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[Courtesy of the Marijuana Policy Project] At least 10 of the 18 Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are now on the record in favor of ending the DEA's raids on medical marijuana and/or the federal government's prohibition on medical marijuana. Thanks to MPP's work, seven candidates have publicly pledged to end the DEA's raids in states where medical marijuana is legal — Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE), Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM), and former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R-WI). In addition, Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO) has voted in favor of medical marijuana legislation on the House floor four out of four times, former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-AK) said on C-SPAN, "That one is real simple. I would legalize marijuana," and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said, "I will let states decide that issue." That's right: Even Sen. McCain, when given the opportunity to comment on medical marijuana publicly, said something positive, not negative. It has been only two months since MPP began lobbying the presidential candidates to take strong, public, positive positions on medical marijuana during the presidential primary race in New Hampshire, which is the first state to hold a primary (on January 22, 2008). One particular success story involves Sen. Edwards. In 2003, we trailed him around the state, relentlessly questioning him about medical marijuana access. At the time, Sen. Edwards insisted it would be "irresponsible" to end the DEA's raids on sick and dying people. Now, four years later, his position has changed from vowing to continue the raids to vowing to end them. A majority of the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates are supportive of medical marijuana access. Our favorite quote so far is from former Gov. Thompson, who told MPP's Stuart Cooper in Manchester, "No, they should not be arrested. They should not be arrested. They should not be arrested. I would do away with the DEA raids!" And this doesn't even count the support that other candidates — including every Libertarian Party candidate, as well as potential candidate Ralph Nader — have expressed for ending marijuana prohibition entirely. Of the two Democratic candidates I haven't yet mentioned, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is studying the issue, and we haven't yet spoken with Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) this year, although he told me personally in the fall of 2004 that he supports medical marijuana. Of the six remaining Republican candidates, they're all bad so far, but we'll keep working on them: Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), former Gov. Jim Gilmore (R-VA), former Mayor Rudy Guiliani (New York City), former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR), Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), and former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA). Again, you can read about the specifics of their comments by visiting our Web site at www.mpp.org.

For Immediate Release: June 27, 2007 For More Info: Tony Newman, T: (646)335-5384 The United States Conference of Mayors Passes Resolution Calling for a “New Bottom Line” in U.S. Drug Policy Urging Radical Policy Changes, the Nation’s Mayors Seek to Reduce the Harms of Both Drug Misuse and the Failed War on Drugs Mayors Resolve that the U.S. Must Focus on Reducing the Incarceration of Nonviolent Drug Law Violators, Preventing Overdose Fatalities, and Eliminating Racial Disparities Created or Exacerbated by the Drug War The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) made history last weekend by passing a resolution calling for a public health approach to the problems of substance use and abuse. “The mayors are clearly signaling the serious need for drug policy reform, an issue that ranks in importance among the most serious issues of the day,” said Daniel Abrahamson, director of legal affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. The resolution, sponsored by Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City, Utah, was considered at the USCM 75th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, California. Adopted resolutions become the official policy of the USCM, which speaks as one voice to promote best practices and the most pressing priorities of our nation’s cities. In adopting this resolution, the mayors have declared that addiction is a chronic, treatable medical disorder and a broad public health concern, and outlined specific policy measures that they endorse. These include a clear imperative to: -Provide greater access to drug abuse treatment on demand, such as methadone and other maintenance therapies; -Eliminate the federal ban on funding sterile syringe access programs; -Establish local overdose prevention policies; and -Direct a greater percentage of drug-war funding toward evaluating the efficacy and accountability of current programs. The resolution further recognizes that U.S. policy should not be measured as it currently is simply by examining drug use levels or number of people imprisoned, but rather by a “New Bottom Line” based on how much drug-related harm is reduced. National drug policy should focus on reducing social problems like drug addiction, overdose deaths, the spread of HIV/AIDS from injection drug use, racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and the enormous number of nonviolent offenders behind bars. Federal drug agencies should be judged—and funded—according to their ability to meet these goals. Moreover, since the impact of drug policies is most acutely felt in local communities, evaluation and decision-making must occur at the local level—and federal funding should go toward enabling communities to pursue those policies that best meet the unique challenges of substance abuse.

For Immediate Release: June 28, 2007 For More Information: Naomi Long, T: (202) 669-6071, or Grant Smith, T: (202) 669-6573 Congress Votes to Lift Washington, DC Syringe Funding Ban Change Will Save Thousands of Lives Today the U.S. House of Representatives rejected an amendment that would have restored a ban that prohibits the nation’s capital from spending its own (non-federal) money on syringe exchange programs. The ban was eliminated weeks ago in committee. Congressman Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) tried to reinstitute a modified ban on the floor that would have had a chilling effect on the existing needle exchange program in D.C. (which currently operates entirely on private funds), but the House rejected it 216 Nays to 208 Yeas. In 1998, the Republican-led Congress barred the District Government from spending its own local funds on syringe exchange programs. The ban has been reauthorized in the appropriations bill every year since. But with Democrats now in power, the push to lift the ban gained traction. The Drug Policy Alliance applauds Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY), who chairs the Financial Services Subcommittee, for spearheading the effort to lift the ban, and recognizes the tireless efforts of D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. “This is a huge step in helping to reduce HIV and AIDS in Washington, DC,” said Naomi Long, director of the Washington Metro office for the Drug Policy Alliance. “We are pleased that Congress decided to stop playing politics with the lives of intravenous drug users in D.C. at a time when the District is suffering from a HIV/AIDS crisis.” It has been long established by the scientific community that needle exchange programs reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS amongst people who inject drugs without increasing drug use. In Washington, DC, injecting drugs is the second-most common means of contracting HIV among men – and the most common form among women. Approximately one-third of new AIDS cases annually are the result of intravenous drug use. Supporters of needle exchange include the American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, Centers for Disease Control and three former U.S. Surgeons General. A number of faith communities officially support needle exchange including The Presbyterian Church (USA), Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ.

