Drug War Update: NORML & DRC News

Marijuana Smoking Not Associated With Cancers Of The Head Or Neck

Lyon, France: Smoking cannabis is not associated with an increased risk of developing cancers of the head and neck, according to the results of a case-control study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention.

An international team of investigators from France, the United States, Brazil, and Argentina assessed whether the “ever use” of marijuana was positively associated with head and neck cancers (HNC). Researchers pooled self-reported interview data on marijuana smoking and known HNC risk factors on 4,029 HNC cases and 5,015 controls. They reported that “infrequent marijuana smoking” was not associated with increased incidences of cancer.

“The risk of HNC was not elevated by ever marijuana smoking and there was no increasing risk associated with increasing frequency, duration, or cumulative consumption of marijuana smoking,” investigators concluded.

Several previous studies have similarly failed to report a link between cannabis use and cancer. Last year, researchers in New Zealand reported in the journal Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery that marijuana smoking, even long-term, was not associated with incidences of head or neck cancers.

In 2006, a UCLA study of more than 2,200 subjects (1,212 cases and 1,040 controls) reported that marijuana smoking was not positively associated with cancers of the lung or upper aerodigestive tract – even among individuals who reported smoking more than 22,000 joints during their lifetime.

Finally, a 1997 Kaiser Permanente retrospective cohort study of 65,171 men and women in California found that cannabis use was not associated with increased risks of developing tobacco-use related cancers – including lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, or melanoma.

Commenting on the latest study NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “The inhalation of cannabis smoke appears to present, at best, a nominal cancer risk – particularly when compared to tobacco smoke. This study is not newsworthy because its findings are anomalous; it is newsworthy because its findings are consistent with the existing literature in this field.”

Legalizing Marijuana Tops White House ‘Citizens Briefing Book’

Washington, DC: Legalizing marijuana use for adults is the top policy question, as voted on by the American public, in White House’s first-ever ‘Citizens Briefing Book,’ issued by the Obama administration on Wednesday.

The ‘Briefing Book’ tabulated Americans’ online votes on over 44,000 different public policy questions. The proposals were posted on the Change.gov website (now whitehouse.gov) in January.

Some 125,000 Americans participated in the White Houses’ online poll, casting over 1.4 million votes. Proposals were awarded ten points for each positive vote.

Based on the total number of points received, ending the criminal prohibition of marijuana ranked as the most popular issue, receiving 92,970 points. Halting the use of “federal resources to undermine states’ medical marijuana laws” ranked as the third most popular issue, receiving 66,170 points.

In response to a similar White House online poll question in December 2008, a spokesperson for the Obama administration commented, “President … Obama is not in favor of the legalization of marijuana.”

Last week, a national Zogby poll of 3,937 voters commissioned by conservative-leaning O’Leary Report found that a slight majority of Americans – 52 percent – favor legalizing marijuana. The poll marks the first time that a majority of the public has expressed support for pot legalization in a nationwide telephone poll.

Former Mexican President Calls For Drug Legalization Debate

Mexico City, Mexico: Former Mexican President Vicente Fox has called for an international debate regarding the criminal prohibition of cannabis and other drugs.

“I believe it’s time to open the debate over legalizing drugs,” Fox told CNN on Wednesday. “It can’t be that the only way (to control illicit drug use) is for the state to use force.”

Fox said that such a debate “must be done in conjunction with the United States.”

Last month, Mexico’s ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan told CBS’s Face the Nation that legalizing marijuana could potentially quell ongoing border violence. “This (legalization) is a debate that needs to be taken seriously – that we have to engage in on both sides of the border,” he said.

Two weeks ago, Mexican lawmakers enacted legislation to decriminalize the possession of small quantities of controlled substances. The measure awaits approval from Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

According to the Associated Press, Mexican drug cartels now derive an estimated 60 percent of their income from illicit pot sales.

In February, a commission of former Latin American presidents – including ex-Mexican president Ernesto Zedillo – called for the removal of penalties regarding the personal possession and use of cannabis, stating, “The problem is that current (anti-drug) policies are based on prejudices and fears and not on results.”

U.S. government officials have dismissed calls to debate the merits of regulating adult marijuana use, maintaining that the option is “not on the table.”

