NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE REFORM OF MARIJUANA LAWS (NORML)

1001 Connecticut Ave., NW - Suite 1010 Washington, D.C. 20036

E-MAIL NATLNORML@AOL.COM

. . . a weekly service for the media on news items related to Marijuana Prohibition. by Rob Kampia, Chapter Coordinator for NORML

August 4, 1994- U.S. SENATOR CAROL MOSELEY-BRAUN RESTATES HER SUPPORT FOR MARIJUANA DECRIMINALIZATION

On July 11, U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun (D - Illinois) wrote a letter to a member of NORML which reads in part:

"I have never supported legalizing marijuana. Early in my career as a U.S. Attorney, I found that our court system was overburdened and backlogged with minor drug possession cases. I have offered the suggestion that individuals in possession of small amounts of marijuana should not clog the courts and absorb judicial resources but, instead, be subjected to fines. Marijuana would not be legalized, but rather decriminalized. This would free up our judicial system so that those committing major offenses such as burglary, rape, and murder could be expeditiously processed and punished."

U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun is one of a growing number of

Congresspersons who believe that adults who use marijuana responsibly should not be sentenced to prison.

- THE NEW YORK TIMES FAVORABLY COMPARES MARIJUANA TO TOBACCO, ALCOHOL

In response to recent hearings held by Congressional committees and the Food and Drug Administration on whether tobacco should be regulated as a drug, The New York Times did an analysis on August 2 which ranked six substances based on five problem areas.

The problem areas are:

- WITHDRAWAL: Presence and severity of characteristic withdrawal symptoms.

- REINFORCEMENT: A measure of the substance's ability, in human and animal tests, to get users to take it again and again, and in preference to other substances.

- TOLERANCE: How much of the substance is needed to satisfy increasing cravings for it, and the level of stable need that is eventually reached.

- DEPENDENCE: How difficult it is for the user to quit, the relapse rate, the percentage of people who eventually become dependent, etc.

- INTOXICATION: Though not usually counted as a measure of addiction in itself, the level of intoxication is associated with addiction and increases the personal and social damage a substance may do.

The six substances were rated by a doctor at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and a doctor at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF).

In each cell listed below, the first number is the rating given by the doctor at NIDA, and the second is the rating given by the doctor at UCSF. (1= Most Serious; 6 = Least Serious)

Withdrawal Reinforcement Tolerance Dependence Intoxication

Nicotine 3, 3 4, 4 2, 4 1, 1 5, 6

Heroin 2, 2 2, 2 1, 2 2, 2 2, 2

Cocaine 4, 3 1, 1 4, 1 3, 3 3, 3

Alcohol 1, 1 3, 3 3, 4 4, 4 1, 1

Caffeine 5, 4 6, 5 5, 3 5, 5 6, 5

Marijuana 6, 5 5, 6 6, 5 6, 6 4, 4

Both experts agreed that nicotine is responsible for the greatest

dependence, and alcohol is the most intoxicating and is associated with the greatest withdrawal symptoms. Marijuana is the least addictive of the six drugs-including caffeine.

- TWO TOP JUDGES IN HONG KONG DECLARE SUPPORT FOR MARIJUANA "LEGALIZATION"

On July 31, Reuter news service reported that two judges in Hong Kong have expressed their support for marijuana legalization. The article reads in part: "One High Court judge, Justice Godfrey, said the ban made no sense while alcohol and tobacco were legal, the South China Sunday Morning Post reported. "'I am for decriminalisation,' Godfrey, 61, said. 'Since human beings are allowed to smoke themselves to death with cigarettes they ought to be allowed to smoke marijuana in the privacy of their own homes.'

"Justice Kaplan, 52, also of the High Court, said the use of cannabis was commonplace and there was no proof it led users to more dangerous drugs, the newspaper reported.

"'There is clearly a growing demand for the drug and a lot of money to be made from it,' he said. 'So if someone is going to supply it why should it be criminals?'"

More than 50 federal judges in the United States have also expressed their opposition to the "war on drugs" and are refusing to hear any more drug cases.

- HAYWARD DAILY REVIEW EDITORIAL SLAMS "THREE STRIKES, YOU'RE OUT"

On August 2, the Hayward Daily Review outside of San Francisco published an editorial entitled "Throw away the key? It hasn't worked so far," which opposes the increased use of law enforcement and incarceration to combat violent crime. The editorial reads in part: "For Californians who believe the 'Three Strikes, You're Out' law is going to solve our crime problems, a report by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice is a dose of much-needed reality. "The San Francisco policy and research organization found in its 'Singapore West' study that if California were a country, it would be the world's leader in both incarceration and violent crime.

"Since 1970, California's population has risen by 60 percent. During the same period, the state's imprisonment rate has gone up 175 percent, and the rate of violent crime has gone up 125 percent. That's not how it should work, if you believe locking criminals up will reduce the crime rate. x "What's more, California, with a population of 32 million, has more people

behind bars than the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden,

Switzerland and Finland combined. These seven European nations have a combined population of 240 million. "The only places that outdo California in prison population are territories occupied by Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. x "'In other words,' the report said, 'California incarcerates people at a rate comparable to that of a government whose citizenry includes a group of people with whom it has been engaged in political battle for over 40 years.'" Of course, California's ever-increasing prison population is primarily a result of the "war on drugs." And the "three strikes and you're out" law, which includes nonviolent marijuana offenses, will only exacerbate the problem. [To order the $3.00 report, call the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice at 415-621-5661.]

- DAYTON DAILY NEWS EDITORIAL ENDORSES LEGAL ACCESS TO MEDICINAL MARIJUANA

On August 3, the Dayton Daily News published an editorial entitled "Allow marijuana for medicinal use." In doing so, the Dayton Daily News joins dozens of other daily newspapers across the country that have endorsed legal medical access to marijuana. The editorial reads in part:

"At the least, medicinal marijuana ought to be allowed. That was the response of 89 percent of those who called to Parade magazine's poll asking whether grass should be legalized, and for what purposes.

"The poll was not scientific, but the answer was common sense. If marijuana can help those who are ill, why on earth shouldn't it be used? Goodness knows that physicians use lots more potent drugs than the stuff in marijuana. (President Clinton last month refused to lift the 1992 ban on medicinal marijuana use, but said his administration MAY allow privately funded experiments. That's the puff-but-won't-inhale approach to medicine.) x "Anyway, the government ought not be telling physicians that they can't prescribe the use of marijuana if they think it might relieve symptoms through ingestion or topical application."-- end --