the much-publicized freedom in this country to pursue one’s spiritual development as s/he decides. Despite the fact that we pride ourselves in being a compassionate nation that gives health care to those who need.

My freedom to choose this religion (and others) is still being restricted even though you are statistically more likely to be harmed tripping over your couch than by my meditative use of cannabis.  And yet if I practice this religion and/or grow or use marijuana even for a medical reason I have a significantly higher likelihood of being anally raped in prison over the next 10 years. I am not being glib. (If you laughed, I’m happy that I entertained you but you should know that I’m very motivated when it comes to the health and integrity of my anal sphincter.)

But in all seriousness, my freedom of religion has been adjusted and my access to a natural, extraordinarily effective, inexpensive and demonstrably safe mode of health care has been blocked.

So has yours.

Read article on source website.

Full Story at Toke of the Town

There Goes An Industry: Dutch To Ban Cannabis Sales To Tourists

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~

There goes the tourism industry.

In a hare-brained move, the new conservative government of the Netherlands said on Wednesday it plans to ban tourists from buying cannabis in its famed “coffee shops,” where hash and marijuana are legally sold. The shops have become a very popular attraction for travelers from other countries.

The new government, which took office last month, has agreed to limit the sale of cannabis to Dutch residents only, to curb supposed crime linked to its production and sale.

“No tourist attractions. We don’t like that,” said Ivo Opstelten, the Dutch minister for security and justice on Wednesday, reports Gilbert Kreijger of Reuters.

“The heart of the problem is crime and disturbances surrounding the sale,” Kreijger claimed. “We have to go back to what it was meant for: local use for those who would like it.”

One can’t help but wonder why cannabis sales to foreigners — which have been allowed for about 35 years in the Netherlands — is suddenly defined as a “problem,” when it has brought so much revenue to the country.

It’s hard to analyze the strategy behind banning the coffee shops, when people from all over the world visit the Netherlands solely because of them. But the new conservative Dutch government, busily looking for scapegoats for their societal ills, believes that cutting off foreigners from cannabis sales will somehow fix things.

Shop owners say the idea is unworkable, according to The Associated Press.

The Netherlands has for years had one of Europe’s most liberal soft drug policies, with its coffee shops, especially in Amsterdam and in border cities near Belgium and Germany, have been major sources of tourist cash.

But some cities near the Belgian border have cracked down on marijuana tourism, and the Dutch security minister on Wednesday confirmed a wider clampdown after coalition parties — comprising Labour, Christian Democrats and a small Christian party — agreed to push for a ban in September.

Amsterdam, which stands to lose a major tourist attraction, is already in the process of closing some of its 223 coffee shops, starting with those in the red light district to tackle “criminal activity” in the area, and is currently studying the government proposal.

“We are taking the current practice as a starting point,” an Amsterdam city spokesman said. “It is not perfect but in many ways we have a functioning coffee shop system.”

The government’s plan to ban tourists from the cannabis shops — whereby only holders of a resident’s pass would be allowed to buy hash and marijuana at them — has not yet been formally put into law, and no timetable has yet been proposed.

A spokesman for Opstelten said on Thursday that details of the plan are “uncertain,” and the minister will make a formal proposal sometime next year.

Personal possession of up to five grams (between an eighth-ounce and a quarter-ounce) of cannabis or hash is allowed in the Netherlands, but “large-scale production and transport” remains a crime.

Some Dutch border towns including Maastricht and Terneuzen have already banned cannabis sales to foreigners to “limit crime and disturbances” such as traffic jams.

Maastricht has the right to refuse foreigners entry to its coffee shops, the advocate-general of the European Court of Justice advised in July, giving support to the Dutch government’s nationwide ban if the court followed the advice.”

So like a little kid who can’t have the candy he wants, will you pout and refuse anything at all? It’s still pretty cool to be able to pick even between two candidates. And there are definitely some choices to make this year. If you are in California, just the propositions alone are worth going to the polls. Prop 23 is sponsored by Texas oil companies and EVERYONE else is against it — a bald attempt to suspend clean air laws in California. You GOTTA vote NO on that.

And since this is The Plant Rant, I have to mention 19, right?!

Bottom line is that 19 is full of problems. And a lot of people I respect are voting against it. I just think they’re doing so for the wrong reasons. Marijuana is under a prohibition act, and that needs to be corrected on a global level. Passing prop 19 will carry this cause forward without a doubt. Never let it be said that our generation failed to move the cause forward because the necessary steps were less than ideal in the short term. Plus, if it doesn’t work out, we’ll get it on the ballot again and fix it. And in the meantime, other states will follow California’s lead.

