November 27, 2001

Marijuana Remains European Illicit Drug of Choice,
Report Says Despite Relaxed Laws,
Pot's Popularity in EU Still Lower Than in US

 Lisbon, Portugal: Pot is far and away the most popular illicit drug
among Europeans, with as many as one-quarter of adults in many member
states admitting having tried the drug, according to a report published
last week by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction
(EMCDDA).
 "In all [fifteen] European Union [EU] countries, cannabis is the illegal
substance most commonly used, both in terms of lifetime experience and
recent use," the study concludes. "Use of other illegal substances is
less common."
 Lifetime use of the drug ranged from about ten percent of adults in
countries with the lowest percentage of users (Finland and Sweden) to
approximately 25 percent in France, Ireland, the Netherlands and the
United Kingdom. Pot smoking was most prevalent in Denmark, with more
than 30 percent of adults having used it. Past year use of cannabis was
highest in England and Ireland, as nearly 20 percent of adults admit
having recently smoked pot.
 Though marijuana's popularity in Europe has risen over the past decade,
authors did not believe that legislative changes relaxing marijuana
penalties were a significant factor in the increase. Presently, only a
handful of EU nations criminally sanction marijuana possession, and a
growing number - most notably Italy, Portugal and Spain - have abandoned
criminal penalties for the possession of all drugs.
 "Differences in the prevalence of drug use are influenced by a variety
of factors in each country," authors wrote, "as countries with more
liberal drug policies (such as the Netherlands) and those with a more
restrictive approach (such as Sweden) have not very different prevalence
rates."
 Ironically, a far smaller percentage of EU adults have tried marijuana
than their American counterparts, despite Europe's more liberal pot
policies. According to the US government's most recent National
Household Survey on Drug Abuse, more than 34 percent of Americans ages
12 and older have tried marijuana - a figure almost double the European
average.
 Text of the full report, entitled "Sixth Annual Report on the State of
the Drugs Problem in the European Union" is available online at:
http://annualreport.emcdda.org/.For more information, please contact
either Keith Stroup or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500.

Australian Premiere Says Western Government to Adopt Marijuana
Decriminalization

Perth, Australia: The government of Western Australia today announced
plans to enact legislation decriminalizing the possession and
cultivation of marijuana for personal use.
 "The government accepts the view ... that small-time [marijuana] users
should not carry the stigma of a criminal conviction," Premiere Geoff
Gallop (Labor Party) said. He explained that under the new law, to be
implemented next year, "possession of small quantities of cannabis for
personal use will ... attract a fine but offenders will not receive a
criminal record."
 In the interim, Gallop said that the government would adopt a statewide,
non-criminal "cautioning" system for marijuana offenders found in
possession of up to 25 grams of pot or two plants. Such a system had
previously been in place only in Western Australia's metropolitan areas.
 In recent years, virtually all eight Australian states have adopted some
version of decriminalization for minor marijuana offenses. For more information,
please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Publications Director, at (202) 483-5500.

NORML Radio Show Back on the Air

Washington, DC: The NORML Foundation's weekly radio show, the National
NORMLcast, returns to the air tonight on WTAN AM 1340 in Tampa. The
half-hour talk show will air weekly at its new time - Tuesday evenings
from 10:05 PM to 10:35 PM Eastern Standard Time - and can be heard
locally on WTAN in Tampa and worldwide on the Web at:
http://www.norml.org or http://www.tantalk1340.com.
 The National NORMLcast is hosted by Tampa radio personality Glenn Klein
and features NORML Foundation Executive Director Allen St. Pierre.
Listeners can participate live on the show by calling toll-free at:
1-800-263-8559.
 For more information on the National NORMLcast, please visit:
http://www.norml.org. For the latest information on Texas NORML's
forthcoming radio show, "Club Cannabis," please visit:
http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2001/11/26/norml/index.html.

Nationwide Protest Scheduled to Challenge DEA's Hemp Foods Ban

Washington, DC: A nationwide coalition of activists will converge
Tuesday, December 4th, in more than 53 cities in 17 states to protest
recent federal regulations criminalizing hemp food products. Activists
will be setting up tables at local DEA offices and serving various
edible hemp products to show their opposition to the new ban and educate
law enforcement on the nutritional value of hemp.
 In October, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued regulations
prohibiting the possession and manufacture of any edible hemp seed or
oil products - including snack bars, veggie burgers and salad oils -
that test positive for trace levels of THC.
 For a complete listing of next Tuesday's scheduled protests, please
visit: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n000/a225.html. For more
information on edible hemp products and the law, please visit:
http://www.votehemp.com.

