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Chapel Hill, NC: Commercially available baby soaps and other wash products that are commonly used with newborns may interfere with the accuracy of immunoassay drug screens, according to data published in the journal Clinical Biochemistry.

Investigators at the University of North Carolina, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, assessed the impact of various baby wash products on drug-free urine samples after a number of false positive cannabinoid screening results were suspected at their institution's newborn nursery.

Researchers determined: "Addition of Head-to-Toe Baby Wash to drug-free urine produced a dose dependent measureable response in the THC immunoassay. Addition of other commercially available baby soaps gave similar results, and subsequent testing identified specific chemical surfactants that reacted with the THC immunoassay."

Overall, researchers reported that four out of seven of the commercial baby soaps tested caused false positive results when added to drug-free urine samples.

They concluded: "We have identified commonly used soap and wash products used for newborn and infant care as potential causes of false positive THC screening results. Such results in this population can lead to involvement by social services or false child abuse allegations. Given these consequences, it is important for laboratories and providers to be aware of this potential source for false positive screening results and to consider confirmation before initiating interventions."

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Full text of the study, "Unexpected interference of baby wash products with a cannabinoid (THC) immunoassay," will appear in the journal Chemical Biochemistry.

Asbury Park, NJ: A solid plurality of Americans now support legalizing and taxing the production and sale of cannabis, according to nationwide Rasmussen poll of 1,000 adults.

According to the telephone poll, 47 percent of adults "believe the country should legalize and tax marijuana in order to help solve the nation's fiscal problems." Forty-two percent of respondents disagree, while ten percent are undecided.

The survey of 1,000 Adults nationwide was conducted on March 24-25, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.

In 2011, a nationwide Gallup poll reported that 50 percent of Americans support legalizing the use of cannabis for adults. Forty-six percent of respondents said they opposed the idea.

The 2011 Gallup survey results marked the first time that the polling firm, which has tracked Americans' attitudes toward marijuana since the late 1960s, reported that more Americans support legalizing cannabis than oppose it.

Commenting on the latest poll results, NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said: "For the second time in less than a year we have pollsters from a national, well-respected firm reporting that far more Americans now support legalizing marijuana than endorse maintaining criminal prohibition. It is high time for state and federal lawmakers to acknowledge this political reality and respond to the will of their constituents."