Budget Cuts Could Force Wisconsin to Decriminalize 25 grams or less by July 1, 2013

Posted on 03/19/2013 by

In an effort to cut costs, it appears Wisconsin may becoming soft on crime.

wisconsin public defenders office 236x450 Budget Cuts Could Force Wisconsin to Decriminalize 25 grams or less by July 1, 2013

Wisconsin Public Defenders Office

The State Public Defender's Office is seeking alternatives to certain crimes. These changes would save the State over $7.7 million in the next biennial budget.

According to "Overview of State Agency Major Request Items", a document put together by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the Public Defender's Office is looking to amend several crimes to become mere ordinance violations. One of those crimes...drug possession.

This is the exact wording of the proposal...

"Amend s. 961.41 of the statutes to provide that all first and second offense drug possession violations, other than for methamphetamine, involving 25 grams or less be reduced to an ordinance violation provided there is reasonable doubt that the individual was not manufacturing, distributing or delivering the drug."

But it doesn't stop there. The Public Defender's Office wants to make further corrections to drug laws by making third time drug possession a misdemeanor charge.

"With low risk offenders, evidence based decision making shows they don't need much intervention and that was the overlying theme to these issues," Randy Kraft, Communications Director for the State Public Defender's Office said.

Lieutenant David Poteat, Director of the Brown County Drug Task Force, calls the changes absurd.

"To say that they're low risk offenders I don't think is realistic. If you look at heroin in particular, that is tied to so much of our property crime in the area, it's unreal. So people using heroin are also ones stealing from stores, stealing from homes, breaking into cars. It's connected to so much other crime than just that," Poteat stated.

The changes will not only cut down on 7,000 cases annually, but will reduce costs by an estimated $713,000 in 2013-14 and $1,426,000 in 2014-15.

"The justice system we have in Wisconsin does come at a price tag to our taxpayers," Randy Kraft commented. "For us to fix some areas that need an increase in funding, we also have to identify issues where it would save monies as well."

Kraft says in order to advance other programs, "the only way the agency could submit the increases was to identify corresponding decreases."

Poteat disagrees.

"The Sheriff's Department has a budget as well. Each department has to do their part to maintain that budget and keep costs down. We try to operate as efficiently as possible, but you cannot do that at the risk of the public."

While the Public Defender's Office is looking at decreasing the cost of crime, they're also looking at increasing pay for assistant public defenders and private bar attorneys. The increase in salaries comes at a cost of over $9million.

But first State lawmakers must agree to the changes. If adopted, the law changes would become effective July 1, 2013.

Source:   GREEN BAY, Wisc. (WFRV)  http://wearegreenbay.com/1fulltext-news?nxd_id=178682

Posted in 2010 News, Action Needed, arrests, Articles, Attorney, Awareness, Decriminalization, Marijuana Reform, News, News Archives, Politics, Views of Weed, Wisconsin | 1 Comment

Illinois Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Measure, Goes to the Governor’s Desk

Posted on 05/17/2013 by

cannabis bud medical Illinois Senate Passes Medical Marijuana Measure, Goes to the Governor’s DeskThis afternoon, the Illinois State Senate voted 35 to 21 in favor of House Bill 1, which would establish a medical marijuana pilot program in the state. The measure had previously been approved by the House of Representatives and moves to the Governor Pat Quinn’s desk for his signature. While Governor Quinn hasn’t taken a firm stance on HB 1, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon has been open in regards to her support for this legislation.

You can read the full text of the measure here.

NORML will keep you updated as this story develops.

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Posted in National NORML | Tagged Desk, Goes, Governor’s, Illinois, Marijuana, Measure, Medical, Passes, Senate | Leave a comment

POLL: Essentially No One Believes Marijuana Users Should Go to Jail

Posted on 05/17/2013 by

jail cell POLL: Essentially No One Believes Marijuana Users Should Go to JailReason-Rupe has just released new polling data that revealed only a minuscule percentage of Americans believe that marijuana use and possession should result in jail time. When asked which approach they thought the government and law enforcement should take toward someone found smoking marijuana or in possession of a small amount of marijuana, only 6% responded that they should be sent to jail. 35% of respondents said that these individuals shouldn’t be punished at all, 32% responded they should pay a fine, and 20% said they should have to attended substance abuse courses.

The survey also found that 52% of Americans favor federal legislation that would prevent the federal government from prosecuting people who grow, possess, or sell marijuana in the states that have legalized it. Recently, Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) introduced the “Respect State Marijuana Laws Act” which would do exactly that. You can click here to easily contact your Representative and urge him or her to support this measure.

Full results of this poll are available here.

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Study: Student Drug Testing Programs Linked To Spikes In ‘Hard’ Drug Use

Posted on 05/16/2013 by

Schools that institute student drug testing programs are likely to experience a rise in students’ consumption of ‘hard’ drugs, according to observational trial data published this week in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Researchers at the University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research analyzed the impact of student drug testing programs in some 250,000 high-school and middle-school students over a 14 year period. Investigators reported that random drug testing programs of the student body and programs specifically targeting student athletes were associated with “moderately lower marijuana use,” but cautioned that drug testing programs overall were “associated with increased use of illicit drugs other than marijuana.”

