NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE REFORM OF MARIJUANA LAWS (NORML)

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

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. . . a weekly service for the media on news items related to Marijuana Prohibition.

October 13, 1994

- HEAD OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE (NIDA) DEBUNKS MYTH OF NEW POTENT MARIJUANA (INADVERTENTLY?)

In a letter dated September 29 to James Burke, chairman of the so-called "Partnership for a Drug-Free America," James Leshner, Ph.D., Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), cited NIDA data which he said "contradicts" a statement by Richard Cowan, National Director of NORML.

On the September 7 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, Cowan-in response to comments by a DEA field agent saying that marijuana THC potency was now in the 20% range-said that average potency had not increased in 20 years. NIDA's data show no increase in average potency over only the last 12 years.

[However, NORML believes that the NIDA-tested samples prior to 1982 were simply too small to be statistically reliable and that it is also unlikely that real average potency would have increased so much just as the number of samples being tested was increasing. Cowan's statement, that average potency has not increased in 20 years, was based on a report by Dr. John Morgan of the City University of New York Medical School. Morgan cited the independent lab PharmChem which extensively tested marijuana samples and reported that "in 1975, the range was 2.0 - 5.0%; samples in the range of 5.0 - 10.0% were not uncommon."]

In any case, as Dr. Leshner's letter confirms, NIDA-sponsored testing shows current average potency is actually only "3 to 4 percent THC range." In addition to the wildly exaggerated claims made by the DEA, an anonymous source in Drug Czar Lee Brown's office claimed in a recent Washington Times article that potency is now 15 to 39 percent. The prohibitionist "party line" is that "marijuana is so much more potent today than it was back in the sixties-when we all thought that it was harmless-that now it is practically a hard drug." The NIDA director's statement thoroughly debunks these claims.

Of course, prohibition and the economics of contraband encourage increasing the potency of drugs in general-for example, encouraging the smuggling of cocaine in preference to marijuana. Consequently, citing an increase in potency to support prohibition is actually citing a defect of the policy to support the policy. Finally, because it is impossible to overdose on cannabis, and because the typical cannabis user finds getting "too stoned" unpleasant, higher potency is not more dangerous. Indeed, it might be safer: One needs less smoke to achieve the desired effect.

[For copies of Dr. Leshner's letter or Dr. Morgan's report, contact NORML at 202-483-5500.

For copies of the complete NIDA potency report, contact Dr.Mahmoud A. ElSohly, Ph.D., at the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677.]

- NEW YORK TIMES COLUMNIST WILLIAM SAFIRE FAVORS THE DECRIMINALIZATION OF MARIJUANA USE AND COMMERCE

On October 8, at the Annual Seminar for customers and friends of Ervin, Cohen and Jessup-a large legal firm in Los Angeles-William Safire delivered the afternoon talk (in place of William F. Buckley, who canceled due to illness).

Mr. Safire delivered an enjoyable prognostication about near-term political realities, who's going to win, and why. During the Q&A session an individual in attendance asked the former Nixon speech writer the following question:

"Mr. Safire, one of William F. Buckley's most recent essays calls for the immediate dismantling of the drug war apparatus-he calls for an end to drug prohibition, calling the effects 'disastrous,' and famous Republican figures such as George Schultz, Milton Friedman, and Patrick Buchanan favor similar measures. This is at odds with strongly held views of other powerful Republicans such as Reagan, Bush, and Dole and many others. Given this split, what policy do you favor, and what chance is there to create a humane drug policy in this country?"

Mr. Safire, who was not as quick to reply to this as he had been to some other questions, replied that "I favor the decriminalization of marijuana use and commerce, but not the other drugs."

[For more information on Mr. Safire's remarks or on how to join a "media team" consisting of dedicated drug reform activists who monitor the media, please contact Jim Rosenfield at 310-836-0926 or JNR@igc.org.]

- CALIFORNIA AIDS PATIENT SUES CITY GOVERNMENT OVER LAW-ENFORCEMENT SEIZURE OF HER MARIJUANA PLANTS

On October 8, the Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, California) reported that "a woman who grew marijuana to treat her AIDS-related symptoms has sued city officials, claiming they violated her civil rights when they confiscated her [marijuana] plants.

"In a suit filed in Marin County Superior Court, Barbara Sweeney argued that the marijuana 'was critical to reducing her pain and suffering,' as well as to stimulating her appetite, which is severely depressed by the disease.

"The suit alleged the raids violated Sweeney's constitutional right to privacy and due process of law and the confiscation of her plants [medicine-ed.] constitutes cruel and unusual punishment."

Ms. Sweeney has been arrested on two occasions for growing her own medicine. In each instance the district attorney's office refused to prosecute.

- NORML OF CANADA WINS FREE SPEECH CASE

On October 7, the Toronto Globe and Mail reported a judge in Ontario had "declared unconstitutional a provision of the Criminal Code prohibiting literature that promotes illegal drugs such as marijuana."

"It is a statutory provision aimed at censorship," said Madam Justice Ellen McDonald. The Globe and Mail reports that "the case was launched by Umberto Iorfida, president of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Canada (NORML), in 1992 after he was charged with publishing flyers and possessing videos promoting marijuana legalization.

"Calling the law 'overly broad,' Judge MacDonald ruled: 'It catches not only literature which glamorizes or promotes the use of drugs but also political speech advocating law reform, religious speech, medical and health-relatedspeech, artistically inspired speech and popular.' "

- TBS' NETWORK EARTH TO AIR SEGMENT ON FIRST "LEGAL" U.S. HEMP CROP IN 50 YEARS (UNTIL THE DEA PLOWED IT UNDER)

Turner Broadcasting System's (TBS') Network Earth will air an informative segment on the struggle for a legal hemp (low-potency marijuana [cannabis sativa] used for fuel, fiber, building materials, and clothing) industry in the United States on Sunday, October 16, at 11:05 p.m. ET and again on Saturday, October 22, at 11:05 a.m. ET. Correspondent Peggy Knapp interviews proponents of a legal hemp industry, including medical patients at San Francisco's Cannabis Buyer's Club.

The segment features an interview conducted this past August with a legal hemp farmer/entrepreneur and footage of what was the only legally grown hemp crop in the U.S. in nearly 50 years. Network Earth was actually filming its segment when law-enforcement officials arrived to notify the hemp farmer that his 16,000 legally grown hemp plants were about to be seized and plowed under

per order of the Federal government.

NORML's Assistant National Director Allen St. Pierre says, "This news piece on hemp demonstrates perfectly to the American public the legal quandary hemp advocates have in making their case for a viable and legal hemp industry in the United States. Three cheers for TBS for having the mettle to air this telling piece."- end --