NORMLIZER - WEED WATCH

Cannabis consumers, beware! Overzealous law-enforcement and runaway government “anti-drug” agencies are funding all kinds of whiz-bang technologies to bust our brothers and sisters for employing and/or enjoying cannabis. According to an August New York Times article, University of Utah researcher Dr. Jason West, with financing from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), is creating a model that can identify the geographic origin of cannabis plants based on certain chemical calling cards.

The research, conducted by the Marijuana Signature Project, relies on stable isotopes, which are forms of a given element (such as nitrogen or oxygen) with different numbers of neutrons in the nucleus and thus distinct atomic masses.

The Times writes: “Stable isotopes are increasingly used for forensic purposes, including investigations into blood doping, arson and trafficking in contraband like drugs and endangered species.”

Dr. West told the Times: “Stable isotopes are a signature on plant materials and things that are derived from plants. Using them, you can get information about where something grew and its growth environment.”

The ONDCP and state law-enforcement agencies are hoping to use stable isotopes to identify unique markers in cannabis, distinguishing it not just by geography but also by its cultivation method—indoor versus outdoor, for example. The Times reports: “To fine-tune the models, Dr. West is examining other isotopes found in the marijuana plants. Nitrogen isotopes, for example, give clues about whether fertilizer was used and what type. And carbon isotopes can show whether the plant grew in a wet and shady or dry and sunny climate, based on how a plant’s physiology is affected by water availability.”

Currently, our government relies on invasive, costly and Constitution-twisting technologies in a futile attempt to “control” cannabis use in America. Half of all Americans are obliged to undergo drug testing in order to be hired for or keep their jobs. Authorities use infrared lenses to spot indoor grow ops, ion scanners to identify the presence of molecules of particular drugs and roadside gamma-ray “busters” to justify illegal searches on cars and cargo. Now the government is funding an extravagant science project to map so-called cannabis “iso-scapes,” primarily for the purpose of enhancing prosecutions and not for public-health concerns, as government bureaucrats claim.

Lawmakers might consider a far less sophisticated and infinitely less expensive method to effectively track cannabis from producer to consumer: taxation. Doesn’t legally controlling cannabis via taxation make eminently more sense than prohibition?

—Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director of NORML
Visit norml.org, or call (888) 67-NORML.