Martin Uden, the British consul general in San Francisco, said of Charles, "He is a businessman farmer and does an enormous amount of charitable work. He is not just lending his name, either. He really gets in there." Charles was the keynote speaker at an environmental conference called Terre Madre in Turin, Italy, in October 2004. In the speech, Charles told the gathering, "I have always believed that agriculture is not only the oldest, but also the most important of humanity's productive activities." A private concert given by Sting on Wednesday night was attended by Charles and Camilla and benefited the Soil Association, which was founded nearly 60 years ago. Charles is the patron of the association and has pledged to raise about $35 million to expand the program.

The Prince of Wales, who turns 57 on Nov. 14 and whose full name is Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor, runs a nonprofit organization called the Prince's Charities that raises more than $200 million a year for 16 programs ranging from education to holistic health. He created an organic farm on his estate at Highgrove in 1985, when the movement was in its infancy. And he launched a high-end line of organic products called Duchy Originals that now brings in $71 million a year.

In December 1998, Charles surprised a Multiple Sclerosis sufferer by suggesting she try medical marijuana. Karen Drake, 36, said: "He said he had heard it was the best thing for relief from MS."

Prince Harry was 17 in 2002 when he was taken by his father to a rehab clinic for a few hours after admitting to smoking cannabis and drinking heavily at a pub near Highgrove the previous summer, when he was 16. The News of the World said Harry had experimented with marijuana over a two-month period at Highgrove, in a rundown shed at a nearby pub and at private parties held by friends. Charles was alerted to his son's behavior by a Highgrove staff member, who noticed a strong smell of marijuana, the newspaper reported. When he was 14, Prince Charles himself was at the center of an infamous underage drinking episode after he entered a pub on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland. He asked for a cherry brandy, and the incident attracted international attention.

In February 2000, Charles visited Trench Town, Jamaica, the neighborhood of late reggae legend Bob Marley, and was greeted by Marley's widow, Rita, and former bandmate Bunny Wailer. Mrs. Marley gave Charles a red, yellow and green Rastafarian knit hat with false dreadlocks, and the prince put it on. "I'll tell you who would really love that - my children,'' Charles said. Mrs. Marley said her husband would have been amazed by the royal visit to the neighborhood. "Boy, he'd burn a spliff to this - a big, big spliff,'' she said, "Rastafari lives!''

In March 2005, during a trip to Fiji, Charles drank a cup of kava juice and reportedly told Fiji's Foreign Affairs Minister Kaliopate Tavola he was hopeful that the export ban on kava, Fiji's traditional drink, will be lifted in the near future. Fiji Kava Council chairman Joe Nawalowalo welcomed Prince Charles' comments. He said scientists from Europe had attended a Kava conference in Suva last November where they stated that kava was safe. Banned in most of Europe and the United States, the infusion made from the root of a pepper plant is a mild narcotic which can make indulgers very relaxed and drowsy. Shortly after sipping the traditional beverage, Charles slipped up in a speech, muddling the dates he last visited the Pacific Ocean islands.

It was widely speculated that Charles might confront Resident Bush during his US trip about global warming and the war in Iraq, and that the Prince, an Islamic scholar, would advance a less confrontational approach to the Muslim population of the world. No word on whether or not Charles will visit any of San Francisco's many medical marijuana clinics.

10/28/05 - THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON POT: IT'S BETTER!
On October 13, a research team led by Xia Zhang of the department of psychiatry at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada said that marijuana appears to promote the development of new brain cells in rats and have anti-anxiety and anti-depressant effects. The study was published in the November issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. In the study, rats were given injections of HU210 -- a synthesized version of a cannabinoid chemical found in marijuana -- twice per day for 10 days. The rats showed evidence of new neurons in the hippocampus dentate gyrus, a region of the brain that plays a role in developing memories. When placed in a new environment, the rats were quicker to eat their food than rats that did not receive the compound, which suggested there was a reduction in anxiety behaviors. Perhaps this explains earlier studies which showed that rats lacking a receptor for THC were unable to learn new behaviors, repeatedly going back to where a platform had been placed instead of finding its new location. Are non-smokers more anxious about new ideas than smokers? Seems so to me.

FIRING BONGS INCONSEQUENTIALLY: THIS IS YOUR FBI ON DRUGS
The Associated Press reported on October 9 that the FBI is considering relaxing its hiring rules to allow former marijuana smokers to take positions at the Bureau such as intelligence analysts, linguists, computer specialists, accountants and others. The rules, however, would not be relaxed for FBI special agents who conduct most criminal and terrorism investigations. Also, the new plan would continue to ban current drug use. "Some senior FBI managers have been deeply frustrated that they could not hire applicants who acknowledged occasional marijuana use in college, but in some cases already perform top-secret work at other government agencies, such as the CIA or State Department," the article said.

The Los Angeles police chief recently announced he may have to loosen a ban on past marijuana smoking in order to get enough new recruits, as have his counterparts in Boston, Detroit and Miami. Supporting the announcement, Sgt. Ronnie Cato, president of the Oscar Joel Bryant Foundation, an organization of black LAPD officers, said, "If your president can smoke a joint, if your Congresspeople can smoke a joint, you mean to tell me a police officer can't smoke a joint when they were in college?" Private employers are also complaining they can't afford to turn away applicants because of past marijuana use, according to the AP. In how many other arenas are we losing some of our best, most well rounded participants because they use, or have used, marijuana?