An estimated 14 percent of middle school students and 28 per cent of US high school students are now subject to some form of drug testing.

Urinalysis, the most common form of student drug testing, screens for the presence of inert drug metabolites (breakdown products), not the actual parent drug. Because marijuana’s primary metabolite, carboxy-THC, is fat soluble, it may be present in urine for days, weeks, or in some cases even months after past use. By contrast, most other illicit drug metabolites are water soluble and will exit the body within a matter of hours. Authors of the study speculated that students subjected to drug screens were switching from cannabis to other illicit drugs which possessed shorter detection times.

“Random SDT (student drug testing) among the general high school student population, as well as middle and high school subgroups targeted for testing, was associated with moderately lower marijuana use; however, most forms of testing were associated with moderately higher use of other illicit drugs, particularly in high school,” the authors concluded. “These findings raise the question of whether SDT is worth this apparent tradeoff.”

Commenting on the findings, the study’s lead author affirmed, “It is clear that drug testing is not providing the solution for substance-use prevention that its advocates claim.”

Previous assessments of student drug testing programs have reported that those subjected to such programs are no less likely to report consuming illicit drugs, tobacco, or alcohol than their peers.

The abstract of the study, “Middle and High School Drug Testing and Student Illicit Drug Use: A National Study 1998–2011,” is available online here.

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Posted in National NORML | Tagged Drug, Linked, Programs’, Spikes, Student, Study, Testing, ‘Hard’ | Leave a comment

Study: Regular Cannabis Use Associated With Reduced Risk Factors For Type 2 Diabetes

Posted on 05/15/2013 by

Subjects who regularly consume cannabis possess favorable indices related to diabetic control as compared to occasional consumers or non-users, according to trial data published today online in the American Journal of Medicine.

Here is a summary of the study from the website diabetes.co.uk:

Cannabis may prevent development of type 2 diabetes

A new study has revealed that smoking cannabis may help protect against type 2 diabetes after researchers in the US found that regular users of the drug have better blood sugar control.

Murray Mittleman, of the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, analysed data on almost 5,000 patients who were quizzed about their use of recreational drugs as part of the National Health and Nutrition Survey between 2005 and 2010.

They found that 2,103 had never use cannabis, 975 had used the drug in the past but were not current users, and 579 (over 10%) had inhaled or ingested it in the past month.

Tests showed that current users had 16% lower fasting insulin levels and reduced insulin resistance than those who had never used cannabis. Non-users also had larger waistlines and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL or ‘good’) cholesterol – both of which are risk factors for type 2 diabetes.

The same benefits were seen among participants who had used the drug in the past but the associations were not as strong, indicating that the effects of cannabis use on insulin levels and insulin sensitivity wear off over time.

“Previous epidemiologic studies have found lower prevalence rates of obesity and diabetes mellitus in marijuana users compared to people who have never used marijuana, suggesting a relationship between cannabinoids and peripheral metabolic processes, but ours is the first to investigate the relationship between marijuana use and fasting insulin, glucose, and insulin resistance,” said lead investigator Mittleman.

Commenting on the study, American Journal of Medicine Editor-in-Chief Joseph S. Alpert, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, Tucson, wrote in an accompanying commentary: “These are indeed remarkable observations that are supported, as the authors note, by basic science experiments that came to similar conclusions.” He added: “We desperately need a great deal more basic and clinical research into the short- and long-term effects of marijuana in a variety of clinical settings such as cancer, diabetes, and frailty of the elderly. I would like to call on the NIH and the DEA to collaborate in developing policies to implement solid scientific investigations that would lead to information assisting physicians in the proper use and prescription of THC in its synthetic or herbal form.”

Diabetes mellitus is a group of autoimmune diseases characterized by defects in insulin secretion resulting in hyperglycemia (an abnormally high concentration of glucose in the blood). There are two primary types of diabetes. Individuals diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (also known as juvenile diabetes) are incapable of producing pancreatic insulin and must rely on insulin medication for survival. Individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (also known as adult onset diabetes) produce inadequate amounts of insulin. Type 2 diabetes is a less serious condition that typically is controlled by diet. Over time, diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney failure, nerve damage, hardening of the arteries and death. The disease is the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease and cancer.

Observational trial data published in 2012 in the British Medical Journal previously reported that adults with a history of marijuana use had a lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes and possess a lower risk of contracting the disease than do those with no history of cannabis consumption, even after researchers adjusted for social variables (ethnicity, level of physical activity, etc.) Investigators concluded, “Our analysis of adults aged 20-59 years … showed that participants who used marijuana had a lower prevalence of DM (Diabetes Mellitus) and lower odds of DM relative to non-marijuana users.”

