MPP Director of Government Relations Aaron Houston breaks down his testimony to Congress on April 2, 2009.
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More Evidence on Marijuana and Cancer
The evidence continues to mount that cannabinoids -- the unique, active components in marijuana -- fight cancer. The latest such study , just published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, shows that THC can kill glioma cells through a process known as autophagy. Gioma is a particularly deadly form of brain cancer that afflicts, among others, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).
The good news is that this study got a decent amount of media attention. The bad news is that much of the coverage lacked context or presented information in a confusing or misleading way. Case in point: the April 1 story from the Reuters wire service.
Reuters reporter Michael Kahn presents the finding as if it were something brand new, failing to note the extensive evidence accumulated since the 1970s that cannabinoids fight various types of tumors. It reports that "studies have suggested" that marijuana may cause cancer, omitting the fact that the largest, most well-controlled studies have found precisely the opposite.
And finally, in a warning of possible risks of cannabinoid drugs, the article hopelessly jumbles cannabinoids -- drugs like THC and its plant and synthetic cousins -- with drugs designed to block the CB1 receptor through which these substances operate, mistakenly referring to these CB1-blocking drugs as cannabinoids. In fact, they're more like anti-cannabinoids, and if anything the harmful effects of these CB1 blockers (increased rates of depression and anxiety, for example) reaffirm that cannabinoids often have good and helpful effects.
Alcohol Worse for Young Brains Than Marijuana
The journal Clinical EEG and Neuroscience has just published a review of the data on the effects of substance use on the developing brains of adolescents. The unmistakable conclusion: While heavy substance use of any kind is a really bad idea for teens, the damaging effects of alcohol are clearly worse than marijuana. The researchers write:
Abnormalities have been seen in brain structure volume, white matter quality, and activation to cognitive tasks, even in youth with as little as 1-2 years of heavy drinking and consumption levels of 20 drinks per month, especially if >4-5 drinks are consumed on a single occasion. Heavy marijuana users show some subtle anomalies too, but generally not the same degree of divergence from demographically similar non-using adolescents.
Strikingly, in a couple of studies, the damaging effects of binge drinking were less if the drinker also used marijuana, suggesting -- though not proving -- a possible protective effect in some circumstances. That's actually no shock, as the U.S. government holds a patent on cannabinoids -- marijuana's unique, active components -- as neuroprotectants (substances that protect nerve and brain cells from damage).
Media Breakthrough, Part II
More and more mainstream commentators are questioning marijuana and drug policies. Now CNN's Jack Cafferty weighs in.
MPP on CNN's "D.L. Hughley Breaks the News"
In what turns out, sadly, to be the last episode of CNN's "D.L. Hughley Breaks the News," aired Mar. 28 and 29, D.L. devoted a large block of the show to proposals to make marijuana a legally regulated and taxed product for adult consumption. The first segment included an interview with yours truly, followed by Ronald Brooks of the Narcotic Officers Associations Coalition, who wants to keep arresting and jailing marijuana users.
Aaron Houston Stresses Seriousness of Marijuana Debate on Russia Today
MPP Director of Government Relations Aaron Houston talks about President Obama's flippant response to the question of decriminalizing marijuana at the first "Online Town Hall" on Russia Today. He also discusses how taxing and regulating marijuana will help quell the violence associated with the drug war in Mexico and provide a much-needed boost to the economy. 03/27/2009
White House Questioned On Marijuana After First "Town Hall"
White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs is asked to clarify President Obama's position on legalizing marijuana and on medical marijuana after he brought up the topic in the first Online Town Hall. Questions involving marijuana reform appeared in several categories and received far more votes than any other policy issue. 03/26/2009
DEA Raids Medical Marijuana Collective 03/26/2009
A week after Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Department of Justice would only target marijuana growers and collectives that were in violation of BOTH state and federal law, the DEA raided Emmalyn's California Cannabis
Obama got it wrong
President Obama addressed the idea of taxing and regulating marijuana at an online town hall event today. His words: “No, I don’t think that is a good strategy to grow our economy.”
Clearly, he got that wrong. But that isn’t everything.
The president himself, not the moderator who was reading questions submitted via whitehouse.gov, raised the topic. His answer was prefaced with the recognition that this was a “fairly popular question.”
Actually, it was the most popular question, by far. Yet the president failed to treat it with the same thoughtfulness awarded to other topics. The entirety of his response is below (yes, it’s only 53 seconds long). Do you think he handled it fairly?
DEA in California: New story but same old dirty tricks
Yesterday, armed federal DEA agents raided Emmalyn's California Cannabis Clinic, a licensed medical marijuana facility in San Francisco. This action - seemingly at odds with the recent policy change announced by the U.S. Justice Department - drew the ire of San Franciscans, who overwhelmingly support medical marijuana access.
[caption id="attachment_408" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="DEA raids S.F. medical marijuana collective, photo by MPP's Troy Dayton - March 25, 2009 "]
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According to a vague statement released by the DEA last night, the collective was not complying with state law and therefore wasn't subject to the recent policy change.
However, the San Francisco Department of Public Health has issued a conditional permit to the collective, which was actively working with the city to obtain a permanent license. The medical marijuana permitting process in San Francisco is one of the more difficult in the state and includes mandatory inspections for compliance.
MPP is asking supporters to demand an explanation from the White House about this recent attack on San Francisco patients.
"Because so little information has been released thus far, we have more questions than answers," Aaron Houston, MPP director of government relations says. "But with an actual shooting war at the Mexican border, not to mention federal law enforcement there being so overwhelmed that traffickers coming through the border with up to 500 pounds of marijuana are let go, it's very hard to believe that this is the best use of DEA resources, especially in a city with an active program to license and regulate medical marijuana providers."