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Send A Fax: Don't Deny Transplants To Medical Marijuana Patients!

Send A Fax: Don't Deny Transplants To Medical Marijuana Patients!

I can't stop thinking about Tim Garon, who was removed from the list to receive a liver transplant due to his legal, physician-recommended use of medical marijuana.

Four days ago, Tim, a talented musician (you can get his music on Amazon.com: <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016XDSCW/ref=dm_sp_alb?ie=UTF8&qid=1209409177&sr=8-1>) and by all accounts a great guy, was told he wouldn't be receiving a liver due to his "illicit drug use."

This is unconscionable and inhumane. Beyond that, it's simply barbaric.

I've listened toTim's song, "Goodbye Baby," <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJDihYn_fJA> dozens of times over the past two days and I don't mind telling you that there have been a few tears.

It's hard to believe this kind of thing is still happening, even in states where voters have legalized medical marijuana when recommended by a physician.

The back story, for those not already familiar with Tim Garon's plight:

<http://realitycatcher-alapoet.blogspot.com/2008/04/seattle-medical-marijuana-patient-near.html>

This amounts to a death sentence for using legal medical marijuana.

This isn't the first time this has happened -- but we need to do all we can to make sure that it's the last.

I just spoke with a very nice and helpful person at the UW Medical Center who has given me a fax number:

Liver Selection Committee
Fax 206-598-0628

If we could all send reasonable, respectful and short messages to this fax number explaining that we disagree with legal, physician recommended medical marijuana use being used as a basis for disqualifying patients from the list to receive livers, we very well might make some positive impact on the way they think about and handle this.

I'm going to send a message like this:

"I realize that the types of decisions you have to make regarding transplants are very difficult. But at the same time, I’d like to register my sincere opinion that denying a patient a liver transplant on the basis of his or her use of legal medical marijuana as recommended by a physician is not a good decision, nor a humane one."

I strongly encourage all of you who have access to a fax machine to send a message of your own.

For those without reasonable fax access, here are some phone numbers, but be aware that last time I tried, voicemail boxes tended to be full, preventing messages from being left. If you do get through, please be respectful but firm:

UW Medical Center Transplant Services
Jorge? D. Reyes?,? direc?tor,? 206-?543-?9738

Liver Transplant
Mary Kester, clinical coordinator, 206-598-4838
Theresa Hernandez, program coordinator, 206-598-4902
JoAnn Williams, patient care coordinator, 206-598-0017

Thanks for caring and blessed be...

Steve
http://www.realitycatcher.com

In The Trenches

LEAP on the Hill: Stories from Week of April 25, 2008

Doctors make the worst patients: Now in my 12th year in the struggle to end drug prohibition, I tell beginners to pace themselves, don’t go too fast all the time. ‘It is a marathon, not a 100 yard dash.’ My speed the nearly two years on the Hill? Like a 100 meter dash. LOL. This week I received a message from a LEAP member. It caused a profound reaction. It was the catalyst I needed to take my own advice. I rode Misty twice this week, instead of the usual once. I have slowed down = a bit closer to 40/week. My spirit needs the healing time. Thank you James. This is my response to his note: Hello James, Just finished yet another 1 day conference here in DC. One of presenters came up on break to encourage me to continue the anti-prohibition message. Earlier another panelist had told me to focus on what could be done in next 5 years. (and not waste time on the broad policy of drug prohibition). I readily admit that those are the times which try my soul. Later, another VIP in a quiet voice (in private natch) said that my message is vital to be heard. And I shoulder on. I thank you for the kind and encouraging words. I am a pretty tough hombre but this mentality in DC is a killer to the human spirit. Off to the 5 - 7 reception. At least the food is usually excellent. Cowboy
In The Trenches

Check out our new wholesale fundraising catalog

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At the Shrine to San Malverde, Mexico's Narco-Saint

