Unlike any other illegal drug of abuse, efforts undertaken by pro-marijuana advocates to legalize marijuana have attempted to exploit alleged medicinal applications to gain legal status and public acceptance. In the process, the accepted legal channels for bringing drugs to market have become trampled and circumvented, and it has been extremely difficult for the professional and lay public to sort the “wheat from the chaff.”

A historical perspective will review the efforts to legitimize marijuana to date, the status of research involving cannabinoid and related substances will be examined, the legal status of cannabis will be reviewed, and the marijuana legalization campaign will be scrutinized.

From Mockery to Medicine: The Story of the Development of a Serious Modern Medicine
Andrea G. Barthwell, MD, FASAM

Therapeutic components of any complex botanical material with the potential for medicinal use must be brought to the marketplace within the guidelines of modern medicine and science, as communicated by the FDA, following impartial scientific review. These standards apply to potential medicinal components of the marijuana plant. GW Pharmaceuticals plc has shown that the crude cannabis plant can be transformed into a modern medicine with standardization of raw materials and an innovative delivery system. Testing for FDA review is underway.

Marijuana is the most frequently used illicit substance by adolescents. Because the adolescent is not physiologically, psychosocially, or developmentally fully mature, both the short term and long term impact of marijuana use by adolescents is especially problematic. A comprehensive approach including prevention, awareness and assessment, detection, and treatment by all who are involved in the adolescent's life will provide the best opportunity for each teen to reach his/her optimal potential.

Medical Research
Researchers in Brazil found that fetal exposure to marijuana affects the newborn’s responsiveness and increases irritability with the potential to interfere with mother-child bonding.      More

International Drug Policy
Eduardo Medina Mora, Mexico’s new attorney general, promised to combat the wave of drug cartel-related violence with its attendant corruption and affirm President Felipe Calderon’s commitment to make law enforcement a top priority in his new administration.      More

In the News
Students from Cleveland State University’s College of Law have filed an opposition to the federal trademark for the energy drink named Cocaine, citing grounds for the name’s being “immoral or scandalous.” The drink does not contain cocaine but does have more than twice the caffeine of a cup of coffee.       More

Drug use by teens in the United States has fallen 23 percent from 2001 to 2006, according to the new Monitoring the Future Survey released by the University of Michigan on December 21. "It means that there will be less addiction, less suffering, less crime, lower health costs, and higher achievement for this upcoming generation of Americans," said John P. Walters, director of National Drug Control Policy.      More