1. FEATURE: MEXICO DECRIMINALIZATION BILL PASSES — ONE STEP FORWARD, TWO STEPS BACK?
   The Mexican Congress has passed a bill that would decriminalize the possession of “personal use” amounts of illegal drugs. Some of the other provisions in the measure are not so nice.
2. FEATURE: CANNABIS NATION TAKES TO THE STREETS IN FIRST WEEK OF GLOBAL MARIJUANA MARCH
   If it’s the first week in May, it must be time for the Global Marijuana March. Thousands took to the streets across the globe last weekend, and thousands more will do the same next weekend.
3. MARIJUANA: POT CONTINUES TO CLIMB IN PUBLIC OPINION POLLS — ZOGBY GOES OVER 50%
   Marijuana’s rise in the polls continues… and now we have a national poll showing majority support for legalization.
4. APPEAL: IT’S TIME TO CHANGE BUSINESS AS USUAL IN DRUG POLICY
   Thanks to your help, our “Changing Minds, Laws & Lives” 09 campaign has gotten off to a great start! Your support is still needed — two exciting new t-shirts about drug prohibition are among the gifts we’d like to send you as our thanks.
5. LAW ENFORCEMENT: THIS WEEK’S CORRUPT COPS STORIES
   Last week was one of those remarkably rare occasions when we came across no corrupt cops stories. Not to worry! They’re back this week with a vengeance. Another border sheriff goes down, a North Carolina police department goes out of business, an Arizona cop gets greedy, and another pair of entrepreneurial jail guards get caught.
6. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: ANOTHER CALIFORNIA DISPENSARY RAID
   There’s been another California medical marijuana dispensary raid with the DEA involved, but so far, it looks like the real culprit is a crusading sheriff in Bakersfield.
7. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: US 9TH CIRCUIT UPHOLDS 10-YEAR SENTENCE FOR BRYAN EPIS, FIRST CALIFORNIA SUPPLIER TRIED ON FEDERAL CHARGES
   Bryan Epis, one of a handful of people convicted in federal court for supplying medical marijuana under California’s Proposition 215, is facing 10 years in prison. A three-judge panel of the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that should stick, but an appeal is pending.
8. MEDICAL MARIJUANA: PETITION DRIVE GETS UNDERWAY FOR 2010 SOUTH DAKOTA INITIATIVE
   In 2006, South Dakota became the only state to reject a medical marijuana legalization initiative. This year, the legislature ignored its opportunity to do something, so now proponents are gathering signatures for a retry in 2010.
9. CANADA: TWO-THIRDS OF BRITISH COLUMBIA VOTERS FAVOR LEGALIZING MARIJUANA, POLL FINDS
   Two-thirds of British Columbia voters favor marijuana legalization, according to a new poll. Now, if only someone would clue in the political parties that claim to represent them.
10. LATIN AMERICA: ARGENTINE APPEALS COURT THROWS OUT ECSTASY CASE, SAYS PILLS WERE FOR “PERSONAL USE”
    It’s getting harder and harder to get prosecuted for drug possession in Argentina. The Argentine courts’ slow drift toward decriminalization continued this week.
11. LATIN AMERICA: JIMMY CARTER TO HARVEST COCA LEAVES ON EVO MORALES’ FARM
    Jimmy Carter once let Evo Morales pick some peanuts on his Georgia farm. Now, Morales has invited Carter to pick some coca leaves on his farm in Bolivia’s Chapare.
12. WEEKLY: THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
    Events and quotes of note from this week’s drug policy events of years past.
13. WEEKLY: BLOGGING @ THE SPEAKEASY
    “Obama No Longer Supports Needle Exchange Programs That Reduce AIDS,” “Gil Kerlikowske is the New Drug Czar,” “The Drug Czar’s Office Doesn’t Know What to Say about Marijuana Legalization,” “Will Legalization Actually Reduce the Black Market? Of Course,” “Another Medical Marijuana Raid in California,” “Arnold Schwarzenegger Calls for Marijuana Legalization Debate,” “Ethan Nadelmann vs. Steven Colbert, Round Three,” “Support for Marijuana Legalization is Huge in Canada,” “Support for Marijuana Legalization Continues to Grow in America,” Phil Smith previews: “Hello? Mexico on the Verge on Decriminalizing Drug Possession…”
14. STUDENTS: INTERN AT STOPTHEDRUGWAR.ORG (DRCNET) AND HELP STOP THE DRUG WAR!
    Apply for an internship at DRCNet and you could spend a semester fighting the good fight!

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