POT-SMOKING PRESIDENT'S SON AIMS FOR SENATE
According to an October 15 Associated Press story, Jack Carter, the son of former president Jimmy Carter, is considering a run for U.S. Senate. Carter, 58, said he would announce in a month whether he'll challenge Nevada Republican Sen. John Ensign, who is seeking a second term in 2006. Carter has said the Bush administration was waging a misguided campaign against terror, and he criticized President Bush's call to spend $200 billion rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast without a tax increase or major spending cuts. He said both his father and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada have expressed their support. He also said he doesn't think revelations about past drug use would hurt his chances; he has admitted he was discharged from the Navy 35 years ago for smoking marijuana.

Gerald Ford's sons Michael and Jack also admittedly smoked pot (see last month's newsletter/blog). By contrast, John Ellis Bush, the youngest son of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, was arrested on September 16 and charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the new head of Conservative leadership and self-described recovering Neocon MP David Cameron has, in GWB fashion, refused to answer questions about past drug use. Cameron, who has compared jihadists to Nazis, has a somewhat more liberal stance on drugs and domestic social issues than his fellow Tories, and the UK press is wondering aloud if Cameron is watching Showtime's series "Weeds," which is currently airing in London and has been dubbed "addictive."

IT'S TRUE: POT SMOKING LEADS TO COMMUNISM
San Francisco Chronicle Music Critic Joel Selvin's October 16 review of Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke by Peter Guralnick (LITTLE, BROWN; 748 PAGES; $27.95) says: "The tapestry of the times provides Guralnick with some of his finest moments, such as the impromptu visit by Fidel Castro to Harlem's Apollo Theater, across the street from the funky hotel where Castro stayed during a U.N. visit. Guralnick depicts the Cuban leader mingling easily with the R&B stars, with whom he shared an interest in chorus girls, cigars and marijuana." (Perhaps this is why Parade magazine, supported by the "Alcohol Beverage Network," smeared Venezualan president Hugo Chavez in a recent Walter Scott column as supporting communism and Castro.)

REAL CRIMINAL FILE: SUPREME COURT THROWS OUT $280 TOBACCO SUIT; BALCO BUMS GET LIGHT SENTENCES, etc....
As new data reveals the number of marijuana smokers arrested yearly is approaching 800,000, corporate criminals continue to go free. On October 17, the US Supreme Court ruled that the government could not use RICO statutes to force tobacco companies to pay settlements from past profits, according to the Independent of London. In a case begun by the Clinton administration in 1999, companies including RJ Reynolds and Altria, the owner of Philip Morris, were charged with conspiring to hide the detrimental effects of smoking and of promoting cigarettes to children. Government prosecutors had hoped to use the civil Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act (RICO) to force the companies to hand over profits dating back 50 years. Shares in the tobacco companies shot up after the decision. Meanwhile, a case against Philip Morris is awaiting a ruling in Illinois, that one reviewing a $10 billion award in a class action suit by smokers of Marlboro Light cigarettes who believed company claims they were safer. The ruling will be critical for the industry because it will set the precedent in other cases over "light" cigarettes. It also remove a question mark over Philip Morris' owner, Altria, and allow it to move ahead with its plan to split into separate food and tobacco companies.

The head of the Balco lab at the center of a global steroid scandal was sentenced to four months in jail on October 19, a punishment the judge said was lighter than sentences meted out to drug dealers in less significant cases. US District judge Susan Illston approved a plea deal that will send Balco owner Victor Conte, 55, to jail for four months, to be followed by four months of home detention. Illston then sentenced Greg Anderson, 39, the trainer to baseball superstar Barry Bonds, to three months in jail and three months home detention for distributing steroids. Conte, his deputy, James Valente, 50, and Anderson admitted guilt to steroid distribution in July in pleas that knocked out almost all of the 41 original charges. Valente was given three years' probation and fined $3000. Illston appeared to express frustration with the plea deal that gave Conte only four months behind bars, a punishment she said that was "way less significant than the consequences that I mete out every single day for crimes that are far less significant."

Handing a major victory to the gun lobby, the House voted on October 20 to relieve gun manufacturers of liability for their products. A pending bill, Senate Bill 1873, would prevent parents from suing drug companies for possibly causing their child's autism by adding mercury to child vaccines. More information at www.NVIC.org. Meanwhile, illegal logging in the Amazon is destroying rainforests twice as quickly as previously thought, and the Bush administration is suggesting ending federal protections on the marbeled murrelet, which will further open up logging in the redwood forests of the northwest.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan recently said the gap between rich and poor in U.S. was so great, and increasing so rapidly, it could threaten democracy itself. He was equally dire about the state of our energy policy but opined that price signals sent by free markets would spur research and development into new approaches to the production and use of energy "that we can now only barely envision." However, a new study shows that U.S. corporations are investing next to nothing in R&D. Where are their profits going? Over 70% are to stock buy-backs for executives. If that's not criminal, it's certainly immoral.

As a snapshot of how the top one percent lives, Harry Shearer's Le Show reports that Fox mogul Rupert Murdoch is buying a $44 million apartment in New York City. Murdoch is reportedly worth $6.7 billion, putting him only 32nd on the recently-published list of Forbes' 400 richest Americans living here or abroad.

