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NORML E-Zine
Volume 7
Issue 45
November 18, 2004

The NORML E-Zine is a free weekly compilation of major news items
regarding marijuana policy. Text of archived stories is available on
NORML's website at:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3442

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TOP STORIES

Today's topics:

* Companion Bill To "Truth In Trails Act" Introduced In US Senate
* Many Private Companies Fail To Confirm Drug Tests
* Italy Considering Stiffer Pot Penalties

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Companion Bill To "Truth In Trails Act" Introduced In US Senate
    Washington, DC:  Congressman Richard Durbin (D-IL), along with
co-sponsors Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Jim Jeffords (I-VT), introduced
legislation this week in the United States Senate seeking to allow
medicinal marijuana patients to raise an affirmative defense of medical
necessity in federal court.  The bill, S. 2989, is a companion bill to
House Bill 1717, "the Truth in Trials Act," which was introduced in April
2003 but failed to receive a hearing in the House of Representatives.
    Because federal law defines marijuana as a substance without "accepted
medical use,� defendants charged with violating the Controlled Substances
Act may not raise evidence at trial demonstrating that their marijuana use
was either medicinal and/or in compliance with state law.  In recent
years, federal drug enforcement agents have taken legal action against
approximately 50 medicinal marijuana patients and providers - primarily in
California, which legalized the possession and use of cannabis by
authorized patients in 1996.  Other states that have enacted laws
protecting qualified patients who use marijuana are: Alaska, Colorado,
Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
    "Under this legislation, defendants in ... states with medicinal
marijuana laws could be found not guilty of violating federal law if their
actions are done in compliance with state law," Senator Durbin said in a
prepared statement.
    Congress is anticipated to adjourn imminently without addressing S.
2989.
    Later this month, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case
(Raich et al. v. Ashcroft et al.) to determine whether the federal
prosecution of patients who possess and cultivate marijuana for their own
personal use in accordance with state law is an unconstitutional exercise
of Congress' Commerce Clause authority.
    For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Executive
Director, at (202) 483-5500.
    
______________________________________________________________
Many Private Companies Fail To Confirm Drug Tests, Report Says
    Research Triangle Park, NC:  Many private companies that perform drug
tests on employees and/or potential applicants fail to confirm positive
test results at a certified lab or have the results reviewed by a medical
review officer, according to report published this week by The Washington
Post. Such review procedures are necessary to weed out instances where the
initial positive result is either a "false positive" (a case where a
legally ingested substance tests positive as an illegal substance) or is
the result of the subject's use of a valid prescription drug.
    Because confirmation testing is more expensive to perform than the
initial drug screen, a variety of which are available in kits and sold in
pharmacies over-the-counter, a growing number of small and medium-size
private companies are forgoing it in favor of cheaper, less reliable
testing procedures.
    "In a nutshell, non-regulated employers feel that it's fast and cheap
to screen applicants themselves" using over-the-counter drug tests, said
Ted Shults, chairman of the American Association of Medical Review
Officers. "[T]hat does not provide the applicant any safeguards."
    Under federal drug testing guidelines, all positive drug screens must
be confirmed by a certified laboratory and a medical review officer. 
However, those guidelines may change imminently, as the US Substance Abuse
Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently proposed allowing
federal agencies to use non-FDA approved drug testing devices such as hair
tasting and saliva testing to screen for drug use among federal employees.
    For more information, please contact either Paul Armentano or Allen
St. Pierre of the NORML Foundation at (202) 483-5500.

_______________________________________
Italy Considering Stiffer Pot Penalties
    Rome, Italy:  The Italian Senate is considering legislation that would
dramatically increase penalties on individuals who possess and use
marijuana.
    Under present law, individuals who possess marijuana for personal use
face a summons and a warning, while defendants found guilty of cultivating
and/or trafficking in cannabis face up to 20 years imprisonment.  The
proposed law would remove any legal distinctions between possessing and
trafficking in marijuana if the amount of cannabis possessed exceeds "250
milligrams," Reuters News Service reports.
    Italy's move toward recriminalization stands in sharp contrast to
other European Union nations, such as Belgium, Great Britain, and
Portugal, which have enacted legislation in recent years lessening pot
penalties.
    For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, Executive
Director of The NORML Foundation, at (202) 483-5500.  A detailed summary
of European cannabis laws is available on NORML's website at:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5446


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NORML Media Watch
NORML was featured prominently in several media outlets this week,
including The Tennessean, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and The Vancouver
Sun.  To read these articles or about other NORML media appearances, check
out "NORML in the Media" at:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5481

Sign up for NORML's monthly pledge program today!
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Smokers vote in 2004! Check out the candidate's updated positions on
marijuana policy.  If you have not already done so, register to vote or
change your voter registration address at:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5916
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