cannabisnews.com: NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - December 13, 2007 NORML's Weekly News Bulletin - December 13, 2007 Posted by CN Staff on December 13, 2007 at 13:07:00 PT Weekly Press Release Source: NORML House Judiciary Leader Criticizes DEA’s Attacks On Medi-Pot Dispensaries December 13, 2007 - Washington, DC, USAWashington, DC: Efforts by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) urging landlords in California to evict tenants who legally dispense medical cannabis to state-authorized patients has drawn public criticism from US Congressman John Conyers (D-MI), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. In a statement issued Friday by the 21-term Congressman, Conyers said: "I am deeply concerned about recent reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration is threatening private landlords with asset forfeiture and possible imprisonment if they refuse to evict organizations legally dispensing medical marijuana to suffering patients. The Committee has already questioned the DEA about its efforts to undermine California state law on this subject, and we intend to sharply question this specific tactic as part of our oversight efforts."In July, DEA administrators mailed letters to dozens of landlords in Los Angeles warning owners that they risk arrest, up to 20 years in prison, and the loss of their property if they continue renting to cannabis dispensaries. Since that time, similar letters have been sent to the landlords of other medicinal cannabis providers throughout the state, including several in San Francisco, leading to the closure of various high-profile dispensaries. Last week the Arts District Healing Center, a Los Angeles-based medical cannabis provider, filed a federal lawsuit in US District Court claiming that the DEA extorted its landlord by sending a letter threatening imprisonment and property seizure.House oversight hearings regarding the DEA’s actions are anticipated to take place early next year.For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500 or Dale Gieringer, California NORML Coordinator, at (415) 563-5858. A transcript of Representative Conyer’s remarks appear online at: http://judiciary.house.gov/newscenter.aspx?A=889DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7452 Passage Of Medical Marijuana Laws, ‘Deprioritization’ Measures, Coincides With “Significant, Long-Term Reductions” In Teen Pot Use December 13, 2007 - Washington, DC, USAWashington, DC: Self-reported rates of adolescent marijuana use are declining at the same time that numerous states and municipalities are removing criminal penalties on the use of pot by patients and minor offenders, NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said today in response to a White House report touting a 25 percent reduction in teen cannabis use from 2001 to 2007. "The sharp decline in adolescent marijuana use cited by the White House actually began in 1997 – one year after voters in California enacted legislation approving the legal use of cannabis by authorized patients – and this downward trend has continued since that time," St. Pierre said. "During this same period, twelve states – that’s more than one-fifth of the US population – have enacted laws allowing for the authorized possession and cultivation of medical marijuana. In addition, numerous large municipalities – such as Denver, Colorado and Seattle, Washington – have enacted laws making the investigation and prosecution of minor marijuana offenders the cities’ ‘lowest law enforcement priority.’ "In every case, these measures were opposed by law enforcement and the Drug Czar’s office on the premise that they would greatly increase teen marijuana use. However, as this week’s White House briefing shows, these legal changes have coincided with a ‘significant, long-term reduction’ in adolescent pot use."St. Pierre concluded: "It is evident that the Drug Czar’s fears were unfounded then and they are unfounded now. The continued opposition by the White House and law enforcement personnel to the enactment of these compassionate and common sense legal reforms has nothing to do with protecting public safety or addressing teen drug use. These groups’ zealous opposition to marijuana law reform is more closely tied to their addiction to bloated budgets and maintaining control over the general public through the coercive tactics associated with criminal prohibition." For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500, or Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at: paul norml.orgDL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7451 Migraine May Be Related To Underproduction Of Cannabinoids, Study Says December 13, 2007 - Perugia, ItalyPerugia, Italy: Patients with a history of migraine headaches may be suffering from a clinical deficiency of the endocannabinoid system, according to clinical trial data published in the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.Investigators at Italy’s University of Perugia, Department of Public Health, reported that patients with chronic migraines possessed "significantly lower" levels of the endogenous cannabinoids anandamide and 2-arachidonylglycerol (2-AG) in their platelets compared to age-matched controls. "These data support the potential involvement of a dysfunctioning of the endocannabinoid and serotonergic systems in the pathology of chronic migraine and medication-overuse headaches," researchers’ concluded.A previous paper published in the journal Neuroendocrinology Letters similarly suggested that migraine, fibromyalgia, and other treatment-resistant conditions may be associated with dysfunctions in the endocannabinoid system. This system is believed to play a primary role in regulating humans' mood, appetite, skeletal development, motor coordination, digestion, and reproduction.For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at: paul norml.orgFull text of the study, "Endocannabinoids in platelets of chronic migraine patients and medication-overuse headache patients: relation with serotonin levels," appears in the November issue of the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. DL: http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7453Source: NORML Foundation (DC)Published: December 13, 2007Copyright: 2007 NORML Contact: norml norml.org Website: http://www.norml.org/CannabisNews NORML Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/NORML.