One of the most enduring disconnects in the legalization debate is the question of what will become of those nasty drug cartels when we end marijuana prohibition. Here's how Tim Rosales of the No on Prop 19 campaign framed it in a debate with Jane Hamsher on CNN:
For Immediate Release: August 5, 2010
Police Raid of Medical Cannabis Dispensary Puts Patients at Risk
Yesterday, Cannabis as Living Medicine (CALM), one of the most well- established medical cannabis dispensaries in Canada, was raided by police in Toronto for the second time in five months. In the last couple of months, a dispensary in Guelph, another in Iqaluit, and several in the province of Quebec were also raided.
Canadians for Safe Access, a national patient advocacy organization, is denouncing these raids. The result is that thousands of Canadians suffering from MS, Cancer, HIV/AIDS, arthritis and other critical and chronic illnesses have lost an important source of their medicine, laments Rielle Capler, a researcher and co-founder of the organization. They will have to go to the streets or suffer without their medicine. Capler adds, Rather than leave these dispensaries vulnerable to police raids, CSA is calling on Health Canada to work with them to develop regulations that would ensure their protection as well as the highest quality of care for patients. Our government should be supporting patients to access the best possible medicine, and supporting the organizations that are providing this vital service."
While the use of cannabis for medical purposes is constitutionally legal in Canada, the Federal Governments program, which provides licenses to patients for legal possession of cannabis, does not provide an adequate legal source of this medicine. Government statistics show that only about 800 of the 4000 licensed medical cannabis users access the governments supply, which is considered by many to be inferior. Research indicates that over half of license holders acquire their cannabis from dispensaries, which currently supply high quality medicine to an estimated 20,000 Canadians with critical and chronic medical conditions.
Medical cannabis dispensaries, also know as compassion clubs, have played a vital role supplying safe access to cannabis for the critically and chronically ill in Canada for over 12 years. These organizations provide access to a variety of high quality cannabis strains and preparations that can effectively alleviate pain, muscle spasms, nausea, anxiety, and other serious symptoms. Compassion clubs are also at the forefront of academic peer-reviewed research on medical cannabis in Canada. Well-run dispensaries are appreciated by patients, accepted within communities, and their work has been lauded by various court rooms across the country.
Contacts:
Rielle Capler 604-818-4082- [email protected] Philippe Lucas 250-884-9821 [email protected]
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Veterans Administration eases rules for medical marijuana patients!
Washington, D.C. medical marijuana law clears congressional hurdle!
More than 2,000 apply for marijuana business licenses in Colorado
Police targeted wrong man in deadly Las Vegas marijuana raid
Two-thirds of Americans believe legalization “somewhat likely” in the next 10 years
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To contact MPP, please click here or reply to this e-mail. Our mailing address is Marijuana Policy Project, 236 Massachusetts Ave. NE, Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20002. Any donations you make to MPP may be used for political purposes, such as supporting or opposing candidates for federal office. | |||||||
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Dear friends, The DEA’s vendetta against medical marijuana patients and providers keeps getting more and more infuriating. Mendocino County, California passed a new medical marijuana ordinance this year that allows local growers to apply for a cultivation permit with the sheriff. But earlier this month, the DEA swooped in and raided the home of the program’s first applicant. Agents took money and property but made no arrests. What a slap in the face to the local government! The DEA has gone too far, and President Obama needs to replace Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart. The president has directed federal officials to stop wasting time and money on medical marijuana prosecutions. Yet even though Leonhart is blatantly flouting his directive, he’s nominated her to become the permanent head of the DEA. Together with our allies in the movement to end marijuana prohibition, we’re calling on President Obama to withdraw her nomination. Our whole movement is united and working together to demand a DEA administrator who respects the right of patients to use their legal, doctor-recommended medicine. Will you join us? The raid in Mendocino County is part of a disturbing trend. DEA agents have raided four other medical marijuana providers in the past few weeks. The timing is hardly coincidental — California voters could pass a ballot initiative in November that would make marijuana legal throughout the state, and I suspect the DEA is conducting the raids to intimidate growers and activists. President Obama has called federal medical marijuana raids a waste of resources. Yet his nominee continues to relentlessly harass patients and providers. If she refuses to respect the administration’s stated principles, the president needs to find a new nominee who will. Tell the president to withdraw Michele Leonhart's nomination for DEA administrator. Sincerely, Bill Piper |