[Courtesy of NORML] Cannabis Has "Clear Medical Benefits" For HIV Patients, Study Says Smoked marijuana produces "substantial and comparable increases in food intake...with little evidence of discomfort and no impairment of cognitive performance" New York, NY: Inhaling cannabis significantly increases daily caloric intake and body weight in HIV-positive patients, is well tolerated, and does not impair subjects’ cognitive performance, according to clinical trial data to be published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS). Investigators at Columbia University in New York assessed the efficacy of inhaled cannabis and oral THC (Marinol) in a group of ten HIV-positive patients in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. All of the subjects participating in the study had prior experience using marijuana therapeutically and were taking at least two antiretroviral medications. Researchers reported that smoking cannabis (2.0 or 3.9 percent THC) four times daily "produced substantial … increases in food intake … with little evidence of discomfort and no impairment of cognitive performance." On average, patients who smoked higher-grade cannabis (3.9 percent) increased their body weight by 1.1 kg over a four-day period. Researchers reported that inhaling cannabis increased the number of times subjects ate during the study, but did not alter the average number of calories consumed during each meal. Investigators said that the administration of oral THC produced similar weight gains in patients, but only at doses that were "eight times current recommendations." The US Food and Drug Administration approved the prescription use of Marinol (a gelatin capsule containing synthetic THC in sesame oil) to treat HIV/AIDS-related cachexia in 1992. Subjects in the study reported feeling intoxicated after using either cannabis or oral THC, but remarked that these effects were "positive" and "well tolerated." Although not a primary outcome measure of the trial, authors reported that patients made far fewer requests for over-the-counter medications while taking either cannabis or oral THC than they did when administered placebo. Most of these requests were to treat patients’ gastrointestinal complaints (nausea, diarrhea, and upset stomach), investigators said. Patients in the study also reported that smoking higher-strength marijuana subjectively improved their sleep better than oral THC. "The data demonstrate that over four days of administration, smoked marijuana and oral [THC] produced a similar range of positive effects: increasing food intake and body weight and producing a ‘good [drug] effect’ without producing uncomfortable levels of intoxication or impairing cognitive function," authors wrote. They added, "Smoked marijuana … has a clear medical benefit in HIV-positive [subjects] by increasing food intake and improving mood and objective and subjective sleep measures." A previous preliminary trial by Columbia investigators published in the journal Psychopharmacology in 2005 also reported that inhaling cannabis "produce[s] substantial … increases in food intake [in HIV+ positive patients] without producing adverse effects." Survey data indicates that an estimated one out of three HIV/AIDS patients in North America use cannabis therapeutically to combat symptoms of the disease or the side-effects of antiretroviral medications. Clinical trial data published in the Annals of Internal Medicine in 2003 reported that cannabis use by HIV patients is associated with increased CD4/T-cell counts compared to non-users. A separate study published in JAIDS in 2005 found that HIV/AIDS patients who report using medical marijuana are 3.3 times more likely to adhere to their antiretroviral therapy regimens than non-cannabis users. Most recently, investigators at San Francisco General Hospital and the University of California's Pain Clinical Research Center reported this year in the journal Neurology that inhaling cannabis significantly reduced HIV-associated neuropathy (nerve pain) compared to placebo. The Columbia University study is one of the first US-led clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of smoked cannabis to take place in nearly two decades, and it is the first to compare the tolerability and efficacy of smoked marijuana and oral THC in HIV patients. For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Senior Policy Analyst, at: [email protected]. Full text of the study, "Dronabinol and marijuana in HIV-positive marijuana smokers: caloric intake, mood, and sleep," will appear in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. Further discussion of this trial is available on the Thursday, June 28 edition of the NORML Daily Audio Stash, online at: http://www.normlaudiostash.com.

Angus Reid Strategies has released the results of an opinion survey showing that a majority of Canadians believe marijuana should be legalized. The full report is at http://www.angus-reid.com/admin/collateral/pdfs/polls/ARS_Drugs.pdf The release is found at http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/16300.

Best Medipot Dispensary: Mellowest practitioners of the good work Named after the military spy plane, SR-71 offers high-grade to the low-key in Downtown Oakland. Like many of the dispensaries of the bay, the caregivers are compassionate, attentive, and concerned. Unlike many, SR-71 captures the look, feel, and attitude of the coffeeshops of Amsterdam. To walk in the front door is to step thousands of miles east into a black-lit tavern replete with a timeless atmosphere that demands you to order a cappuccino, pull out a copy of Fanon, your journal, and contemplate the big questions of life, art, and love to the music of John Coltrane, Gil Scott-Heron, and some Cypress Hill for good measure. Even if you don't smoke, SR-71 is a great old-school coffeeshop. Link to East Bay Express article: http://bestof.eastbayexpress.com/bestof/award.php?award=424024 SR-71 is found at 377 17th St., Oakland, CA, T: 510-251-0690