MARIJUANA FOUND USEFUL IN SICKLE CELL, MORNING SICKNESS
Two long-overdue studies have been announced that affect underserved populations: African-Americans and women.

Eighty-six patients with Sickle Cell disease at the Central Middlesex Hospital in London were invited to complete a structured self-administered anonymous questionnaire. Results showed that 36% had used cannabis in the previous 12 months to reduce pain, induce relaxation or relieve anxiety and depression. The majority expressed their willingness to participate in studies of cannabis as a medicine, and researchers recommended such studies as "important."

Researchers from the Vancouver Island and B.C. Compassion Societies, the University of B.C. and the University of Victoria found that 92 per cent of the women they surveyed rated marijuana either "very effective" or "effective" against morning sickness. The study will be published by the Journal of Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, likely in 2006, said Philippe Lucas, co-author of the report.

I've had countless request for more information on this subject since I published a review of a March of Dimes-sponsored published in Pediatrics by Melanie Dreher, et al finding that Jamaican mothers who smoked marijuana bore developmentally superior babies to matched mothers who didn't smoke, and "roots daughters" who smoked the most had the most developed children. Dreher also speculated about the benefits of breast milk, and we know hempseed contains hard-to-find gamma linoleic acid, present in healthy human breast milk.

Morning sickness is serious enough that the medical establishment once prescribed Thalidomide for it, leading to the horrible "Thalidomide babies" born with flippers for feet. Thalidomide is once more prescribable (though not for pregnancy) and after their grave error, nearly all male MDs and researchers tell women to suffer instead of medicate for morning sickness. But it's not just about the mother--arguably if women could nourish themselves better during pregnancy their children would benefit. One pregnant woman with severe (all day) morning sickness who contacted me was trying out more about the subject when she lost her baby.

See: "Prenatal Marijuana Exposure and Neonatal Outcomes in Jamaica - An Ethnographic Study," by Melanie C. Dreher, PhD; Kevin Nugent, PhD; and Rebekah Hudgins, MA in Pediatrics, February 1994, Volume 93, Number 2. http://pdxnorml.org/Pediatrics_Prenatal_m_exposure_0294.html

ANISTON ON ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
Actress and VIP Jennifer Aniston recently told Elle magazine, "I have a bunch of friends who are potheads who are genius and wonderful, but they just can't motivate... Trust me, I have no judgment on the average user. I've lived. But I am talking about the true potheads -- the wake-and-bakers who have arrested development because they have gone to the THC well one too many times." Sounds like what Joni Mitchell once said: "Grass, it sits you on your ass" or comments Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders and artist David Hockney have made about pot tending to making smokers too complacent at times. All good advice, and in keeping with Aniston's original comments when she came out, drawing a distinction between moderate and indiscriminate use.

I also wonder if Jen's still a bit perturbed at her former husband Brad Pitt, and whether or not she believes the nasty and unfounded rumors that the couple was unable to conceive because of his pot smoking. Her movie, "The Good Girl," has this premise. Aniston seems a genuine good girl and I wish her luck finding a more suitable hubby than Brad, who seems made for Angelina Jolie. If Jen wants to have a family, my best advice to her is to gain the weight back that she lost for her role on "Friends" (reportedly, 20 pounds). Hormones need body fat to function and many a female gymnast has reported fertility problems because of extreme pressure to lose weight.

10/4/05 - Yesterday was the 68th anniversary of marijuana prohibition. See a photo of the first person ever arrested for marijuana in the US. NORML calculates there have been 16.7 million marijuana arrests in the US since 1937.

BENNETT'S BIG MOUTH
Bill Bennett, our original drug "czar", the cigarette sucking, overweight, self-proclaimed moral arbiter who admittedly gambled away $8 million (but said he isn't addicted to gambling) is in the news again, this time for making a comment that although it would be reprehensible to do so, aborting all black babies would reduce the crime rate. The real amazement is that any self-respecting radio station would air this clown's show. According to his website, no stations in DC carry his show, and only one in New York state does. At least sophistication is alive somewhere.

RIP BOB DENVER
We are sad to report the death of actor and VIP Bob Denver last month at age 70. Denver played hipster Maynard G. Krebs on TV's "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"(1959-1963), arguably the first stoner on television. When Denver was arrested for having a shipment of marijuana delivered to him at his home in West Virginia in 1998, every major news outlet missed the obvious connection, remembering him only as Gilligan. The question remains whether or not the rumors are true that Dawn Wells, who played Mary Ann on "Gilligan's Island," sent Denver his pot. Slate magazine has a nice take on the subject and check out Maynard's Coffehouse where you can submit your "really bad beatnick poetry" and win a prize.

MORE NOSTALGA
Maybe because my 30th High School reunion is this year, I'm feeling nostalgic for the 70s, those kinder, gentler, and higher times. A check of High Times magazines from 1976/77, the year that pranksters changed the Hollywood sign to read "Hollyweed" as a New Year's joke, reveals that "Grandpa Walton" aka Will Geer said he likes marijuana in his strawberry tea, and admitted pot smokers included Paul Kantner of the Jefferson Starship and Gerald Ford's sons Michael and Jack Ford.

Jack Ford made public his penchant for grass in a statement before the Western States Republican Conference. "I've smoked marijuana and I don't think that's so exceptional for people growing up in the 1960s," said Ford in an interview. "The fact that there's so much moral indignation over it is one of the reasons there are so any problems with the disillusionment and alienation of young people in this country."

