Fwd: NORML News of the Week 8/26/2010
Nathan Fisher
From: "NORML News" <let...@norml.org>Date: August 26, 2010 1:58:35 PM PDTTo: "NORML News" <norml...@mail.norml.org>Subject: NORML News of the Week 8/26/2010To unsubscribe, follow the instructions at the bottom.--- You are currently subscribed to norml_news as: natha...@gmail.com To unsubscribe send a blank email to me...@norml.org.
Volume 13 Issue 34 August 26, 2010 norml.org
This Week's News from NORML
- Commonly Prescribed Medications Often Trigger 'False Positive' Results On Urine Drug Screens, Study Says
- California: Latino Voters League, Black Police Officers Endorse Marijuana Depenalization Initiative
- Spain Approves Marijuana Spray As Medicine
Commonly Prescribed Medications Often Trigger 'False Positive' Results On Urine Drug Screens, Study Says
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Tulsa, OK: Prescribed medications commonly trigger 'false positive' results for illicit substances on urine drug screens, according to a review published in the August 15th edition of the Journal of the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists.
Investigators at the University of Oklahoma, College of Pharmacy conducted a comprehensive literature review assessing the likelihood of 'false positive' drug test results for 116 separate medications.
"Reports of false positive UDS (urine drug screens) result were found for 25 (21.5 percent) of the 116 formulary medications," authors found.
Prescribed medications were most likely to yield false positive results for amphetamine or methamphetamine, the study reported.
Medications were far less likely to positive for marijuana. Nevertheless, researchers concluded that "acute or chronic ibuprofen use" was occasionally associated with false positive cannabinoid results. However, these results were only documented on the enzyme-mediated immunoassay (EMIT) test.
Authors concluded: "A number of routinely prescribed medications have been associated with triggering false positive UDS results. Verification of the test results with a very different screening test or additional analytical tests should be performed to avoid adverse consequences for patients."
For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: pa...@norml.org. Full text of the study, "Commonly prescribed medications and potential false positive urine drug screens," appears in the Journal of the American Society of Health-Systems Pharmacists.
California: Latino Voters League, Black Police Officers Endorse Marijuana Depenalization Initiative
Share This ArticleSacramento, CA: Representatives from the Latino Voters League (LVL) and the National Black Police Association have offered formal endorsements of Proposition 19, The Regulate, Control & Tax Cannabis Initiative of 2010. If passed, the measure would legalize the private adult possession and cultivation of marijuana, and allow local government the option to regulate the plant's commercial production and sale.
"The so called 'war on drugs' has been a gigantic failure, and approving Proposition 19 in November in California will hasten its demise," Antonio Gonzalez, coordinator of the Latino Voters League (LVL), announced at an August 13 press conference. "[A]pproving Proposition 19 will strike a blow to violent gangs and Mexican cartels that prey on our communities by removing their profit incentive. Parents worried about drug use today among their teenage children should support Proposition 19 because it will reduce the availability of cannabis among underage persons by controlling it and regulating it in the same way alcohol is controlled."
The LVL is a "nonpartisan organization dedicated to mobilizing Latino voters around progressive issues."
Last week, at its national conference in Sacramento, The National Black Police Association also endorsed the measure. The National Black Police Association has some 15,000 members nationwide. "[Passage of Prop. 19] means that we will be locking up less African American men and women and children who are using drugs," the group's Executive Director Ron Hampton said. "[Under the present policy,] blacks go to jail more than whites for doing the same thing."
According to a report published in July, African Americans are arrested for marijuana possession offenses in California's 25 largest counties at more than twice the rate of Caucasians.
The California state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had previously expressed its "unconditional support" for Prop. 19.
California voters will decide on the measure this November. According to the most recently released statewide poll on the measure, 50 percent of Californians support Prop. 19 while 40 percent oppose it.
For more information, please visit: http://yeson19.com.
Spain Approves Marijuana Spray As Medicine
Share This ArticleMadrid, Spain: Spanish regulators have approved the sale and marketing of Sativex, an oral spray consisting of natural cannabis extracts (primarily the plant cannabinoids THC and cannabidiol aka CBD) as an adjunct therapy for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. (MS).
The approval comes some two months after British health regulators legalized the drug. Separate regulatory approval remains pending in several additional European markets, including France, Germany, and Italy.
Sativex was approved in Canada in 2005.
In clinical trials, Sativex has been demonstrated to reduce MS-associated spasticity, pain, and incontinence. Long-term investigational trials indicate that consistent use of the cannabis-based medicine may also slow the progression of the disease.
Clinical trials to assess the use of Sativex to treat cancer pain are pending in the United States.
For more information, please visit: http://www.gwpharm.com.
Tel: (202) 483-5500 • Fax: (202) 483-0057 • Email: no...@norml.org