You don't find Culiacan, the capital city of Sinaloa, in the tourist guide books for some reason. But it is a thriving city of more than a million, and it is the home of one of the stranger manifestations of the drug wars of the last few decades: The shrine to San Malverde, (unofficial) patron saint of bandits, and now, drug traffickers. shrine to San Malverde, patron saint of the narcos (and others), Culiacan, Sinaloa -- plaque thanking God, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and San Malverde for keeping the roads cleans -- from "the indigenous people from Angostura to Arizona" (more pictures below the fold) I visited the shine in the heat of the afternoon sun today. During the half hour or so I was there, a few dozen people came to light candles to the santo, pay their respects, or otherwise recognize his alleged powers of protection. A handful of musicians for hire hung around, waiting for someone to pay them to play a tune to the saint, and about a dozen vendors sold San Malverde memorabilia--candles, plaques, good luck amulets, prayer cards, and the like. (Hmmm, do I feel an idea for a StoptheDrugWar.org premium gestating?) The vendors told me that dozens, sometimes hundreds, of people arrive each day, some to pray, some to light candles, some to make donations, some to put up plaques:
"Thanks to God and San Malverde for favors received." "Thanks to God, the Virgin of Guadalupe, and San Malverde for helping us move forward." "O miraculous Malverde, O, Malverde my Lord, Concede me this favor, And fill my heart with happiness."
Given the way Mexico's drug war is raging these days, I would imagine the good saint is getting a real work-out. Mexicans are so inured to the daily drug war death toll that the newspapers generally relegate it to box score-type accounts, but when you or a friend or a family member is working in the trade, you probably figure some supernatural help can't hurt. I'll spend the next few days here in Culiacan. I had wanted to go up to the drug-producing areas in the mountains nearby, but so far, everyone is demurring--it's too dangerous, they say. Nonetheless, I'll keep working that and see what happens. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I'll be attending and "International Forum on Illicit Drugs: The Merida Initiative and the Experiences of Decriminalization," organized by the brave journalists of the Culiacan news weekly Riodoce. While the other Sinaloa papers have largely gone silent in the face of threats and killings, Riodoce keeps plugging away. I'll be meeting with some of the Riodoce staff tomorrow, right after I meet with Mercedes Murillo, head of the local human rights organization the Sinaloa Civic Front, which just a couple of days ago filed what could be a historic court motion to have military personnel accused of crimes against civilians tried in civilian--not military--court. There have been several nasty incidents of soldiers killing civilians here since Calderon sent in the troops, and under current Mexican law, they seem to get away with it. Stay tuned. It should be an interesting week. And then it's back to Mexico City to visit Saint Death and attend the Global Marijuana Day demonstration at the Alameda. (more pictures below the fold)
Blog

Denying Organ Transplants to Medical Marijuana Patients is Evil

Remember when John McCain said we never arrest dying patients for medical marijuana? He asked for documentation and here it is. This man wasn't just arrested, he is now also being denied a liver transplant, without which he will die:
SEATTLE (AP) — Timothy Garon's face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant.

His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days.

But Garon's been refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons.
This is the legacy of the government's political war on medical marijuana. Patients are dying simply because some of our political leaders are afraid that showing compassion for the sick will lead to marijuana legalization. Healthcare and employment discrimination are the inevitable symptoms of our flawed federal policy, yet those who defend the war on patients couldn't be more oblivious to the brutal consequences of their intransigence.

Meanwhile, U.S. News & World Report covers new research aimed at developing cannabinoid-based medicines that won't produce intoxication. The very existence of this research demonstrates once again that marijuana has long been understood to have remarkable medical potential. Now that even the drug warriors have conceded that point, and the scientific community has stopped debating and initiated product development, what justification exists for continuing to persecute patients who are already using this plant to treat their own illnesses?

This controversy should be over now. Instead, patients are still dying in the war over medical marijuana and politicians are still pretending not to notice.
In The Trenches

Press Release: Law Enforcement Objections to Medical Marijuana Bill at Odds With Reality, Advocates Say

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
APRIL 29, 2008

Law Enforcement Objections to Medical Marijuana Bill at Odds With Reality, Advocates Say
Bill Supporters Refute Demonstrably False Statements, Unveil New Ad 

CONTACT: Neal Levine, MPP director of state campaigns, (612) 424-7001

    MINNEAPOLIS — In a press conference held today at the statehouse, advocates offered a point-by-point refutation of misleading-to-outright false statements made by some law enforcement officials during testimony before the legislature and in the media regarding the medical marijuana bill pending on the House floor.

    Proponents of S.F. 345, the bill to protect from arrest seriously ill Minnesotans who use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, said certain aspects of the law enforcement community were relying on misstatements and untruths to derail the bill.

    "Some legislators, as well as the governor, have indicated they may not be willing to support this sensible and compassionate legislation, based on the words of certain aspects of the law enforcement community," said Neal Levine, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project. "Therefore, we feel it’s important to look at those words."

    For example, Dakota County Attorney James C. Backstrom stated in legislative testimony that "there is no proven medicinal value in using marijuana to treat illnesses or disease.” In fact, the 124,000-member American College of Physicians has noted "marijuana's proven efficacy at treating certain symptoms and its relatively low toxicity."

    For a detailed list of false and misleading statements made by Minnesota law enforcement officials, along with sourced refutations of each one, visit: http://www.minnesotacares.org/media/law_enforcement.pdf.

