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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
KY Senator Mitch McConnell Supports Hemp ?
- Details
- Published on 02 February 2013
- Written by Erik Altieri, NORML Communications Director
In a statement published Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), a previously outspoken opponent of marijuana law reform, did something surprising. He came out in support of allowing the production of industrial hemp.
“I am convinced that allowing its production will be a positive development for Kentucky’s farm families and economy,” McConnell’s statement read, “The utilization of hemp to produce everything from clothing to paper is real and if there is a capacity to center a new domestic industry in Kentucky that will create jobs in these difficult economic times that sounds like a good thing to me.”
The Senator cited his discussions with fellow Ketucky Senator Rand Paul and Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Come as being influential in his new position.
It is worth noting, that as recently as last year, Senator McConnell was vociforus in his opposition to marijuana law reform. Replying to a constituent’s letter in 2012, McConnell stated that he was opposed to legalizing marijuana due to the “detrimental effects of drugs..[such as] short-term memory loss, loss of core motor functions, heightened risk of lung disease, and even death.”
While he makes clear that he wants hemp regulated in a way “that does not compromise Kentucky law enforcement’s marijuana eradication efforts or in any way promote illegal drug use,” perhaps his new found support for hemp will become his “gateway” to supporting further rational marijuana policies.