Busted during the era were Drummer Buddy Rich, Beatle wife/photographer Linda McCartney, actor David Carradine, and Lash Larue, a '30s cowboy movie star who had a whip in his car when arrested. Soon after that, articles appeared like "why weed is so hard to get" and "how to booby trap your garden," leading to the unkind cocaine-laced 80s.

A 1977 proposal by then-California Assemblyman (now mayor of San Francisco) Willie Brown that lowered penalties for growing 1 square yard of marijuana to a $100 fine and for growing one square rod (272 square feet) to a $500 fine was not passed. Gordon Brownell, then NORML's West Coast coordinator and chief author of the proposal, aimed the home grow bill at legislators concerned with stopping the "black market" traffic in pot. "We hope to reach them by pointing out that if they're not going to provide an incentive for people to grow their own marijuana, the effect will be to increase the amount of marijuana that is bought and sold commercially in the underground market," said Brownell, prophetically.

Nearly 30 years later, California's CAMP (Campaign Against Marijuana Planting) has reported growing seizures up to this year's total of one million plants statewide, and plantations with up to 10,000 plants reportedly tied to "Mexican mafia" operations that traffic in methamphetamine and heroin are regularly spotted in National Parks.

WEEDS GOES TO SEED
I see the Showtime series "Weeds" has taken an ugly turn, with its ditsy dope dealing heroine Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) up against TV's version of the Mexican mafia: a swarthy stud who's hot for her. Now that her teenaged son has a predictable drug problem, I'm predicting her business will be taken over by PTA president Celia (Elizabeth Perkins), the wigged and wiggy cancer victim who has an acknowledged medical need.

A new government-sponsored study has found that children with the lowest levels of parental monitoring and parental involvement/reinforcement were almost 30 percent more likely to try marijuana for the first time when compared with the most highly monitored children. Children with higher levels of "coercive parental discipline" (attempts to correct child behavior by using serious threats such as physical and nonphysical punishment) were also more likely to try pot for the first time. An Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) funded "Open Letter to Parents," titled "Marijuana Could Threaten Your Teen's Success," will begin appearing next week in national and local newspapers, including The New York Times and USA Today, as well as in Time, Newsweek and People magazines. How about funding schools and libraries to bolster teens' academic success, instead of lame ad campaigns?

ASHLEY SMITH: UNLIKELY ANGEL ON ICE
Ashley Smith, the woman who successfully talked accused rapist/murderer Brian Nichols into turning himself in last March after he allegedly gunned down three people in an Atlanta courthouse and took Smith hostage, says in her new book Unlikely Angel that she gave Nichols some crystal meth she had in her apartment during the ordeal. Nichols asked for marijuana, Smith said, but she didn't have any green stash on hand.

Smith famously read to Nichols from Christian-based book The Purpose Drive Life and her heroic and humane actions were attributed to her religion. According to The Book Standard, Smith now says she read little more than a paragraph of the book to Nichols, and it was the telling of her own story of past drug addiction that turned Nichols around and allowed Smith to pass the night unharmed.

Smith says she was a recovering methamphetamine addict and had some "ice" around to calm herself in need. Seems like this was a need. Noting that the Lord often chooses flawed individuals to do his work, Smith says she hasn't done drugs since the ordeal.

REVIEW: NEW RULES
When I met Bill Maher earlier this year, I told him that just when I think he can't get any better, he does. With his new book, "New Rules: Polite Musings from a Timid Observer"(Rodale), Bill tops himself again. This collection, taken from the New Rules segment of his HBO show Real Time, merges Maher's unfailing grasp of common sense and responsibility with his unerring eye for bullshit and ever-present raucous humor (timid my #$%). And yes, my fellow cannabis connoisseurs, there are plenty of pot jokes, better ones than those he tells on TV. Even Costco is carrying the book but Maher went with righteous publisher Rodale for it, you can get it at www.rodalestore.com

"New Rules" work isn't as off-base on the subject of women as some of Bill's otherwise exemplary work, but as cosmic counterbalance I am concurrently reading Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Susan Faludi's 1991 book "Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women" and am tremendously sorry I didn't read it sooner. NEW RULE: Bill Maher must read "Backlash" before he spouts off further about women based on his interactions with the ones he meets at the Playboy mansion.

JUDGE ROBERTS LIKES ACID HEAD's MOVIE
The most we know about our new Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, thanks to questioning by Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, is that his favorite movies are "Dr. Zhivago'' and "North by Northwest." Interestingly, Cary Grant shot "North by Northwest" after he'd tripped on LSD. The actor took hundreds of therapeutic trips before that modern sacrament was made illegal. Grant's third wife Betsy Drake, who tried and recommended LSD therapy to her husband, is interviewed on the subject in the excellent new documentary "Gary Grant: A Class Apart." No word on whether or not Dr. Zhivago author Boris Pasternak indulged in drugs, but a Dr. Gavril Pasternak was, in 1998, studying the combined effects of cannabinoids and opiates on pain at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

POTHEADS LIKE WINE
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have recently completed experiments which show that the same receptors in the brain which stimulate the reinforcing properties of marijuana do the same for alcohol. The study's authors conducted tests on three groups of mice: those with a normal set of cannabinoid receptors called CB1, those with only 50 percent of the normal allotment of receptors, and those with the receptors blocked. They then put in two water bottles in the cages: one that contained normal water and another with a 10 percent alcohol solution. The mice with the normal CB1 receptors sought out the lab wine more often and drank more of it than the others.