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 | Initiate This! | | |
| By now you probably know that voters will be deciding on a number of initiatives this fall. The most prominent is Proposition 19, commonly called Tax Cannabis 2010. It will allow Californians 21 and over to possess up to one ounce of cannabis and give state and local governments the ability to tax its sale. Medical marijuana initiatives will also be the ballot in Arizona, Oregon, South Dakota, and Detroit, Michigan. These initiatives, particularly Prop 19, will change marijuana policy forever. Legal cannabis in California and Detroit. State licensed dispensaries in Oregon. Two more states join 14 others to permit medical marijuana. This is real progress! If you're as passionate about these possibilities as we are, you'll be following these initiatives right up to election day. And we're here to help. We've set up the following links to help you stay ahead of the news: | | |
 | California: Control and Tax Cannabis, Prop 19
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 | Arizona: Arizona Medical Marijuana Initiative, Proposition 203
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 | South Dakota: South Dakota Medical Marijuana Act, Initiated Measure 13
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| You can also follow these initiatives and more at our Media Activism Center: http://www.mapinc.org/resource/ No one else offers the depth, breadth and timeliness of drug policy news as does DrugSense. Over the past 15 years, we've honed our craft and broadened our databases to enable you to have the initiative information you need, when you want it. While we offer this information to you for free, it's not free to produce. We rely on supporters like you to help defray costs by donating to DrugSense. http://www.drugsense.org/donate Your donation supports services that keep this information flowing. And because, we're an educational 501(c)(3) non-profit, so your contribution is both tax deductible and funds a great cause. Donating is quick, easy, and secure. Just visit http://www.drugsense.org/donate. You can also make your check or money order payable to DrugSense and mail it to:
Or you can donates toll free by calling 1-800-266-5759. Regardless of their outcome, these initiatives will forever change the face cannabis in the U.S. You can both follow and support them by donating to DrugSense.
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After presiding for years over the bloodiest drug war escalation in history, Mexican President Felipe Calderon is finally ready to discuss legalization.
In a historic move, the Department of Veterans Affairs has formally announced that patients being treated at V.A. facilities will be allowed to use medical marijuana if they live in one of the 14 states where it is legal. “We now have a branch of the federal government accepting marijuana as a legal medicine,” MPP’s Steve Fox told The New York Times in its front-page story trumpeting the news.
After blocking implementation of a medical marijuana law in the nation’s capital for more than a decade, Congress is no longer standing in the way of D.C. patients and effective relief. Thanks in part to lobbying by MPP and our allies, Congress declined to take action against a bill that will allow the District to license between five and eight medical marijuana dispensaries.
In another sign of the marijuana industry’s growing legitimacy, Colorado witnessed a tremendous outpouring of applicants for state licenses to run medical marijuana dispensaries and other related businesses, netting the state more than $7 million in application fees. Through taxation and licensing, Colorado is establishing what may soon be the largest regulated marijuana market in the world. 
In June, Las Vegas police shot and killed 21-year-old Trevon Cole in front of his pregnant fiancé during a raid on their home. Police charged that Cole was a major marijuana dealer. Now it’s come to light that police meant to target another man with the same name. Their tragic mistake claimed one more needless victim in the government’s war on marijuana.
A new Rasmussen poll shows that 65% of Americans believe it is “something likely” that marijuana will become legal in the United States in the next 10 years. Only 28% think otherwise. This is a huge sign that the movement to end marijuana prohibition is steadily moving in the right direction, but there’s still much work that needs to be done. Help us sustain the momentum by contributing to MPP today. 
Peter McWilliams, stricken with both cancer and AIDS, died because the federal government prevented him from using the one thing that controlled his nausea.
