DrugSense Weekly - Feb. 6, 2009 #586

DrugSense Weekly - Domestic News- Policy - Feb. 6, 2009 #586

Anyone really expecting the Obama administration to change course from the Bush administration in regard to the drug war got some unpleasant surprises this week. Indeed, the new economic stimulus plan pushed by Obama contains new money for regional drug task forces - money that had been cut by the Bush administration. (I'm not missing Bush yet, but he deserves credit for that one.) And, as noted in the This Just In section above, Obama officials may be speaking out against the medical marijuana raids in California, but they're not really taking any action.

Anybody heard the news about Michael Phelps? Media reaction has been so strong and so widespread, we carry several stories about the incident in this DrugSense Weekly. While many sportswriters across the world chuckled and clucked at Olympic Gold Medal swimmer Phelps, fans who were consulted didn't seem troubled at all. Also this week: The capitol of Illinois is ready to begin writing ticket for minor cannabis possession; and a California sheriff's department finally acknowledges racial bias in the drug war, at least one instance.

DrugSense Weekly - Law Enforcement and Prisons - Feb. 6, 2009 #586

Canada is spending a ton of money to get serious about removing illegal drugs from prisons, and presumably, putting those drugs back on the street where they belong. In Florida, a proposed law to protect police informants from the fate of the late Rachel Hoffman is getting criticized by police - as usual, protecting the drug war appears to be a bigger priority than protecting people. A similar theme is at play in Texas where a star teacher is facing criminal charges after sniffer dogs (which are rarely trained to find Xanax) allegedly found unauthorized Xanax in her car at the school parking lot. And, straight from Jackson, Mississippi, the mayor's notoriety has made the Wall Street Journal.

DrugSense Weekly - Cannabis and Hemp- - Feb. 6, 2009 #586

We've been having a debate here at the Media Awareness Project as to whether we should enhance our services with low brow celebrity or high brow science. This week illustrates our dilemma.

Unless you live in a cloud of haze, you have heard of Michael Phelps. You know, the guy supposedly taking a bong hit whose photo was plastered all over the Internet. The hoopla almost matched the other fuss the media made over him - a record eight gold medals in the 2008 Summer Olympics. Not surprising, bloggers and columnists jumped all over the story, growing our archive and providing great fodder for LTEs.

Another celebrity pot smoker by the name of Obama made news this past week. No, not our 44th President as inevitable comparisons are drawn to highly competitive and accomplished people like him and Michael Phelps. This new found celebrity is the half brother of President Obama, who was arrested near his "ramshackle accommodations" in a Nairobi, Kenya, slum for possessing a single joint of "bhang." It is unclear as to why this arrest occurred, but the word "bribe" did end the article.

Taking the high road is Ohio State University where leading research has shown that cannabinoids slow the progression of brain cell death in elderly rats, potentially translating into a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Another notable accomplishment for all cannabis aficionados was reported in the school's Lantern newspaper, "The American Association for the Advancement of Science has recently elected [lead researcher, Dr. Gary] Wenk as a fellow for his contributions to Alzheimer's research. "

At another esteemed institution another researcher is looking into the medicinal properties of cannabis, but without as much success. Dr. Lyle Craker, a horticulturist in the Department of Plant, Soil, and Insect Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, has once again been denied a license to grow in his laboratory what grows wild worldwide. As reported in the UMass Daily Collegian, "If approved, findings from clinical studies, which would use the product [medicinal grade cannabis] created by Craker, could then be presented to the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has the power to recommend medical marijuana as a legal drug." - perhaps for Alzheimer's?

So, which do our readers prefer? Low brow celebrity or high brow science - or both? You can e-mail your thoughts to Mary Jane Borden at mjborden@mapinc.org.

DrugSense Weekly - International News - Feb. 6, 2009 #586

Sure, Richard Holbrooke (Council on Foreign Relations board member, twice U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and currently, special envoy to Afghanistan for the Obama administration) says Bush's $1 billion per year counter-narcotics budget burn, "may be the single most ineffective policy in the history of American foreign policy". And true, "Karzai was playing us like a fiddle," admits Thomas Schweich -- indicating the new party line may be to shift blame to the Bush-propped Karzai. Some argue the cheapest way to stop Afghan opium would be to simply buy it up, or allow formers to legally sell opium for medicines. More likely, though, will be the preferred method of naked force. A leaked letter last week from U.S. General Craddock which suggests extra-legal killing of Afghan drug suspects was under investigation (for the leak) by the NATO secretary general, who insisted, "no illegal orders were given."

In Australia, police defended use of sniffer dogs in the wake of the overdose death of 17-year-old Gemma Thoms who swallowed MDMA pills "in a panicked attempt to avoid police detection." Youth Affairs Council of Western Australia chief executive Lisa Laschon denounced use of police dogs designed to make festival-goers feel "threatened, intimidated and fearful, in the hope that young people would decide not to consume illicit substances at the event or at future events".

More reefer madness from Nigeria this week as NDLEA Director-General Chief Lanre Ipinmisho held forth on the "scourge" of cannabis ("popularly known as Indian hemp or ganja"). "The colossal seizures of cannabis in this region are beyond imagination," illustrated Ipinmisho. Police "made the single largest seizure ever of 80.53 metric tons of cannabis," claimed the chief. "The deadly weeds were concealed in two clandestine warehouses in a residential area of Ibadan." Reefer Madness, 1936: "It was concealed in an apparently harmless shipment of thirty-five barrels of olive oil. The deadly drug was burned in the incinerator of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing." Ipinmisho seems to know the part by heart.

And from Europe this week, not all drug policy professionals are happy with the British government's re-classification of cannabis to a more serious level - besides the advisors who advised against the recent reclassification, that is. They continue to point out stubborn facts like "There has been no rise in recorded figures for psychotic symptoms, or specifically, schizophrenia," as cannabis users grew more numerous and cannabis more plentiful and potent. And the Obama administration seems to be having trouble reigning in all the Bush policy holdovers, case in point, at the UN as the U.S. delegation charges full steam ahead with prohibition and zealous drug wars, "in contrast to the EU position which supports 'harm reduction' measures such as needle exchanges."