November 20, 2001

School That Fired Teacher Over Hemp Views
Violated First Amendment Protections, Appeals Court Says
Award-Winning Teacher's Advocacy Motivated Firing, Justices Rule

 Cincinnati, OH: A Shelby County, Kentucky public school district's
decision to abruptly fire an award-winning fifth-grade teacher was
motivated in part by her decision to speak to her class about industrial
hemp, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati unanimously ruled
last week. Their decision overturns a previous lower court judgment
dismissing the teacher's First Amendment retaliation claim against the
district.
 The school district fired elementary school teacher Donna Cockrel in
July of 1997 after she twice invited actor Woody Harrelson to speak to
her students about alternative agricultural crops like hemp and kenaf.
 School officials had granted Cockrel prior approval to host both
presentations, but distanced themselves from the matter after several
parents from the community complained about the lecture's content.
Superintendent Mike Mooneyhan later fired Cockrel, citing conduct
unbecoming a teacher and other violations.
 "The question [is] whether Cockrel was terminated for the exercise of
her First Amendment rights. ... After examining the evidence, we
conclude that a jury could find, by a preponderance of the evidence,
that the defendants' decision to discharge Cockrel was motivated, at
least in part, by her decision to teach her students about industrial
hemp," the Court ruled.
 Justices added, "While many of the allegations made against Cockrel
would, if true, amount to serious misconduct on her part, the fact that
she was not disciplined for any of this behavior, nor did the
Superintendent know of it, until after Harrelson visited and various
members of the school community voiced their displeasure with the
presentation, leads to a genuine issue of material fact concerning the
defendant's assertion that Cockrel would have been fired regardless of
her decision to speak on the environmental benefits of hemp."
 Cockrel integrated hemp into her curriculum as part of an agricultural
class about environmentally friendly crops. Since losing her job,
Cockrel has been teaching elementary school in Detroit.
 A documentary film about Cockrel's legal battle in Kentucky is scheduled
to debut on the film festival circuit later this month.
 For more information, please contact Keith Stroup or Paul Armentano of
NORML at (202) 483-5500.

Feds Hemp Food Ban Not Supported By Research, Study Says

Washington, DC: Daily ingestion of hemp oil and food products will not
produce a "confirmed positive" drug test for marijuana, according to a
study published in this month's issue of the Journal of Analytical
Toxicology. The findings call into question the rationale behind
recently enacted DEA regulations criminalizing the possession and
manufacture of any edible hemp seed or oil products that contain trace
levels of THC. Many experts believe that the new regulations came about,
in part, because of concerns from the Office of National Drug Control
Policy (ONDCP) and the drug testing industry that employees would
purposely consume legal hemp products as a way to dispute positive drug
tests.
 Fifteen subjects participated in the study, which required volunteers to
consume hemp oil of various THC concentrations daily for a period of ten
days. Researchers then collected urine samples and screened for
cannabinoids using federally approved gas chromatography-mass
spectrometry (GC-MS) technology. Scientists reported that despite the
consumption of as many as 600 micrograms (one millionth of a gram) of
THC per day - a total far higher than would be expected in a
non-laboratory setting - all 15 subjects tested far below the 15-ng/ml
confirmation cutoff used in federal drug testing programs.
 "Based on our findings, these concentrations appear to be sufficiently
low to prevent confirmed positives from the extended and extensive
consumption of hemp foods," authors concluded.
 Eric Steenstra, national coordinator of VoteHemp Inc., a nonprofit
organization that is contesting the federal hemp food ban, said the
study definitively shows that self-imposed industry-wide standards
(so-called "TestPledge" standards) for hemp seed and oil products
"assure consumers that hemp foods will not interfere with confirmation
drug testing."
 He called the current ban "irrational," noting that "hemp seeds and oil
have absolutely no psychoactive effect and are about as likely to be
abused as [are] poppy seed bagels for their trace opiate content, or
fruit juices because of their trace alcohol content."
 For more information, please contact either Allen St. Pierre, Executive
Director of The NORML Foundation, at (202) 483-8751 or visit the
VoteHemp website at: http://www.votehemp.com. For more information on
the "TestPledge" program, please visit: http://www.testpledge.com.

Cops Bust Popular British "Cannabis Café"

Stockton, United Kingdom: Police shut the doors to Britain's
increasingly popular Amsterdam-style marijuana coffee shop in a 20-man
raid this afternoon, the Manchester Evening News reported. The bust came
less than 24 hours after the UK's leading advisers on drugs announced
that they will recommend Parliament legalize marijuana and regulate its
sale through licensed, Dutch-style coffee shops.
 Dutch Experience café co-owner Colin Davies and approximately 15
customers were taken in for questioning, the News reported. Today's bust
marks the third time that local police have closed the café since its
September 15 opening. For more information, please contact
Allen St. Pierre of The NORML Foundation, at (202) 483-8751.