OUTIE OF THE MONTH: ROBERT SMITH
The ho-hum NFL Network had a chance to brighten up its broadcasting arm this year with the addition of former Minnesota Viking running back Robert Smith. The well respected, well spoken Smith voluntarily skipped his sophomore year at Ohio State for academic reasons and counts among his interests astronomy, history, philosophy, chemistry, piano, the arts, computers and military science. He retired in 2004 and wrote a book.

But Smith reportedly lost his broadcasting offer with the NFL Network after publicly admitting that he smoked marijuana while playing for the league. The disclosure came during the discussion of a similar statement by wide receiver Randy Moss.

Smith, who finished second in the NFL in rushing in 2000, twice averaged better than five yards per carry from 1997 to 2000. The Vikings have had a 1,000-yard rusher just once in the four seasons since his retirement, and Minnesota was 18th in NFL rushing offense last season with 113.9 yards per game.

Before the NFL goes the way of baseball with its preponderance of Viagra-generation ads, the league ought to catch a dose of reality and get with the times. As L. Jon Wertheim wrote in Sports Illustrated in 2002, "one assumption seems safe: Where there's smoke, there's a pro athlete.

MORE ON MOSSES (RANDY AND KATE)
So far, if Oakland Raider Randy Moss's performance on and off the field are any indicator, the NFL ought to start recruiting from the recently published High Times list of top stoner colleges. Moss's energy, enthusiasm and healthy competitiveness have been compared to Magic Johnson's. In his first three games with the Raiders, Moss had 15 catches for 343 yards. Unfortunately, Oakland racked up 327 penalty yards too and lost all those games. But last weekend the Raiders beat the Dallas Cowboys with Moss catching a 79-yard pass on Oakland's second offensive play. The latest news is that the NFL will try to force Moss into their drug program.

How (un)surprising that it's impossible to stay as skinny as model Kate Moss without the use of drugs like cocaine, and that the fashion industry is hopelessly self-indulgent. We do wonder, however, who's the unnamed "world famous photographer" the New York Times' Guy Trebay reported "draws his inspiration from daily deliveries of high-quality pot rolled into fat spliffs" in an article about Moss' recent outing. Coke use isn't new to celebs: Tommy Retting, the original "Timmy" on the old "Lassie" show, was charged in 1976 with conspiring to import cocaine after being stopped enroute from Peru to California with a cocaine-based liquid disguised as a Peruvian liqueur.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH: "We must take on our existence as broadly as we possibly can; this is the only courage that is demanded of us: to have courage for the most strange, the most inexplicable." --Rainer Maria Rilke (of whom Boris Pasternak was a fan.)

9/1/05 - DOES ANYONE READ THESE REPORTS?
Increased federal spending on marijuana law enforcement has not been associated with a reduction in marijuana use, according to a report released August 23 by the Washington-DC based Justice Policy Institute (JPI).

The United States budget for drug control has increased over 300 times in the last 35 years, from $65 million to $19 billion. Reported marijuana usage rose 22 percent during the 1990s, despite a 127 percent increase in marijuana arrests, JPI researchers found. In 2003, an estimated 755,000 Americans were arrested for marijuana violations Ð the highest total ever recorded in a single year. Throughout the past 20 years, marijuana usage has remained relatively stable.

A previous report published by the NORML Foundation in March concluded that rising marijuana arrest rates have not been associated with a reduction in marijuana use, reduced marijuana availability, a reduction in the number of new marijuana users, reduced treatment admissions, reduced emergency room mentions of marijuana, any reduction in marijuana potency, or any increases in the price of marijuana.

Most recently, an economic report released by the Washington, DC think-tank Taxpayers for Common Sense estimated that the federal government annually spends more than $3.6 billion dollars on anti-marijuana related activities, "yet little evidence indicates this spending accomplishes the government's stated goal of reducing marijuana use." Previous economic reports analyzing the cost of marijuana arrest expenditures at the state and local level have estimated these costs to be between $5 and $7 billion per year.

What is our government doing to alter its failed policy? Funding the search for a drug to counter marijuana intoxication and dependence. NIDA's marijuana medications development initiative "will encourage investigation of treatments that include behavioral intervention."

High Times Names "Top 10 cannabis colleges" * 10) University of Vermont, Burlington, Vt. * 9) Wesleyan University, Middeltown, Conn. * 8) Humboldt State University, Arcata, Calif. * 7) New College of Florida, Sarasota, Fla. * 6) University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich. * 5) Hampshire College, South Amherst, Mass. * 4) University of Oregon, Eugene, Ore. * 3) University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla. * 2) University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis. * 1) University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo.

ART GARFUNKEL CHARGED AGAIN - Singer Art Garfunkel, who pleaded guilty last year to pot possession in upstate New York, was charged again Sunday after a marijuana cigarette was allegedly found in the ashtray of his car, state police said. The 63-year-old Garfunkel, who lives in Manhattan, was charged after being pulled over for failing to stop his vehicle at a stop sign, The Daily Freeman of Kingston reported Tuesday. Upon approaching Garfunkel's car, a trooper noticed a strong odor of marijuana and a subsequent search turned up a joint in the ashtray, the newspaper reported. He was issued a ticket and is due back in Woodstock Town Court on Sept. 22. In January 2004, Garfunkel was charged with marijuana possession after state police stopped his limousine for speeding in the Ulster County town of Hurley, which is near Woodstock some 55 miles southwest of Albany. During that stop, police found a small amount of pot in Garfunkel's jacket. The next month, he pleaded guilty and paid $200 in fines.

