Download the NORML Daily Audio Stash for 2008-09-03

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Time for some cannabis science!  First up, Dr. Mitch wonders about the latest CASA report that shows the availability of marijuana to teens is greater than ever, even as we arrest more people and send them to treatment than ever before.

Next, Paul Armentano joins us to tell us about an exciting new Italian study showing cannabanoids to be an effective new anti-bacterial agent to fight MRSA and other bugs that have developed resistence to standard anti-biotics.

And me, I’m still recovering from almost finishing two slices of Triple Habanero Pizza from my hometown Boise, Idaho’s Flying Pie Pizza.  Seriously, guys, you win.  That pizza was so hot I felt like the day I completed the tear-gas training in Basic 23 years ago.  Food should not make your face leak from every orifice.

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The Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse, or CASA, has released a new report entitled “National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XIII: Teens and Parents”.  The group, headed by Joseph Califano, focused this year on “Problem Parents”:

This year’s survey uncovered “problem parents,” who increase the likelihood that their 12- to 17- year olds will smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal and prescription drugs, because of their failure to:

• Monitor their children’s leaving their home and hanging out on school nights (Monday through Thursday).
• Safeguard their dangerous and addictive prescription drugs, like painkillers and stimulants, from their children.
• Address the problem of drugs in their children’s school.
• Set good examples.

The report notes that 46% of 12-to-17-year-olds report going out of the home on “school nights”, but that only 14% of parents think their teens are going out on school nights.

Perhaps we need to revive the old public service announcement that used to run on television, “It’s 10:00 p.m., do you know where your child is?”

Read the rest of this entry by clicking here

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Download the NORML Daily Audio Stash for 2008-06-25

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Today’s Audio Stash features an interview with Tom Daubert, Founder and Director of Montana Patients and Families United.  Tom tells us about the interesting wording of Montana’s medical marijuana law and how it protects the rights of patients on probation or parole.

For our Cannabis Science we speak with Dr. Mitch Earleywine from SUNY Albany.  The good doctor exposes the frauds behind the latest report from the Centers on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) that claim the “Not Your Father’s Woodstock Weed!” is driving the teenagers insane!!!

And me, I’m heading to the Central Oregon Coast!  I love living close to the ocean.  I’m visiting with all my extended relatives at our biennial family reunion.  I just can’t wait to answer the question, “So what do you do?”

“Well, Great Aunt Millie, I read, write, and talk about marijuana…”

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Download the NORML Daily Audio Stash for 2008-06-19

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Happy Juneteenth!

Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States.

From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond.

Juneteenth is a day of reflection, a day of renewal, a pride-filled day. It is a moment in time taken to appreciate the African American experience. It is inclusive of all races, ethnicities and nationalities – as nothing is more comforting than the hand of a friend.

…On Juneteenth we come together young and old to listen, to learn and to refresh the drive to achieve. It is a day where we all take one step closer together – to better utilize the energy wasted on racism. Juneteenth is a day that we pray for peace and liberty for all.

A huge part of that racism is the War on Marijuana that disproportionately impacts young black men.

Today I’ve got one more presentation from the Aspen Legal Seminar.  The president-elect of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, John Wesley Hall, elaborates on roadside traffic stops and cases in search and seizure law.

In Reefer Madness we take a look at the CASA report – not only is it not your father’s pot, but it’s driving the young people INSANE!!!

Also, some reefer rap from Japan.  HANABiS is the man and it’s a really cool mix.  Enjoy!

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New CASA* Report Finds: Marijuana Potency up 175 Percent, Medical Diagnoses, Treatment Admissions, ER Findings for Teen Marijuana Use up Sharply
NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – June 18, 2008) – Despite reported declines in teen marijuana use, in 2007 almost 11 million teens report having used marijuana. For those using the drug, four alarming trends are of grave concern for parents and teens, according to “Non-Medical Marijuana III: Rite of Passage or Russian Roulette?,” a new report by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

From 1992 – 2006:

– There was a 175 percent jump in the potency of marijuana (3.2 to 8.8 percent THC concentration in seized samples).

The potency zombie just will not die! Here it is, you can go read the report yourself. On page 14, it is interesting to note that the percentage of “domestic” seizures compared to “non-domestic” varies from 20.9% to 45.5% of the overall sample when considering the “average”. And as we learned from the Drug Czar’s blog, “domestic” means unharvested marijuana not ready for consumption. Why would you average in the “domestic” marijuana when the point is to claim that the marijuana being consumed by teens today is so much more potent?

And are the kids these days really getting a hold of the more potent ganja? A look at page 6 shows us that between 12/16/07 – 3/15/08 they analyzed 1,290 samples, of that, 3.25% of it was hash or hash oil, the really potent stuff. So 96.75% of what’s seized lately is cannabis.

Read the rest of this entry by clicking here

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