FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                              
DECEMBER 9, 2009

Congress Close to Ending Ban on Medical Marijuana in Washington, D.C.

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications …………… 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a historic move, Congress is now poised to end the decade long ban on Washington, D.C. implementing the medical marijuana law District voters passed in 1998 with a 69 percent majority. Known as the Barr amendment, the provision – a rider attached to appropriations for the District -- has forbidden D.C. from extending legal protection to qualified medical marijuana patients and has been derided by advocates for years as an unconscionable intrusion by the federal government into the District's affairs.

            The omnibus spending bill that Democratic leaders will shortly be bringing to a vote in the House later this week removes this onerous provision. Once both chambers approve this final language and the president signs it, the Barr amendment will no longer block medical marijuana in D.C.

         "The end of the Barr amendment is now in sight,” said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington. “This represents a huge victory not just for medical marijuana patients, but for all city residents who have every right to set their own policies in their own District without congressional meddling. D.C. residents overwhelmingly made the sensible, compassionate decision to pass a medical marijuana law, and now, more than 10 years later, suffering Washingtonians may finally be allowed to focus on treating their pain without fearing arrest."

            Advocates noted that the welcome repeal will come too late to help Jonathan Magbie, a D.C. quadriplegic man who died in prison in 2004 from lack of medical care after being convicted for using marijuana to treat his pain.

         "Jonathan Magbie would be alive today if the District been able to implement its medical marijuana law when it passed in 1998,” Houston said. "Perhaps now nobody in the District will ever have to suffer as he and his family did simply for using the medicine that works best for them."       

         Recently, the American Medical Association called on the federal government to reconsider marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I drug, which bars medical use.

         With more than 29,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana

www.pa4mmj.org 

WHO: Pennsylvania House Health and Human Services committee

WHAT: Public Hearings on HB 1393, medical marijuana in PA

WHEN: December 2, 2009 Room 140 at 11AM, Main Capitol in Harrisburg

CONTACT: Chris Goldstein cellphone 505 577 5093 or email [email protected]

**UPDATE**

A Press Conference with Rep. Cohen and PA4MMJ patients will take place at 10:00AM at the East Rotunda

Landmark Medical Marijuana Hearings Tomorrow in Harrisburg

December 1, 2009

Philadelphia- Advocates and patients with the group Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana (PA4MMJ) will testify tomorrow before the PA House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee during hearings on HB 1393, The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act.

These will be the first public hearings on medical cannabis in the history of the Commonwealth.

On April 29, 2009 Rep. Mark B. Cohen introduced the bill to legalize medical marijuana with PA4MMJ. HB1393 would allow registered patients to grow six plants or purchase cannabis through Compassion Centers. A provision in the bill allows these medical cannabis sales to be taxed.

At a press conference at the bill’s introduction Cohen said, "It's time to create a new, honest image for marijuana. One as a form of treatment that when prescribed by responsible doctors could help thousands of patients across this commonwealth."

Three newspaper Editorial Boards endorsed the bill immediately after it was introduced: The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Pocono Record and the Daily Review of Towanda.

Testifying in favor of the bill: Chris Goldstein and Derek Rosenzweig of PA4MMJ; Ed Pane of Serento Gardens Treatment Center; Bradley Walter who lives with HIV; Andrew Hoover of the ACLU-PA, Criminal Defense Attorney Patrick Nightengale; MS patient John Wilson of New Jersey; Brian Gralnick of JSPAN; Bob Ceppecio of The Marijuana Policy Project along with other local patients and professionals. Signed written testimony from 26 PA residents will be presented by PA4MMJ along with 19 written submissions sent anonymously. Expert written submissions and comments came from the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, the National Lawyers Guild Philadelphia Chapter, The Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey and the National Organization for the reform of Marijuana Laws Deputy Director Paul Armentano.

Several groups will testify in opposition to medical cannabis including the PA Elks Association.

The December 2^nd hearings are informational and will not see a vote. The twenty-six-member committee may ask questions of the presenters and PA4MMJ is expecting a lively and educational discussion. Please visit www.pa4mmj.org

MEDIA MAY CONTACT CHRIS GOLDSTEIN DIRECTLY [email protected]

Dear friends:

We’re getting close.

In Arizona, an MPP-sponsored signature drive to place a medical marijuana initiative on the ballot in November 2010 is moving into the home stretch. If the campaign collects more than 250,000 signatures before the end of February, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Policy Project could qualify for the ballot earlier in the election year than any other initiative in Arizona’s history.

As of now, the campaign has collected more than 175,000 signatures, almost three-quarters of the way towards our goal. But it costs about $2 to collect each signature, so we need help to get the rest of the way there.

Can you help us finish the job by making a contribution to the campaign today? Every $20 contribution gets us 10 signatures closer to our goal.

A recent poll showed that 65% of Arizonans support the proposed initiative, so once the measure qualifies for the ballot, it will very likely pass. This means that by supporting this signature drive, you can directly help protect seriously and terminally ill patients in Arizona from arrest and jail. The initiative, which would allow for a system of state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, could also serve as a model for other states considering medical marijuana laws.

I know you agree that patients should never be sent to jail just for following their doctors’ advice. With a contribution today, you can help make sure medical marijuana patients in Arizona don’t have to fear this fate.

Thanks in advance for your support. And whether or not you are able to make a contribution today, please forward this e-mail to anyone who might be interested in this campaign.

Thank you,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $2.35 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2009. This means that your donation today will be doubled.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                           
NOVEMBER 10, 2009

AMA Calls for Review of Medical Marijuana’s Legal Status

New Policy Marks Historic Shift From Prior Stance

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications …………… 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205

HOUSTON, TEXAS — In a move considered historic by supporters of medical marijuana, the American Medical Association’s House of Delegates today adopted a new policy position calling for the review of marijuana’s status as a Schedule I drug in the federal Controlled Substances Act. The old language in Policy H-95.952 had previously recommended that “marijuana be retained in Schedule I,” which groups marijuana with drugs such as heroin, LSD and PCP that are deemed to have no accepted medical uses and to be unsafe for use even under medical supervision.

         The revised policy, adopted today, states, “Our AMA urges that marijuana’s status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods.” It goes on to explain that this position should not be construed as an endorsement of state medical marijuana programs.

         “This shift, coming from what has historically been America’s most cautious and conservative major medical organization, is historic,” said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project, who attended the AMA meeting. “Marijuana’s Schedule I status is not just scientifically untenable, given the wealth of recent data showing it to be both safe and effective for chronic pain and other conditions, but it’s been a major obstacle to needed research.”

         Drugs listed in Schedule II, for which medical use is permitted with strict controls, include cocaine, morphine and methamphetamine. A pill containing THC, the component responsible for marijuana’s “high,” is classed in Schedule III, whose looser requirements allow phoned-in prescriptions.

         With more than 29,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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