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #22 posted by Richard Zuckerman on December 16, 2007 at 16:25:43 PT: I CALLED THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE! This past Friday, I made a telephone call to the House Judiciary Committee asking them to hold hearings in the spirit of Congressman John Conyers' intention to stop the DEA threatening landlords as per the above-posted article. Why don't all of you people call the House Judiciary Committee and request it, also?I called the ICE Hotline about six months ago, e-mailed Homeland Security Agency, about Fresh Direct, in New York City, employing illegal aliens, from my personal observation while residing next door to the Fresh Direct building in the Salvation Army Borden Avenue Veterans Residence, 21-10 Borden Avenue, Long Island City, N.Y., 11101, (718) 784-5690. Much to my delight, being a participant in activities of www.njcitizensforimmigrationcontrol.com, on Wednesday, December 12, 2007, the New York Daily News newspaper ran an article on page 62, entitled "FreshDirect's staff scrooged", written by John Lauinger, Daily News Staff Writer, describing the possible layoff of dozens of employees because of their failure to substantiate their legality in this country. You can pull up a few similar [but not identically entitled] articles about it by typing "FreshDirect" into the website search engine of www.nydailynews.com. THE POWER OF ONE PERSON!!! On December 10, 2007, I I attended and was given three minutes to complaint about overpopulation, fiscal deficits, and the flouting of immigration/labor/tax laws of illegal aliens, to New Jersey Governor's "Blue Ribbon Immigrant Advisory Panel", a Kangaroo Court consisting mostly of people with dark toned skin from other countries, in Governor Corzine's plan to give illegal aliens drivers licenses, in-State college tuition rates, and other subsidies. Governor Corzine had voted for open-border immigration during his dark reign as U.S. Senator. Now he wants to carry on his tradition of selling out New Jersey citizens while holding public office as Governor of New Jersey. YOU PEOPLE MUST GET YOUR POLITICAL ISSUES IN ORDER. IF YOU SUPPORT ILLEGAL ALIENS, THEN YOU SUPPORT UNITED NATIONS RULE. IF YOU OPPOSE ILLEGAL ALIENS AND THEIR OVERPOPULATION, FISCAL DEFICITS, CRIME, SUPPRESSION OF LABOR WAGES, LOSS OF TAXES WHICH ARE SENT HOME TO THEIR HOME COUNTRIES, HOUSING SHORTAGES, THE DISEASE THEY BRING HERE, WHICH ACCOMPANY THEIR PRESENCE HERE IN THIS COUNTRY, THEN YOU SUPPORT MAINTAINING OUR SOVEREIGNTY!!Knucklehead Americans voting for the GOP, such as U.S. Presidential Candidate and U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton [Bilderberg], U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein [Council On Foreign Relations & Trilateralist], Congressman David Dreier [Council On Foreign Relations member who stated in around 2002 that he wants to "break the back of the Marijuana movement" through the use of "Gestapo Tactics"]; U.S. Presidential Candidate and U.S. Senator Obama, whose WIFE is a member of the Council On Foreign Relations. FoM, who regulates THIS WEBSITE, wants UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE, but the people she will probably vote for are one of the aforementioned whose loyalties are to foreign interests and OPPOSE "MARIJUANA" ACROSS THE BOARD!! Mike Huckabee's promises to stem the tide of illegal aliens is as bogus as the campaign promises of George Herbert Walker Bush's "Read my lips: No new taxes", George W. Bush's smaller government and non-internvention, and Jon Corzine's promise to reduce the fiscal deficit of The State Of New Jersey [Since having been elected as N.J. Governor, Corzine is giving MILLIONS of dollars for stem cell research, even though New Jerseyites voted against it in a ballot measure a few months ago, and signed Bills giving millions of dollars to Rutgers University for Autism research, but I have a hunch there will be no recommendation to monitor the Mercury in vaccines!!!]. YOU DESERVE WHAT YOU VOTE FOR, EVEN IT IS "THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS"!! As for me, I voted for Ralph Nader for U.S. President, notwithstanding the criticism from "Ralph Nader's Skeleton Closet", www.realchange.org, and Len Flynn, N.J. Libertarian candidate for the lower public offices, www.njlp.org, at the last U.S. Senator election [without knowing this particular candidate supports open-border immigration], and I plan to vote for Ron Paul at the upcoming U.S. Presidential election, the only true Republican who is not an industrialist/corporatist/fascist/communist in disguise. Any "Universal Health Care" plan FoM so much supports would bankrupt this country, considering we are already in debt over our heads from the money spent on wars and other foreign interests, though I do have empathy with FoM and other people with medical illness!!! When Mike Huckabee was Governor of Arkansas, he flew a State