MEDICAL NEWS - An August 24 article in the New York Times reveals Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens said in remarks before a bar association meeting in Las Vegas that he regretted having to rule against California's medical marijuana initiative. "I have no hesitation in telling you that I agree with the policy choice made by the millions of California voters," he said. But given the broader stakes for the power of Congress to regulate commerce, he added, "our duty to uphold the application of the federal statute was pellucidly clear." ABC News reported the story as well. Stevens once called the Supreme Court, "a loyal foot soldier in the total war on drugs."

Hearings opened on August 22 in the American Civil Liberties Union's challenge to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's policy of obstructing privately funded, FDA-approved scientific research that could lead to marijuana being approved as a prescription medicine. Paul Armentano of NORMLreports that during the opening remarks in the case, DEA Attorney Brian Bayley explained that Dr. Mahmoud ElSohly -- head of the UMiss pot farm that has grown marijuana for NIDA for decades -- has been granted a DEA license to extract cannabinoids from NIDA-pot for R&D for the St. Louis-based Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. Bayley referred to the extracts as "natural dronabinol." Also that the August 17, 2005 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) contains a commentary from Lawrence Gostin (Georgetown Law Center) calling for the reclassification of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II under the CSA ("Medical Marijuana, American Federalism, and the Supreme Court").

Renee Boje is fighting a fast track extradition order from Canada to the US. The US federal authorities want to imprison her for a 10 year mandatory minimum to life sentence in a federal prison for medical marijuana charges stemming from a bust in California, where medical marijuana is legal. The Canadian Minister of Justice, Irwin Cotler, ordered Renee Boje surrendered to the US authorities on June 17, 2005, but an appeal is planned. There are a few ways that the public can help: 1. Please write to the Minister of Justice, Irwin Cotler, to ask him to reverse his decision to surrender Renee Boje to the US authorities. Please send your letter to Renee Boje so that she can copy it and submit it to the Court of Appeals & then forward your letter to the Minister for you: Renee Boje 307 W Hastings St Vancouver , BC , V6B 1H6 Email the Minister of Justice at Cotler.I@parl.gc.ca and cc your email to Renee at rboje@hotmail.com 2. Please write to all media outlets that you can to help Renee's case to get as much public attention as possible which will help to show that she has the support of the public to remain in Canada with her family. 3. Renee owes her lawyers $30,000.00 in legal fees and if her case goes to the Supreme Court of Canada it will cost $250,000.00 to cover the legal costs as well as the costs of flying expert witnesses out to testify on her behalf. You may donate to her lawyer by sending a check or money order made out to John Conroy and mail it to: John Conroy Barristers and Solicitors 2459 Pauline Street Abbotsford, British Columbia V2S 3S1 ####

8/28/05 - MOSS DOES HIS JOB FOR OAKLAND
The San Francisco Chronicle's Nancy Gay opened her story yesterday (8/27): "Randy Moss' first venture into the Coliseum end zone wearing a Raiders jersey was eye opening in its simplicity, dazzling in its beauty -- and utterly void of attention grabbing histrionics.

Wide open inside the Arizona Cardinals' 5-yard line, with the nearest Cardinals defenders at least 10 yards behind him, the Raiders' top offseason acquisition expertly hauled in a looping pass from quarterback Kerry Collins with 7 minutes, 28 seconds remaining in the first half Friday night and simply strolled across the goal line. He held the ball in his hand briefly, walked to the back of the end zone to greet some fans and was mobbed by teammate Alvis Whitted before he could mock-drop his pants, pull out a Super Soaker or crowd surf in the north end- zone stands."

Moss's 40-yard catch put the Raiders ahead 10-5, but they ultimately lost the game.

8/25/05 - MOSS ADMISSION GATHERS LITTLE STONING
In an article about Randy Moss, Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun Times asked, "Why do we rail against steroids and giggle about marijuana? Is it because we might have gotten high a few times in a college dorm and went on to lead normal lives? Is it because steroids enhance athletic performances and muddle statistical comparisons while pot, in some households, might augment a good time? Is it because steroids can make heads and bodies swell grotesquely while weed only gives you the munchies?"

Oakland voters were the first in the country to approve a measure last year to legalize, tax and regulate marijuana. "Pro athletes should be able to make their own decisions about pot," said Dale Gieringer of California NORML. "Who knows, it might even help them assuage an injury or ward off a migraine."

Gieringer isn't just stoned when he says that. Scientists have long known that injured athletes or even gunshot victims have a period of time in which the body's pain reaction is delayed. In a study published June 22 in the journal Nature, scientists at the University of Georgia and the University of California, Irvine, among others, found that the release of the body's own marijuana-like compounds is crucial to stress-induced analgesia -- the body's way of initially shielding pain after a serious injury. And Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's leading all-time scorer, said he uses marijuana for migraines.

