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NORML E-Zine
Volume 7
Issue 12
March 25, 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

* EU Think Tank Slams Global Drug Fight
* Pot Compound Increases Cell Survival
* Western Australia: Pot Reclasification Plan Now Law
* 33rd Annual Hash Bash Takes Place April 3rd

_____________________________________
EU Think Tank Slams Global Drug Fight
    Vienna, Austria:  Representatives from the Network of European
Foundations (NEF) Comite de Sages and The Senlis Council criticized
UN-sponsored drug prohibition policies at a symposium last week coinciding
with the United Nations 47th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
    Speakers criticized criminal drug prohibition and enforcement policies
as fueling drug-related crime, endangering international security, and
sponsoring terrorism.
    "The system [of criminal drug prohibition] is not working but [this]
is not being debated at the UN; it is a taboo," said NEF member Sir Keith
Morris, a former British ambassador to Colombia.
    Former Interpol Secretary General Raymond Kendall said that the UN
must "change its approach from repressive law enforcement" to one of harm
reduction.
    "The United Nations in 1998 set itself the aim of a drug free world by
2008," he said.  "We are halfway down the road to 2008 and there are more
drugs than ever.  So much for the idea we have made progress."
    Canadian Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, who chaired a 2002 Senate
committee that recommended regulating cannabis to those age 16 and older,
said: "A drug free society has never existed in human history and will not
exist in the near future.  ... Sooner or later, governments around the
world will have to, in the names of transparency and honesty, acknowledge
this massive failure."
    Other speakers at the conference included Eugene Oscapella of the
Canadian Foundation on Drug Policy, Portuguese MP Vitalino Canas, and
General Paulo Roberto Yog de Miranda Uch a, national antidrug secretary
for Brazil.
    For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul
Armentano of the NORML Foundation at (202) 483-5500.

________________________________________________
Pot Compound Increases Cell Survival, Study Says
    Naples, Italy:  Administration of cannabidiol (CBD), a nonpsychoactive
compound in marijuana, increased survival in cultured rat cells, according
to clinical trial data to be published in the April issue of the Journal
of Neurochemistry.
    "Treatment of the cells with cannabidiol ... significantly elevated
cell survival," researchers at the University of Naples concluded.  "Our
results indicate that cannabidiol exerts a combination of neuroprotective,
anti-oxidative and anti-apoptotic effects (effects associated with the
programmed cell death of malignant cells) against [induced] toxicity.
    Authors further speculated that CBD's anti-oxidative effects may play
a potential role in combating Alzheimer's disease.
    A 1998 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences (PNAS) found that CBD protected rat brain cells from injury
better than standard anti-oxidants.  A 1999 report by the National Academy
of Sciences' Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that marijuana's
neuroprotective qualities are the "most prominent" of its potential
therapeutic applications.
    Last year, researchers at the University of Milan reported that the
administration of CBD in gerbils prevented brain damage caused by ischemia
(a reduction of blood flow to the brain that can cause cell death).
    Earlier this week, the Israeli pharmaceutical company Pharmos
announced that it had completed patient enrollment in a multi-country
Phase III study of the effectiveness of the synthetic marijuana derivative
Dexanabinol to treat brain damage resulting from Traumatic Brain Injury
(TBI) and/or stroke.  Study results are expected by the end of 2004.
    For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, senior policy
analyst of the NORML Foundation, at (202) 483-5500.

___________________________________________________
Western Australia: Pot Reclasification Plan Now Law
    Perth, Australia:  Legal reforms downgrading penalties on the
possession and cultivation of marijuana for personal use to a
non-criminal, fine-only offense took effect this week.
    Under the new statewide law, those who possess up to 30 grams of pot
(approximately one ounce) and/or cultivate up to two marijuana plants will
no longer face criminal charges.
    The law expressly forbids cultivating marijuana hydroponically.
    Since 1998, law enforcement officials in Western Australia have been
"cautioning" minor marijuana offenders.  The new law ratifies that
long-standing policy.
    In recent years, a number of Australian states have adopted versions
of marijuana decriminalization, including the Australian Capitol
Territory, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Victoria.
    For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, Executive
Director of the NORML Foundation, at (202) 483-5500.

___________________________________________
33rd Annual Hash Bash Takes Place April 3rd
    Ann Arbor, MI:  Reformers from around the country will gather at the
University of Michigan on Saturday, April 3, to celebrate the 33rd Annual
Hash Bash, one of the longest running marijuana law reform rallies in the
country.
    Speakers at this years event include John Sinclair and Jack Herer, as
well as representatives from Michigan NORML, the NORML Chapter of the
University of Michigan, and the Detroit Coalition for Compassionate Care
(DCCC) - sponsors of a city-wide initiative petition to exempt qualified
medicinal marijuana patients from criminal penalties.
    For more information, please visit:
http://www.hashbash.org


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NORML Media Watch
NORML was featured prominently in several media outlets this week,
including United Press International, Roll Call, and The Patriot Ledger. 
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!
https://secure.norml.org/join/pledge.html

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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