owned airplane into Mexico to arrange for a Mexican consul to be established in Arkansas. He was successful. What he tells us in English is not the same of what he told Hispanics in Spanish! Since the end of the Cold War, the C.I.A. has controlled major media from OPERATION MOCKINGBIRD. Rupert Murdoch has also done this, though he is giving his Fox 5 television and New York Post newspaper to his Son. Thus, you probably will not hear about the dark side of Mike Huckabee from T.V. and newspapers!!! IF YOU DO NOT VOTE FOR FREEDOM, THEN YOU DO NOT DESERVE YOUR FREEDOM!!!! This includes those of you who do not vote at all!!! It is the GOP politicians whom are poisoning your children with forced-vaccinations and compulsory school "education"!! Watch the video clip "Merk Drug Company Vaccines: Admits Injecting Cancer Viruses", http://www.liveleak.com/view?i-327_1195303011I received an e-mail today about a U.S. Naval Base about 120 miles northeast of Los Angeles known as "China Lake". The web lists it as a naval base which has experimented with weapons. The e-mail I received today described a fenced in portion as being the location where there is a source of energy underneath the earth's surface which the e-mail claims could provide energy needs of this country for over 500 years and could end our dependence on fossil fuel. The e-mail mentions that MIT was in on it. I spoke to a local friend who has worked at MIT. He told me they've been working on it for over ten years now, that it involves a "uniform energy field", and that people have died during the experimentation with it.American Renaissance, www.amren.com, is planning to hold a conference in Washington, D.C.. Jewish Defense Organization is asking people to call the hotel where the conference is scheduled to be held to oppose the conference because American Renaissance has views supporting the White race. I have participated in a few protests with Jewish Defense Organization, but they want to deny freedom of speech and assembly to the Ku Klux Klan, Nazis, and American Renaissance. Today, I e-mailed the hotel asking them to allow the conference because I respect freedom of speech and assembly!Gun buy back program in Washington, D.C., is now being described on Lou Dobbs television show, on CNN at 7 P.M. (EST) on weeknights, at 6 P.M. (EST) on weekends. Let's hope the U.S. Supreme Court holds in District Of Columbia v. Heller, www.dcguncase.com, that the scope of the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution is also for the individual citizen to keep and bear arms for personal security AND AGAINST GOVERNMENT OPPRESSION!!!Richard Zuckerman, Box 159, Metuchen, N.J., 08840-0159, richardzuckerman2002 yahoo.com, www.RonPaul2008.com. [ Post Comment ] Comment #21 posted by Taylor121 on December 14, 2007 at 15:54:48 PT tintala, on MPP donation I'll be making another donation soon. [ Post Comment ] Comment #20 posted by PatrioticDissension on December 14, 2007 at 08:24:48 PT comment 17 storm crow awesome im ADD thats a big reason i smoke and thanks for the migraine info storm crow [ Post Comment ] Comment #19 posted by mykeyb420 on December 14, 2007 at 07:56:30 PT volcano I hear it from my sources,,that the volcano will no longer be shiped to the USA. It means that what ever is already here,,will be sold,,but no more shipments to the USA from Germany. Customs say it is " drug paraphinalia" and they will confiscate it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #18 posted by sam adams on December 14, 2007 at 06:28:52 PT volcano Nope, I ordered some replacement parts for mine a few months ago and they came through fine.As someone else said, they have a distributor in Oakland now, US stuff is shipped from there. I suppose Customs could try to stop their shipments from Germnay though.It would terribly ironic if they did stop Volcanos from coming in, since the only possible effect they can have on anyone is to improve their health. But the current Fed is intent on ruining the planet's atmosphere for everyone, so I guess it wouldn't be a surprise. [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by Storm Crow on December 14, 2007 at 06:10:13 PT Hey Patriotic Dissension! I USED TO have migraines and cluster headaches due to a childhood head trauma. At 19 I found cannabis. By 20, I had figured out cannabis = no more migraines for me! I've used it for 40 years, now. In addition to the NORML article, please show her these! No one should suffer from migraines! These are from a post I made last July-CANNABIS AND MARINOL IN THE TREATMENT OF MIGRAINE HEADACHE http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/migrn2.htm Dronabinol reduces signs and symptoms of idiopathic intracranial hypertension http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/ww_en_db_study_show.php?s_id=181 Cannabis and Migraine http://www.pacifier.com/~alive/cmu/cannabis_and_migraine.htm Clinical Endocannabinoid Deficiency http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/clinical.pdf Hemp for Headache http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/hh.pdf Chronic Migraine Headache http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/migrn1.htmWhile you're at it, show her the rest of my post! There is a lot more on everything from ADD/ADHD to Wilson's disease. All it is, is the URLs and titles of a lot of medical studies on cannabis. The whole 50 or so pages of the post can be found at Treatingyourself.com, a nice, quiet, little Canadian MMJ site. http://www.treatingyourself.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=23136Give Mom a hug from me!