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Once again Americans Say Marijuana Should Be Legal
- Details
- Published on 14 April 2013
- Written by Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director
Washington, DC: Fifty-two percent of Americans say that the adult consumption of cannabis ought to be legal, according to national polling data released last week by the Pew Research Center. The total is the highest percentage of support ever reported by Pew, which began surveying public opinion on this issue in 1973.
This year's percentage marks an 11 percent increase in support since 2010, the last time Pew posed the question. Forty-five percent of respondents said they opposed liberal
izing marijuana laws.
Democrats, (59 percent), males (57 percent), African Americans (56 percent), and those respondents between the ages of 18 and 29 (64 percent) were most likely to favor legalizing marijuana. Female respondents (48 percent), Republicans (37 percent), and those age 65 and over (33 percent) were least likely to back legalization.
Pollsters also reported that 77 percent of Americans - including 72 percent of self-identified Republicans and 60 percent of those respondents age 65 or older - believe that cannabis possesses "legitimate medical uses," a position that directly conflicts with federal policy.
According to Pew, a solid majority of Americans also question present federal efforts to enforce the criminalization of cannabis. The poll reported that 72 percent of respondents agreed that "government efforts to enforce marijuana laws cost more than they are worth," and 60 percent of Americans said that the government should no longer enforce federal anti-marijuana laws in states that have approved of its use.
Trace THC/Blood Levels Persist In Cannabis Consumers
- Details
- Published on 15 March 2013
- Written by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
Baltimore, MD: Chronic cannabis consumers may test positive for trace, residual levels of THC in blood for several weeks after ceasing their marijuana use, according to clinical trial data published in the journal of the American Association of Clinical Chemistry.
Thirty long-term, daily cannabis consumers participated in the trial. The mean self-reported daily consumption of cannabis among subjects in the study was ten joints per day.
Of the 22 subjects tested 24 hours following admission into the trial, 12 (59 percent) tested positive for THC levels greater than 1ng/ml, but none tested at levels greater than 5ng/ml. All of the subjects' THC/blood levels tested below 1ng/ml within seven days following admission.
Investigators reported that subjects' THC/blood levels "did not always decrease in a consistent manner" and that one subject continued to test positive for trace levels of THC for a total of 33 days.
Authors concluded: "To our knowledge, these are the first blood cannabinoid concentrations in chronic daily cannabis smokers during extended (up to 33 days) continuously monitored abstinence. These data are critical for understanding cannabinoid pharmacokinetics in this population, and for interpreting blood cannabinoid tests."
A message from Norm Kent - NORML's new Board Chairman
- Details
- Published on 02 March 2013
- Written by Norm Kent, Chair, NORML Board of Directors
A Vision for a New NORML
NORML is the pioneer, the grand patron and founder of the marijuana policy reform movement in America. We are still here and by your side, and we are needed now, more than ever.
Some have said that as our nation moves towards medicalization, decriminalization, or legalization, our tasks will be diminished, our duties lessened, our essence threatened.
The truth is that it is just the opposite.
Now, with cannabis reforms about to blossom in city after city, from small communities to large counties, our nation needs a respected consumer advocacy group more than ever.
Our nation needs a lobby such as the new NORML, firmly planted, and nationally respected, which will protect the rights of cannabis consumers, as no one else has in the past or can in the future.
Our nation needs a new NORML, which insures that the distribution of cannabis to anyone is universally safe, readily accessible and fairly affordable to everyone.
Our nation needs a new NORML that insures that the laws which legislatures pass favor freedom and fairness, not moneymakers or mercenaries.
Our nation needs a new NORML that insures patients have access to safe medicine, consumers acquire healthy products, and distribution mechanisms protect gender, age, and race, available not just to corporate conglomerates but individual entrepreneurs.
The new NORML today contains a NORML Women’s Alliance representing the power of feminism and professionalism, bringing passion and gender diversity to the cause of personal freedom and individual choice.
Read more: A message from Norm Kent - NORML's new Board Chairman
