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  Federal Judge Upholds Schedule I Classification Of Cannabis

  by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
  

  A federal judge today denied a motion challenging the constitutionality of cannabis’ classification as a Schedule I prohibited substance without any accepted medical utility.

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  2015 Pew Poll: “Support for Legalization Is Rapidly Outpacing Opposition”

  by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
  

  Fifty-three percent of Americans say that the "use of marijuana should be legal," according to nationwide survey data published today by the Pew Research Center. The poll is the latest in a series of national surveys showing majority support for legalizing and regulating marijuana.

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  Responsible Marijuana Smoking: Moderation in All Things

  by Keith Stroup, NORML Legal Counsel
  

  While we now enjoy the support of a majority of the American public to end marijuana prohibition, 64 percent of those same people nonetheless still have an overall negative impression of marijuana smokers. All to often they see us as slackers who fail to live up to our full potential, and whose primary interest in life is getting stoned. While much of that disconnect is likely the result of decades of “reefer madness” propaganda, some of it also results from careless conduct on the part of some marijuana smokers that […]

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  Coming Out Green Ad Campaign

  by Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director
  

  New marijuana law reform ad encourages consumers to 'come out green'!

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  Kansas: Wichita Voters Approve Municipal Initiative Reducing Marijuana Possession Penalties

  by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
  

  Voters in Wichita Kansas approved a municipal measure yesterday that seeks to reduce first-time marijuana possession penalties within the city. Despite majority support for the measure, state Attorney General Derek Schmidt has called the language unlawful and has threatened to sue the city if the provision goes into effect.

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  Feds Seek To Increase Marijuana Production Quotas

  by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
  

  DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart filed paperwork today announcing that the agency is seeking to increase its marijuana production quota for the year 2015 by nearly three-fold.

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  Study: Vaporized Cannabis Mitigates Treatment-Resistant Diabetic Neuropathy

  by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
  

  Vaporized cannabis mitigates pain intensity in diabetic subjects in dose-dependent manner, according to clinical trial data published online ahead of print in The Journal of Pain. Authors reported: “This small, short-term, placebo-controlled trial of inhaled cannabis demonstrated a dose-dependent reduction in diabetic peripheral neuropathy pain in patients with treatment-refractory pain. … Overall, our finding of an analgesic effect of cannabis is consistent with other trials of cannabis in diverse neuropathic pain syndromes.”

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  The Challenge for the New Generation of Legalizers

  by Keith Stroup, NORML Legal Counsel
  

  I was recently asked, following a lecture I had given, what the next generation of legalization advocates could do to move legalization forward, and to leave their mark on the legalization movement. The question was intriguing, and caused me to revisit in my mind the areas of public policy in which marijuana smokers continue to be treated unfairly, even in states that have legalized marijuana, and to consider why these problems remain so difficult for us to correct. I have discussed in previous columns the continuing problems we face as […]

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  Poll: Majority of Swing State Voters Support Legalization

  by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
  

  The majority of voters in Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania support permitting adults to possess marijuana legally, and super-majorities in all three states endorse allowing doctors to recommend cannabis therapy, according to survey data published Monday by Quinnipiac University.

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  Study: CBD Administration Enhances Skeletal Healing

  by Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director
  

  The administration of the non-psychotropic cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) leads to improvement in bone fracture healing, according to preclinical data published online ahead of print in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Investigators at the Hebrew University Bone Laboratory in Israel assessed the ability of CBD administration to promote healing in rats with mid-femoral fractures. Researchers reported, "CBD markedly enhanced the biomechanical properties of the healing femora after 8 weeks."