Although final toxicology results are not yet in, the football player who died last week seems to have done so not from marijuana or any other illicit drug but rather from hefting his 315-pound frame across the gridiron. San Francisco 49ers guard Thomas Herrion was not alone. ESPN reports that last year 370 players in the NFL weighed over 300 pounds, and even high school players are feeling the pressure to bulk up to such unhealthy weights.

8/19/05 -RANDY MOSS: STILL SMOKIN'
When asked whether he still smokes marijuana during in an interview with for HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," Oakland Raiders wide receiver Randy Moss said, "I might. I might have fun. And, hopefully ... I won't get into any trouble with the NFL by saying that. I have had fun throughout my years . . . predominantly in the offseason.

"I have used marijuana ... since I've been in the league. But as far as abusing it and, you know, letting it take control over me, I don't do that, no. . . But, I don't want any kids watching this, taking a lesson from me as far as, 'Well, Randy Moss used it so I'm going to use it.' I don't want that to get across. Like I say ... I have used (marijuana) in the past. And every blue moon or every once in a while, I might.''

Former Vikings star Moss was found with marijuana in his car after a traffic incident in 2002. On the advice of his agent, Moss issued a brief statement on August 18. "That was really me talking in the past, the past tense of way back in the beginning of my career, my childhood, especially in high school and in college. So before you first jump to conclusions about the big thing about me having or using marijuana or what not, you've got to read the story. Because it's in my past. And that's really what the interview was about; it was the past tense. So I'll just leave it at that.''

Baltimore Orioles' first baseman Rafael Palmeiro was back on the roster against the Oakland A's on August 16, playing in just his second game since serving a 10-day suspension for a positive steroid test. The Orioles defeated the A's 4-3, after which Palmeiro, who was booed loudly by the crowd, said he injured his ankle during the game. Congress is investigating whether Palmeiro perjured himself when he testified before a Congressional committee in March that he had never taken steroids

MORE ON POT ON TV

An August 15 article by Tamara Ikenberg in the Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal says, "You can get a contact high just from watching HBO's Sunday night lineup. On 'Six Feet Under,' weed is as common as an after-work cocktail. Members of the Fisher family, from frustrated young artist Claire to conservative brother David to matriarch Ruth, light up regularly. On 'The Comeback,' the writers of the fictional sitcom 'Room and Bored' are known to break out the bong for inspiration."

Ikenberg notes that these characters aren't that out of sync with society: According to the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly half of Americans over the age of 12 have tried marijuana at least once.

TV isn't the only medium where marijuana is making a statement, the article continues. Willie Nelson's new album cover sports the distinctive leaf, and video games such as "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" feature pot in their subplots. The off-Broadway play and "Vagina Monologues" spoof "The Marijuana Monologues" was a huge hit, and radio endlessly emits the reefer-steeped rhymes of hip-hop and rap.

"Unlike the munchie-prone misfits of the past, many of today's TV tokers are taxpaying family folks with careers and brains," writes Ikenberg. "And marijuana isn't the focal point when it's featured. No one makes a big deal out of it."

"It represents the TV industry mirroring what's happening in society," Steve Bloom of High Times magazine told the Courier. "A lot of the writers, directors and producers, probably a lot of them smoke marijuana, probably a lot of them deep down would like to see the laws changed, so they're pushing the envelope by including storylines with marijuana. They want to see it more normalized on TV, and that would hopefully usher in some slight change in society's view of marijuana."

In the 1980s and '90s, non-cable networks also wove pot into plots, Ikenberg wrote. On "Roseanne," Dan and Roseanne toked up in the bathroom after confiscating drugs from one of their kids, and on "Murphy Brown," Candice Bergen's title character smoked pot during her battle with breast cancer [and demonstrated to Jay Leno the different ways of holding a cigarette, cigar and joint.] Pot fumes have long filled the air of the Forman basement on "That '70s Show," and Towelie, "South Park's" terrycloth toker, remains an icon of inhaling.

Seen on a rerun of "Married with Children":
Teenaged boy "Bud" quizzing his blonde girlfriend for a history test:

Bud: "What war did Ulysses S. Grant fight?"
Blonde: "The drug war?"
Bud: "No, the civil war."
Blonde: "They named a war for Sybil Shepherd?"

So much for our educational system.

POLLS SAY PEOPLE DON'T LIKE THE DRUG WAR, AND IT'S NOT WORKING
A survey from Canada shows 58% of Canadians oppose extraditing Marc Emery to the U.S. for selling marijuana seeds to U.S. citizens.

The number of students attending schools where drugs are easily available has risen from 44% in 2002 to 62% this year for high schoolers and from 19% to 28% for middle schoolers, according to the 10th annual teen survey by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. A majority of teens said whether it was legal for them to smoke or drink had no bearing on their decision to do so. The full survey is available online at www.casacolumbia.org.

MEDICAL NEWS FROM NORML
Oral synthetic delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), legally available in the US by prescription as the medication Marinol, often provides only limited relief to a select group of patients - particularly when compared to natural cannabis, concludes a comprehensive report issued by NORML and The NORML Foundation. Citing more than 50 published studies and clinical trials, the report finds:
* Marinol lacks several of the therapeutic cannabinoids (naturally occurring compounds) available in cannabis.
* The synergism of these cannabinoids is likely more efficacious than the administration of Marinol alone.
* Marinol is far more psychoactive than natural cannabis.
* Cannabis vaporization offers distinct advantages over the oral administration of Marinol.
* Marinol is more expensive than natural cannabis.
* Patients ultimately prefer natural cannabis to Marinol.