Although subjects who consume marijuana on average have higher average caloric intake levels than non-users, the plant’s use has been associated with lower body-mass index (BMI) and lower rates of obesity.

Abstracts of today’s study, “The Impact of Marijuana Use on Glucose, Insulin, and Insulin Resistance among US Adults,” are online here. NORML has additional information and citations regarding cannabis and diabetes in our Library here.

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Study: Inhaled Cannabis Reduces Crohn’s Symptoms

Posted on 05/13/2013 by

Inhaling cannabis reduces symptoms of Crohn’s disease compared to placebo in patients non-responsive to traditional therapies, according to clinical trial data published online ahead of print in the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Researchers at the Meir Medical Center, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology in Israel assessed the safety and efficacy of inhaled cannabis versus placebo in 21 subjects with Crohn’s disease who were nonresponsive to conventional treatments.

Eleven participants smoked standardized cannabis cigarettes containing 23 percent THC and 0.5 percent CBD (cannabidiol) twice daily over a period of eight weeks. The other ten subjects smoked placebo cigarettes containing no active cannabinoids.

Investigators reported, “Our data show that 8-weeks treatment with THC-rich cannabis, but not placebo, was associated with a significant decrease of 100 points in CDAI (Crohn’s Disease and activity index) scores.” (The CDIA is a research tool used to quantify the symptoms of Crohn’s disease patients.) Five of the eleven patients in the study group also reported achieving disease remission (defined as a reduction in patient CDAI score by more than 150 points).

Researchers also reported that “no significant side effects” were associated with cannabis inhalation. Subjects in the study group reported improvements in appetite and sleep compared to those in the placebo group. Cannabis inhalation was also associated with “significantly less pain” among the participants.

The study is the first placebo-controlled clinical trial to assess the consumption of cannabis for the treatment of Crohn’s.

Israeli researchers had previously published observational trial data reporting that Crohn’s patients require fewer disease-related surgeries following their use of cannabis.

According to survey data published in 2011 in the European Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, some one-half of Crohn’s disease patients acknowledge having used cannabis to mitigate their disease symptoms.

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Study: No Association Between The Cumulative Consumption Of Cannabis Smoke And The Risk Of Lung Cancer

Posted on 05/10/2013 by

In a recent presentation given at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research, investigators from the university of California, Los Angeles provided the latest data reaffirming that cannabis consumption is not associated with an elevated risk of lung cancer. Below is a summary of the findings from The Oncology Report:

The study included data from six case-control studies conducted from 1999 to 2012 in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, with a subject pool of 2,159 lung cancer cases and 2,985 controls. All of the studies were part of the International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO), an international group of lung cancer researchers with the aim of sharing comparable data from ongoing and recently completed lung cancer studies from different geographical areas and ethnicities.

Dr. Zhang of the University of California, Los Angeles, performed two analyses. One compared all lung cancer cases and all controls, regardless of concurrent or past tobacco use. Then, to reduce confounding by tobacco, she restricted the analysis to those who had never smoked tobacco.

… When compared with cannabis smokers who also used tobacco, habitual pot smokers had no significant increase in cancer risk. In an analysis of marijuana smokers that excluded tobacco smokers, there were no significant differences in any of the comparisons, including habitual vs. nonhabitual use; number of joints smoked per day; duration of up to 20 years or duration of more than 20 years.

The abstract of the presentation, which concludes “Our pooled results showed no significant association between the intensity, duration, or cumulative consumption of cannabis smoke and the risk of lung cancer overall or in never smokers,” is available online here.

Numerous preclinical studies have documented that cannabinoids possess potent anti-cancer properties, including the inhibition of lung cancer cell growth.

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May 2013 Monthly Meeting for Northern Wisconsin NORML

Posted on 05/09/2013 by

Logo 300x258 May 2013 Monthly Meeting for Northern Wisconsin NORML

Northern Wisconsin NORML

Public Monthly Meeting of Northern Wisconsin NORML held on May 09th, 2013.

Held at Harmony Cafe, 233 E College Ave, Apppleton WI 54911

Join us from 4:20pm to 5:30pm as the chapter board of directors, along with members and supporters enjoy fellowship as an informal group gathering together prior to our meeting. The meeting location is the Harmony Cafe, 233 E College Ave in Appleton, which has food and beverages available for sale.

At 5:30pm we begin our general meeting, which is expected to last until 7:00pm, sometimes finishing early, but we have the room reserved up till 8pm in case we need to go longer.

Meetings are open to the general public and you need not a be a member to attend.

Meetings are also broadcast over the Internet via Google + Hangouts. NOTE: YOU WILL NOT BE ON CAMERA UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE, ONLY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MODERATING THE MEETING ARE BROADCAST.

The chapter will post the link once live on the Northern Wisconsin NORML Facebook Page.

NOTE: Membership is the key to being a strong chapter and we are currently looking for field directors to work with the Treasurer and fundraising team on specific projects, please contact us at NorthernWiNORML@gmail.com if interested in assisting with this project.

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