Cannabis Study House - NORML Weekly News in Audio 2006.6.15

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6650

Weekly News in Audio

June 15, 2006

Chris Goldstein
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NORML Launches Daily "AudioStash" New 30-Minute Podcast Available At 4:20

Cannabinoids Offer Novel Therapy For GI Disorders

Counties' Prop. 215 Challenge Can Go Forward

New Zealand: Parliament To Debate Measure To Legalize Medical Cannabis

Washington, DC:
NORML Launches Daily "AudioStash" New 30-Minute Podcast Available At 4:20

NORML has launched a new daily, 30-minute edition of its weekly podcast. The original programming, entitled "NORML's Daily AudioStash: The Growing Truth About Marijuana," is available via podcast and direct MP3 download every weekday at 4:20pm at either http://www.normlaudiostash.com/ or http://www.norml.org/. Archived shows are also available online.

Episodes of NORML's Daily AudioStash will feature breaking news stories and interviews, NORML Chapter profiles, music and comedy sketches, as well as regular segments on cannabis and health, legislative reform efforts, and hemp technology. Featured guests on the show have included NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre, Mitch Earleywine - author of the book Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence - comedian Tommy Chong, and NORML Board Member Dominic Holden, among others.

"With so much happening in the world of cannabis law reform, there was an urgent need for the creation of a daily audio show to capture the various voices of the reform movement and keep consumers up to date with the latest pot-related science, news, and events information that you won't find anywhere else but on NORML's AudioStash," NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said.

NORML's podcasts rank as one of the most popular political audio programs available on the Internet, according to tabulations released by Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store.

Mainz, Germany:
Cannabinoids Offer Novel Therapy For GI Disorders

Cannabinoids protect the gastrointestinal (GI) tract from inflammation and abnormally high gastric secretions, and could potentially treat numerous GI-related disorders such as Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome, according to review data published in the Journal of Endocrinological Investigation.

Investigators at Germany's Johannes Gutenberg University report that activation of the body's cannabinoid receptors protect the gastrointestinal tract from inflammation and modulate gastric secretions and intestinal motility. "For such protective activities, the endocannabinoid system may represent a new promising therapeutic target against different GI disorders, including inflammatory bowel diseases, functional bowel diseases, and secretion and motility disorders," they conclude.

Though the use of cannabis to treat symptoms of GI disorders has been reported anecdotally for several decades, virtually no clinical trials on the subject have been conducted. Survey data reported last fall in O'Shaughnessy's: The Journal of Cannabis in Clinical Practice, found that Crohn's patients experienced subjective benefits from cannabis, including pain relief and increased appetite. German investigators at the University Hospital in Munich are now assessing the efficacy of cannabis extracts for the treatment of Crohn's.

Researchers in the United Kingdom also reported last year that cannabinoids promote healing in the gastrointestinal membrane, and may provide therapeutic relief to patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

San Diego, CA:
Counties' Prop. 215 Challenge Can Go Forward

A lawsuit filed earlier this year by San Diego County supervisors arguing that the state's ten-year-old medical cannabis law should be pre-empted by the federal Controlled Substances Act can move forward, a Superior Court judge has ruled. The ruling rejects a motion filed in March by state Attorney General Bill Lockyer, who argued that the supervisors "disliked" the law, but had no legal standing to challenge it.

The judge is expected to set a trial date in the case imminently.

San Diego supervisors filed suit in January rather than comply with a 2004 state law mandating county officials to issue identification cards to authorized medical marijuana patients.

Local governments from San Bernardino and Merced Counties have since joined the suit. According to a recent telephone poll of San Diego county voters, 78 percent of respondents said that they opposed the supervisor's lawsuit.

Wellington, New Zealand:
New Zealand: Parliament To Debate Measure To Legalize Medical Cannabis

Members of Parliament will debate legislation that seeks to allow authorized patients to use cannabis therapeutically. The proposal, backed by the Green Party, would allow physician-supervised medical cannabis patients authorized to register with the government and be issued an identification card exempting them from criminal arrest.

"Strict regulation of medicinal cannabis and supervision of use by a doctor will allow patients access to an effective medicine and prevent the unjust conviction of those for whom it provides relief from their illness," the Green Party stated in a press release.

Cannabis offenses comprise 80 percent of all drug arrests in New Zealand. Statistics indicate that New Zealand law enforcement arrest a greater percentage of their citizens for marijuana violations than any other nation.

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