    Also during the press conference, Levine announced the latest in a series of TV ads airing statewide, featuring Minnesota medical marijuana patients urging Gov. Tim Pawlenty not to veto the medical marijuana bill as he has threatened to do if the House passes it.

    The new ad features K.K. Forss of Ely, who suffers constant debilitating pain caused by a ruptured disk in his neck and nerve damage from subsequent surgeries. The ad is available online here: http://minnesotacares.org/Ads_video.html.

    "This doesn't have anything to do with culture wars," Forss says in the ad, noting that he is a registered Republican and a born-again Christian. "We have people suffering in horrible pain, and we talk politics – it doesn't have to be that way."

    With more than 23,000 members and 180,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.

####
In The Trenches

Media Advisory: Medical Marijuana Advocates to Announce Significant Changes to Bill

[Courtesy of Illinois Compassion Access Network] 

MEDIA ADVISORY   
APRIL 29, 2008

Law Enforcement Input Means Significant Changes to Medical Marijuana Bill, Advocates to Announce
Press Conference Scheduled to Explain Bill Amendments

CONTACT: John Walker, Illinois Compassion Access Network, (847) 769-1772

SPRINGFIELD, IL. – After a meeting with law enforcement officials to address their specific objections to Illinois' medical marijuana bill, advocates will announce significant changes to the legislation in a Wednesday press conference at the statehouse.

    The amendments, adopted earlier this month, reflect what bill proponents said they hope is a shared goal: to allow safe, legal access to medical marijuana for suffering Illinoisans who have a doctor's recommendation while ensuring police and prosecutors aren't hindered in enforcing laws involving illicit marijuana use.

    At the press conference, patients will also unveil their latest effort to convince legislators to support the medical marijuana bill under consideration in both chambers of the General Assembly: personal online video testimonies. For the past month, seriously ill Illinoisans – many of whom cannot travel to Springfield – have been sending the videos to their elected representatives so that they can explain the urgency of passing a sensible medical marijuana law in their own words.

    Examples of these videos – which average about 2 minutes each – are available online here: www.illinoiscan.com/videos.html

                    -    WHAT: Press conference explaining changes to the medical marijuana bill requested by law enforcement officials

                    -    WHO: The following people are scheduled to appear at the press conference:
                                o    Zale Glauberman, veteran Springfield lobbyist
                                o    Julie Falco of Chicago, a multiple sclerosis patient who uses medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation

                    -    WHEN: Wednesday, April 30 at 9:15 a.m.

                    -    WHERE: State Capitol Press Blue Room

    The Senate medical marijuana bill is expected to reach the Senate floor within weeks.

    Copies of some of the patient video testimonies will be available on CD for members of the press.

    ###
In The Trenches

Cops up the Ante on Nimbin Mardi Grass

Media Release 28 April 2008

Cops up the Ante on Nimbin Mardi Grass

Police today informed the organisers of the Nimbin Mardi Grass that they will be making an application to close the Nimbin Museum and the Hemp Bar for 72 hours over Mardi Grass. 

"The police are using a piece of archaic legislation (Section 15C of the Restricted Premises Act 1943) to, in effect. close two of Nimbin's most significant tourist attractions during the busiest weekend of the year," said spokesperson for the Nimbin Mardi Grass Organising Group and Nimbin Museum, Michael Balderstone.

The application will go before a magistrate in the Lismore court on Friday morning.

Balderstone described the action as "antagonistic and provocative."

"The police keep assuring us they want a safe Mardi Grass," he said. "What's the closing of the Museum and the Hemp Bar during Mardi Grass got to do with safety?"  

"If one wanted a safe weekend in Nimbin, one would close the pub," he said.

"But it's another day in Nimbin and another day of Drug War harassment by the Lismore Area Command," said Balderstone.

"The public money being wasted by the local police trying to suppress Australia's second most popular tourism destination is as stupid as it is appalling," he said.

"Recent media debate about trial-ing some kind of legalised cannabis supply has clearly shown the north coast community of NSW, if not all of Australia, is ready for it," he said.

 

Further information

Michael Balderstone 02 6689 1848

Inspector Steve Clark 02 6626 0799

 

"Too many police and too little justice."

Blog

Dr. Albert Hofmann, Father of LSD, Dead at 102

Internet rumors of his passing have been confirmed for us by a friend of Dr. Hofmann's. Dr. Albert Hofmann died of a heart attack this morning at his home in Basel, Switzerland. Hofmann inadvertently discovered the effects of LSD while researching the substance in 1943. He subsequently self-administered the drug deliberately and produced the first accounts of its powerful psychedelic effects.

If you think 102 is old, just imagine how long he might have lived if he never did drugs!