- Granny [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by yanxor on December 14, 2007 at 05:59:36 PT mykeyb420 A friend of mine recently (a month ago) purchased a volcano - last week, they broke it and sent it in to some facility in California I think. Even though they are made in Germany, its very possible that they are distributed from within the United States. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by FoM on December 14, 2007 at 05:30:26 PT mykeyb420 Less than 100 g - minor misdemeanor*** none - $100 100 g to 200 g - misdemeanor of 4th degree = not more than thirty days and/or fine - $250 ***Paraphernalia possession - misdemeanor - 30 days - $750 Paraphernalia sale - misdemeanor - 90 days - $1,000 ***A minor misdemeanor does not create a criminal record in Ohiohttp://norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4557 [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by dau on December 14, 2007 at 00:14:07 PT mykeyb420 - Volcano you contacted below?STORZ & BICKEL AMERICA INC. 1155 5th Street #104 Oakland, CA 94607/USA Phone +1-510-451-1553 Fax +1-510-451-2053 e-mail: oakland storz-bickel.com Internet: www.storz-bickel.com [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by mykeyb420 on December 13, 2007 at 23:27:46 PT FoM What state are you in FoM,,I'm in san francisco ground zero for pot clubs,,,denis perons club CBC,,then CHAMP,,now SF medical cannabis clinic......here the plastic bags are more illegal than the pot that comes in them,,,lol [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on December 13, 2007 at 21:17:46 PT NYT: California: Ruling Against Marijuana Clubs By Carolyn MarshallPublished: December 14, 2007A federal appeals court in San Francisco upheld an 2002 injunction barring three California marijuana clubs from giving the drug to medical patients with a prescription. The ruling by judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit sided with the Justice Department, which first sued the dispensaries in 1998 to stop sales of medical marijuana to patients with a doctor’s approval, as allowed under a California law approved by voters in 1996. The law has been at the heart of a series of legal battles over state and federal drug laws, which categorize marijuana as illegal. The ruling was likely the last legal recourse for the clubs. In 2001, the United States Supreme Court heard the case and ruled against the California cooperatives.Copyright: 2007 New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/14/us/14brfs-RULINGAGAINS_BRF.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by FoM on December 13, 2007 at 20:29:06 PT mykeyb420 I haven't heard anything but I'll keep my eyes open for something in the news. In my state it is better to get caught with cannabis then paraphernalia. The penalty is stiff. [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by mykeyb420 on December 13, 2007 at 20:23:52 PT volcano vaps Has anyone heard anything about Volcano vaporizers not being shipped to the USA anymore due to the issue that the US Customs agents are confiscating shipments here? They are made in Germany, and if you try to even get replacement parts or repairs, it will get confiscated. i would appreciate any post of this possible fiasco. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by FoM on December 13, 2007 at 19:45:00 PT ooopsies Too funny! Good clips. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by fight_4_freedom on December 13, 2007 at 19:30:16 PT: ooopsies Wrong link everyone. Here's john edwards on medical marijuana. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiNdGQVewqY&feature=related [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by fight_4_freedom on December 13, 2007 at 19:21:01 PT: John Edwards on Medical Marijuana Here's a video I haven't seen before. Short but sweet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fko5A_c0ZvQ [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by tintala on December 13, 2007 at 19:19:02 PT: 18 DAYS LEFT FOR MPP.ORG TO RAISE $$ PLEASE donate to mpp.org , they will get matched 3 million$ if we make it to 3 million, this will be a MAJOR breakthrough for the movement! [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by PatrioticDissension on December 13, 2007 at 16:26:15 PT migraines wonderful news about migraines. my mom gets alot of migraines perhaps i can show her this and get her to smoke a little green the next time shes in so much pain she wants to die from her migraines. [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on December 13, 2007 at 14:31:30 PT US Congressman John Conyers I really appreciate in the first article US Congressman John Conyers help. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on December 13, 2007 at 13:48:01 PT Breaking News from NBC11.com Oakland, Fairfax, Ukiah Pot Clubs Barred From Selling Marijuana***Clubs Lose Appeal In Federal Court December 13, 2007Three medical marijuana clubs in Oakland, Fairfax and Ukiah Thursday lost what appeared to be their final appeal in a long-running battle against a federal court injunction barring them from giving marijuana to patients. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco upheld a permanent injunction issued by a federal trial judge in 2002 against the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative, Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana and Ukiah Cannabis Buyer's Club. Complete Article: http://www.nbc11.com/newsarchive/14848122/detail.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Yanxor on December 13, 2007 at 13:36:58 PT Second story Passage Of Medical Marijuana Laws, ‘Deprioritization’ Measures, Coincides With “Significant, Long-Term Reductions” In Teen Pot UseThat's a great interpretation of the data [ Post Comment ] Post Comment