So get out and vote. Please. Especially if you voted for President Obama and you’re feeling a bit jaded by politics and politicians. Me too. You can still make a difference.

Full Article on NORML’s Blog

Yes On Prop. 19 Campaign Releases TV Advertisement
October 25th, 2010 By: Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director

The campaign to pass Proposition 19, the California ballot measure to legalize the private adult use and cultivation of cannabis, released a television ad today featuring former San Jose police chief Joseph McNamara, who makes a strong public safety case for ending the current prohibition laws.

Says McNamara in the ad (view below):”Let’s be honest: The war against marijuana has failed. I know from 35 years in law enforcement. Today, it’s easier for a teenager to buy pot than beer. Proposition 19 will tax and control marijuana just like alcohol. It will generate billions of dollars for local communities, allow police to focus on violent crimes, and put drug cartels out of business. Join me and many others in law enforcement. Vote YES on Proposition 19!”

McNamara served as San Jose’s chief of police for 15 years.

The ad begins airing on televisions stations throughout California, with a specific emphasis on southern California, tomorrow. (Interested parties who wish to donate to the ad campaign can do so by going here.)

McNamara also has a commentary on today’s Huffington Post, which you can read here:

Let’s Be Honest: The War Against Marijuana Has Failed

[Excerpt] For 70 years, we have prohibited marijuana in this country, each day expecting different results. But as William F. Buckley once said: “Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.”

We spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year arresting people for marijuana possession, sending them to trial, and incarcerating small-time offenders.

And yet, despite our war against it, marijuana is so freely available that anyone who wants it in California can get it.

… On my watch as police chief in San Jose, the city was named the safest large city in the country, despite having the fewest police per capita. That’s because we policed intelligently. And between smart policing and sound policy we can make our streets safe, instead of paying lip service to the failing war on marijuana.

California cannot afford to continue the same failed policies of the past. … That’s why I am asking you to join me and many others in law enforcement by voting YES on Proposition 19.

Prop 19 is FAR from perfect. I thought I would vote against it for months. But while it’s not ideal, it is a key step in the overall progress of this country (and most of the world) reversing prohibition. Let it never be said of our generation that we hindered this step because it might create some short term problems for us. The long-term effect will be that most of this country will legalize marijuana at least for medical use, hopefully within a generation. Prop 19 is a stepping stone on that path. It’s not as smooth as we’d like, but we need to take that step.

So I’m voting YES on 19 on November 2. I hope you will consider doing the same.

Full FDL Article HERE

“Proposition 19 is a California ballot proposition which would legalize various marijuana-related activities. The latest polls show it at 51% approval, which would be just enough to get it passed, were it not for the following groups of people …

A large majority of California’s population cares for hippies about as much as Nixon (born there) Reagan (launched his political career there) and Harry Callahan (killed 30% of San Francisco’s population in the 70s).

Fortunately for people with Glaucoma, an overwhelming percentage of whom happen to be actor-waiters from the greater Los Angeles area, the state has managed its budget with the efficiency of a stoned teenager who wasn’t that bright to begin with. This is the major reason many non-pot smokers are backing the initiative. After all, marijuana is already Kentucky’s second largest cash crop, a fact the “Yes on 19″ crowd would probably bring up a lot more if sadness and NASCAR beer koozies weren’t third and forth.

So with the odds stacked against the pot heads, how do you turn the tide against the stick-in-the-muds who don’t want marijuana to be legal? Remind them of 3 simple things that will change if marijuana is decriminalized:

1) It will free up the cops, the courts, and the jails of having to deal with people who’s only real crime is having too many episodes of SpongeBob on the TiVo.

2) Once it’s legal, it can be taxed, and 57.7% of California’s budget is spent on education. So all those burn outs blazing one up on thier couch would now be helping the children.

3) The most compelling argument…if you legalize marijuana, Michael Phelps is a hero again!”
TimBabbComedian is a Stand-up Comic, Podcaster, & Full-time Failure. Check him out at TANcast.com/tim

California Governor Signs Marijuana Decriminalization Bill

Hey, sorry it’s been so long without a new article. I needed to take some time to focus on other things, but I’ll try to speed up the writing a bit on this subject. For now, enjoy this antiquated view on how marijuana impacts your life. The concept of marijuana madness…one of the greatest tricks played on this country. Ever.