In addition, an article published in the August issue of the Journal of Neurooncology concludes from clinical trial results that the administration of the cannabinoid THC selectively inhibits the proliferation of malignant cancer cells more effectively than does the use of a synthetic cannabinoid agent. Researchers at the California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute reported that the administration of THC on human glioblastoma multiforme (brain tumor) cell lines decreased the proliferation of malignant cells and induced apoptosis (programmed cell death) more rapidly than did the administration of the cannabis receptor agonist WIN-55,212-2. Researchers also noted that THC selectively targeted malignant cells while ignoring healthy ones in a more profound manner than did the synthetic agonist.

And Cannabinoids may stimulate healing in the inflamed lining of the gastrointestinal tract, according to clinical trial data published in the August issue of the journal Gatroenterology. A research team at the University of Bath, Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology found that human tissues from the gastrointestinal lining of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) contained large quantities of cannabinoid receptors. Activation of specific receptors promotes healing of the gastrointestinal membrane, and could offer therapeutic relief to patients suffering from inflammatory disorders such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, authors found. The study's findings are "the first [clinical] evidence that very selective cannabis-derived treatments may be useful as future therapeutic strategies in the treatment" of inflammatory bowel disease, said lead author Karen Wright.

For more, see www.norml.org

8/6/05 - Enjoy Your Pot (on TV Only)
Sounds like Showtime network has re-worked the movie Saving Grace into a sitcom called "Weeds" that's getting rave reviews. Showtime sounds worth subscribing to: the network also aired the musical "Reefer Madness" and is probably finding a large audience among the many marijuana enthusiasts who watch TV.

Dealing pot isn't such a strange thing for an upstanding woman to do in this country. By some reports our first lady Laura Bush dealt pot in college (see "The Family" by Kitty Kelley and http://www.veryimportantpotheads.com/bushfam.html)

BTW, finally caught CBS's Late Late Show hosted by Saving Grace's co-author/star Craig Ferguson and rarely has such intelligent, heartfelt and hilarious television ever been aired. Well worth staying up for. Also, USA Today noted in a July 31 article that F/X's gritty war drama "Over There" featured a pot-smoking character, and that even Bob Saget smoked pot on HBO's series Entourage.

While Americans are enjoying watching pot smokers on TV, their government is out trying to make sure their thrills remain vicarious. At the behest of the U.S. DEA, Canadian police arrested "Prince of Pot" Marc Emery of Cannabis Culture magazine for selling mail-order pot seeds to customers in the U.S. (who are probably mostly small-time, personal use growers). Emery was ordered freed on bail but may be extradited to the U.S. along with co-workers who were also arrested. Tommy Chong stood up for Emery in an interview with the Vancouver Province, pointing out that Halliburton and Enron were the real criminals. The nearest analogy to this action may be the capture and trial of Panama's Manuel Noriega, which was touched on in John Perkins's eye-opening book Confessions of an Economic Hitman. Perkins also concludes, from his perspective as an economist for the likes of Bechtel and MAIN, that so-called "narcotrafficers" in Colombia etc. are mostly poor farmers having their land raped by greedy gringos. See http://www.johnperkins.org and http://www.cannabisculture.com/

Pot Smoking, Production: Still Smoking
The U.S. government has released a study mapping the numbers of people over the age of 12 who smoked marijuana in the last month. Boston leads the nation with a strong showing of 12.2% and New England finishes as "high" as the West, with other pot-smoking pockets in places like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, Kentucky, and college towns everywhere.

Another recent government study, the National Drug Intelligence Center's (NDIC) latest "National Drug Threat Assessment" report found domestic cultivation of cannabis is rising and is responsible for the majority of marijuana available in the United States. According to NORML, the report states that domestic pot production levels are increasing and now range from 6,000 to 19,000 metric tons annually. Accordingly, the report notes that 98 percent of state and local law enforcement agencies describe the availability of marijuana in their area as "high or moderate."

The NDIC report also finds that few state and local law enforcement agencies identify marijuana as a serious threat to public safety. Less than five percent of US law enforcement agencies surveyed identified marijuana as a significant contributor to violent crime in their area, and most ranked methamphetamine and/or cocaine as far greater threats to public health and safety. "[D]espite the volume of marijuana trafficked and used in [the United States,] ... the threat associated with [it] ... lags behind that associated with methamphetamine and cocaine, including crack," the report concludes. Authors add that an estimated 94 million Americans aged 12 or older have reported using cannabis, and "many of these users likely suffered no severe ill effects." For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500 or www.norml.org. Full text of the NDIC report, "National Drug Threat Assessment 2005," is available online at: http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs11/12620/

8/1/05 - U.S. Government Drops 40 of 42 Charges Against Steroid Pushers
The San Francisco Chronicle reported on July 16 that federal prosecutors announced they had dropped 40 counts of a 42-count indictment against three men accused of providing steroid drugs to elite athletes. In exchange, the men pleaded guilty to felony charges that will leave them with relatively brief prison terms, or no jail time at all. More than a year ago, then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the indictments during a nationally televised press conference, but the plea bargains announced on July 15 averted a trial scheduled for September that would have shined a light on sports.

Facing Federal Inprisonment, Medical Marijuana Patient Steve McWilliams Takes His Life