Update: The above line is sarcasm. Before posting it, I asked a couple smart people if they thought anyone might misunderstand and we decided it probably wouldn't be a problem. Well, it was, and a few commenters have come away with the incorrect impression that I think Dr. Hofmann would be better off if he never used drugs. This comment explains what I really meant. I won't stop cracking jokes in the blog, but I do apologize for this one. 

In The Trenches

PRESS CONFERENCE RESCHEDULED: Medical Marijuana Advocates Refute Law Enforcement


MEDIA ADVISORY
APRIL 28, 2008

UPDATE: TIME CHANGE FOR PRESS CONFERENCE
Medical Marijuana Advocates Offer Point-by-Point Refutations of Law Enforcement
Press Conference at 1 p.m. Tues. Will Also Feature Latest TV Ad Urging Governor to Allow Passage of the Medical Marijuana Bill 

CONTACT: Neal Levine, MPP director of state campaigns, (612) 424-7001

MINNEAPOLIS -- A press conference Tuesday will highlight false and misleading statements made by certain aspects of the law enforcement community during testimony before the legislature, as well as to the press, in an attempt to derail a bill that would protect seriously ill Minnesotans from arrest who use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation.

    Advocates will also unveil their latest TV ad urging the governor not to veto the bill as he has threatened to if it passes in the House.

    WHAT: Press conference refuting misleading-to-outright false statements made by certain aspects of the law enforcement community who oppose Minnesota's medical marijuana bill.

    WHO: Scheduled press conference participants include:

        * Neal Levine, Marijuana Policy Project director of state campaigns

        * KK Forss, an Ely photographer who suffers constant debilitating pain caused by a ruptured disk in his neck and nerve damage from subsequent surgeries and who is featured in the TV ad.

    WHEN: Tuesday, April 29, 1 p.m. Note: This is a change from the prior advisory.

    WHERE: State Office Building, Room 181

    With more than 23,000 members and 180,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.

####
In The Trenches

INPUD Congress: Program and Registration

[Courtesy of INPUD] Dear fellow activists, This is a call to register for all DU Activists who want to attend the 3rd INPUD Congress. The 3rd annual INPUD Congress takes place in Barcelona on Sunday May 11, 2008. You don't need to be registered for the IHRA Conference to be able to attend the INPUD Congress. Registration for the INPUD Congress is free of charge. The registration is needed to be able to estimate the needed translation equipment and to order some food and drinks. If you plan to attend the congress, please send an email to [email protected] Your name: Country: Are you registered for the IHRA conference? O Yes O No Are you presenting in one of the sessions during the IHRA conference? If yes, please provide the name and time/date of the session Session title: Time and date of the session: Please copy and paste the above and email to [email protected] Hope to see you all in Barcelona! Stijn Goossens Executive Director International Network Of People Who Use Drugs INPUD vzw GuldensporenStraat 88/2 2140 Borgerhout Belgium Phone: +32 3 297 8451 Mobile: +32 479 982 271 -- DrugUsersNeverQuit www.Inpud.org www.HarmReduction.be (DrugWarLog) www.HarmReduction.eu (ArtCoreFromTheHardCore) www.HaRdCOREhARMREdUCER.be
In The Trenches

DrugSense FOCUS Alert: #364 Did You Read the Los Angeles Times Dust Up Debates?

*********************PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE************************* DrugSense FOCUS Alert #364 - Friday, 25 April 2008 This week the editorial pages of the Los Angeles Times featured a drug war debate between Jacob Sullum, who needs no introduction; and Charles "Cully" Stimson who was a local, state and federal prosecutor, a military prosecutor and defense attorney, and a deputy assistant secretary of Defense. Currently, he is a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. The series is MAP archived as follows: Monday's DUST UP http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n414/a05.html Tuesday's DUST UP http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n415/a09.html Wednesday's DUST UP http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n418/a05.html Thursday's DUST UP http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n421/a02.html Friday's DUST UP http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08.n426.a01.html Besides being targets for letters to the editor the series provides arguments we are likely to see as efforts are made for and against initiatives which will be on the ballot in various states. Tuesday's DUST UP about medical marijuana presents arguments we may see about the Michigan initiative http://StopArrestingPatients.org/ Already one Detroit TV station has been broadcasting anti-initiative ads you may see at http://stoparrestingpatients.org/video.html The other OPEDs present arguments we may see used for or against the California's initiative, the Nonviolent Offender Rehabilitation Act of 2008 http://www.drugpolicy.org/statebystate/california/nora/ ********************************************************************** Style guides for writing effective letters to the editor are available at MAP's Media Activism Center: http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides ********************************************************************** Prepared by: The MAP Media Activism Team -- www.mapinc.org/resource
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