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Press Release: National Boards of Pharmacy Conference Focuses on Medical Marijuana

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 3, 2009 CONTACT: ASA Media Liaison Kris Hermes at 510-681-6361 National Boards of Pharmacy Conference Focuses on Medical Marijuana Advocacy Group Presents on Medical Marijuana Alongside AMA & Other Health Experts Tucson, AZ -- As pharmacists and drug regulators from across the country convene in Tucson this week for their Winter symposium, they will be discussing medical marijuana, an issue which is headlining the agenda. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) opens its symposium on Thursday with several presentations on medical marijuana by an array of speakers and experts, including Caren Woodson, Government Affairs Director with Americans for Safe Access, the country's largest advocacy organization focused on the issue. "We welcome the interest in medical marijuana by the Boards of Pharmacy and want to work with them to address this public health issue," said Woodson. "State Boards of Pharmacy can have an impact on medical marijuana and we want to work with them to adopt sensible policies." The Oregon Board of Pharmacy has been ordered to remove marijuana from its state list of Schedule I drugs, per legislation signed by Governor Kulongoski in August. In addition, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy is currently considering rescheduling marijuana as a result of litigation. Woodson will co-present on a panel Thursday morning with Barry D. Dickinson, the Director of Science & Biotechnology for the American Medical Association, and Alice Mead, the Director of U.S. Public Relations for GW Pharmaceuticals, a U.K. company conducting clinical trials for a medical marijuana extract. The panel is entitled, "Should Marijuana be a Medical Option?" Later, Woodson will take part in a point-counterpoint on medical marijuana with Dickinson, Mead and other experts, including Andrea Barthwell, former deputy director for the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy and other marijuana researchers. The NABP symposium will be attended by Boards of Pharmacy executive officers, members, and other state and federal regulators as well as stakeholders in the pharmaceutical industry. Both the California Attorney General's office and the California Department of Public Health are sending representatives to the symposium. Attendees will be able to earn continuing pharmacy education credit for their participation in medical marijuana panels. The mission of the NABP is to assist its member boards in developing, implementing, and enforcing uniform standards for the purpose of protecting the public health. The State Boards of Pharmacy oversee the classification of controlled substances, such as marijuana, at the state level, similar to the way that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) oversee the federal classification of controlled substances. While state controlled substance lists routinely match the federal list, the State Boards of Pharmacy can change the classification of particular drugs independent of the federal government. The NABP symposium follows a report on medical marijuana issued last month by the American Medical Association, in which the oldest and largest physician-based group in the U.S. urged the federal government to review the Schedule I status for marijuana. The AMA noted that marijuana appeared to be efficacious for several health conditions and said that further research was needed to assess whether marijuana should continue to be considered a dangerous drug with no medical value. Further Information: The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy 2009 Symposium Schedule: http://www.nabp.net/whatsnew/meetings/2009symposium/ ASA National Policy Platform: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/ASA_Natl_Policy_Agenda_09-11.pdf # # #
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His Honor

At eight a.m. the show begins; The bailiff calls, "All rise!" In walks the dog-and-pony star, Wearing his disguise. All dressed up in his robes of black, He takes the stage alone;
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Latin America: Mexico Drug War Update

Three years ago this month, Mexican President Felipe Calderon sicced the military on the so-called drug cartels. Three years later, the drugs keep flowing north, the cash and guns keep flowing south, and more than 16,000 people have been killed. Here's the latest.
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Not Guilty: How Juries Can Destroy the War on Drugs

A seldom-discussed but significant weak link in the drug war infrastructure is the ability of any defendant to have their fate decided by a jury. Although the threat of draconian sentences leads the vast majority to plead out and accept an agreed-upon punishment, those who choose to fight it out before a jury of their peers have an opportunity to escape the drug war's icy death-grip. It's a high-risk/high-reward strategy that could become more effective as public support for the war on drugs continues to decline.

A not guilty verdict in San Diego this week highlights the difficulty of securing convictions against medical marijuana providers:

SAN DIEGO COURTS — A Navy veteran who was the manager of a medical marijuana dispensary was acquitted of five charges of possessing and selling the drug illegally yesterday, a verdict that emboldened medical marijuana activists and was a setback for San Diego prosecutors who have aggressively pursued medical marijuana cases. [San Diego Union Tribune]

Meanwhile, in Baltimore, the acquittal of an accused street dealer shows how aggressive drug war tactics have eroded public trust in police:

Only two witnesses testified at the two-day trial – Correa [the arresting officer] and a crime lab technician who tested the drugs and concluded they were indeed heroin and cocaine. Defense attorney Marie Sennett told jurors in her opening statement that the case rested solely "on the word of the officer."

And, Sennett added, "Unfortunately, that's not enough."

The jury agreed and acquitted Walker-Bey on all charges of possessing drugs and possessing drugs with intent to distribute. [Baltimore Sun]

In a climate of increased public skepticism surrounding the efficacy of the war on drugs and the fairness of the criminal justice system, outcomes like these will hopefully become more commonplace. When the jury refuses to play along, even the virtually unchecked prosecutorial powers that have done so much to fill our prisons with drug offenders can be overcome. There's no reliable formula for spotting jurors who might be reluctant to convict in a drug case, and it only takes one to complicate the process dramatically. Provided they don't, for example, write a blog about legalizing drugs, getting on a jury can be as simple as dressing appropriately and affirming their willingness to uphold the law.

The power of juries to reshape the drug war landscape can already be seen in California, where prosecutors learned years ago that medical marijuana cases aren't nearly as open and shut as federal law would suggest. The Ed Rosenthal saga, in which the jury revolted after the verdict and got the conviction thrown out, gave federal prosecutors an early taste of what lay ahead if they tried to win the war on medical marijuana in the courtroom.

Such events go a long way towards explaining why DEA agents so often raided dispensaries and confiscated profits, while declining to press charges against anyone. Every medical marijuana trial is a guaranteed public relations nightmare and there's no upside if you can't even count on a conviction. I've long suspected that the threat of uncooperative juries may in fact have been the most significant factor in enabling California's medical marijuana industry to survive and expand during the Bush Administration. With little confidence in their ability to make an example of anybody, the Feds just broke stuff instead, while leaving the industry almost completely intact.

With marijuana legalization now rapidly approaching majority support among the American public, it just seems inevitable that prosecutors will have a harder time getting groups of 12 random people to send someone to jail for marijuana. And if that happens, even a little, the implications are far-reaching. The criminal justice system is pathetically dependent on plea-bargaining in drug cases, and would grind to a halt rather quickly if more defendants insisted on taking their case to trial.

I'm beginning to fantasize here, obviously, but I do think it's important to start looking at some of the ways in which growing public support for our cause can manifest itself in contexts besides just the ballot box. The drug war is vulnerable on all fronts and the harder we work to expose and exploit its countless weakness, the more efficient and decisive our victory will be.

For more on the rights of jurors, visit the Fully Informed Jury Association.
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Law Enforcement: Utah "Meth Cops" Lose Out on Health Claims

Police in Utah who cleaned up meth labs in the 1980s and 1990s have filed dozens of workers compensation claims asserting exposure to the caustic chemicals caused a variety of physical ailments. Now, those claims are being dismissed for lack of evidence.