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Medical Marijuana

Americans for Safe Access: August 2009 Activist Newsletter

Americans for Safe Access
Monthly Activist Newsletter

August 2009

Volume 4, Issue 8

Calif. Senate Committee Urges New Federal Policy on Medical Marijuana

Resolution calls for comprehensive federal approach

Some California state senators are pushing for comprehensive changes in federal policy on medical cannabis.

After hearing testimony from Americans for Safe Access and other patient advocates, the California Senate Health Committee last month passed a resolution urging an end to federal interference in state medical marijuana programs, as well as a new national approach that supports research and makes the drug available in all states.

Introduced in June by State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and sponsored by ASA, the resolution is now before the Senate Judiciary Committee. If passed there, it will go before the full Senate.

"Patients and providers in California remain at risk of arrest and prosecution by federal law enforcement, and legally established medical marijuana cooperatives continue to be the subjects of federal raids," said Sen. Leno in a statement.

Senate Joint Resolution 14 asks the federal government to both curtail raids in the state and "create a comprehensive federal medical marijuana policy that ensures safe and legal access to any patient that would benefit from it."

The resolution also urges President Obama and Congress to establish "an affirmative defense to medical marijuana charges in federal court and establish federal legal protection for individuals authorized by state and local law."

Don Duncan, ASA's California Director, and Lanette Davies, a Sacramento patient and activist were among those who explained to the senators why this is so important.

"With more than two dozen medical marijuana defendants currently being prosecuted by the Justice Department, each of them facing many years in prison, such a policy change would be timely, relevant and critically important," said Duncan. "The entire country needs a sensible, comprehensive medical marijuana policy."

While the Obama Administration has stated that it has a new policy on medical cannabis, federal raids on patients and providers have continued.
Currently, medical marijuana patients and providers charged under federal law cannot introduce evidence about their medical condition, their doctor's advice, or state medical marijuana laws.

The California Senate resolution also seeks expanded research into the medical benefits of marijuana. More research was a recommendation of the 1999 Institute of Medicine report on medical marijuana, a report commissioned by the White House but never acted on.

An administrative law judge ruled two years ago that the federal monopoly on the cultivation of marijuana for research purposes has unnecessarily limited FDA-approved scientific studies, but the Drug Enforcement Administration rejected the judge's recommendations.

Further information:
Senate Joint Resolution on medical marijuana
ASA fact sheet on SJR 14

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ASA Wins Landmark Calif. Ruling on Cultivation of Medical Marijuana

Appellate court protects patient collectives and affirms civil rights

A case Americans for Safe Access has been fighting for three years resulted last month in an appellate court ruling that protects California patients who grow marijuana collectively.

The California Third District Court of Appeal issued a 2-1 decision affirming a superior court ruling that state and local law enforcement must respect the right of medical marijuana patients to cultivate their medicine collectively.

The court also found that law enforcement must obtain a warrant to search a patient's property and seize any marijuana found there. The judges wrote that to rule otherwise would "surely shock the sensibilities of the voters" who approved the state's medical marijuana initiative in 1996.

"In addition to protecting patients' right to collectively cultivate, the Court has reaffirmed that medical marijuana patients enjoy the same constitutional rights as everyone else, including the ability to file civil rights actions when those rights are violated," said Joe Elford, ASA Chief Counsel and the attorney who litigated the case.

ASA took the case in 2006 after receiving repeated reports that Butte County law enforcement and other police agencies throughout the state were refusing to recognize the legitimacy of patient collectives.
The landmark appellate decision in County of Butte v. Superior Court concerns the 2005 warrant-less search of a patient's home in Paradise, California.

During the search, the Butte County Sheriff ordered the homeowner, David Williams, 56, to uproot more than two-dozen plants being grown for a small collective of seven medical marijuana patients. Though state law allows for collective cultivation, the sheriff told Williams it is not lawful to grow marijuana for multiple patients.

A superior court judge in Butte County ruled otherwise in 2007, saying medical marijuana patients "should not be required to risk criminal penalties and the stress and expense of a criminal trial in order to assert their rights."

The appeals court last month agreed, finding that patients have "the same constitutional guarantee of due process available to all individuals, no matter what their status, under the state Constitution." The appeals panel noted that "[t]he fact that this case involves medical marijuana and a qualified medical marijuana patient does not change these fundamental constitutional rights or an individual's right to assert them."

"This ruling by the California courts sends yet another strong message to state law enforcement that they must abide by the medical marijuana laws of the state and not the competing federal laws," said ASA's Elford.

Even the dissenting opinion in the case contained a plea for new federal law on medical marijuana. Court of Appeal Judge James Morrison wrote that, "[t]he United States Congress should reconsider its refusal to amend the federal drug laws to make reasonable accommodation for the 13 states that have enacted some form of compassionate use exception to their penal codes."

Further information:
The ruling by the California Third District Court of Appeal
Information on ASA's work on the Butte Case

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Colorado Rejects Restrictions on Medical Cannabis Distribution

Grassroots Organizing Floods Hearing with Advocates

On July 20, patients and advocates convinced the Colorado Board of Health to reject a proposal that would have sharply restricted the ability of the state's citizens to access medical marijuana.

Nearly 1,000 medical cannabis patients and supporters -- including lawyers, doctors, care providers, veterans, and numerous health-care and religious organizations -- attended the 12-hour hearing, and nearly 200 supporters of safe access testified, thanks to months of coordinated efforts by Sensible Colorado, an ASA affiliate.

As a result, the Board of Health voted 5-4 to table a proposal that would have limited caregivers to assisting no more than five patients. The proposal would have also restricted who can qualify as a caregiver under Colorado law, requiring medical marijuana providers to assist patients in ways that would be impractical for many -- including providing patients with food, transportation, and housekeeping services.

When these changes were first proposed in January, Sensible Colorado mounted a grassroots campaign that delayed the hearing until July so patient advocates could organize a response. The successful outreach efforts among patients that ensured the large turnout at the hearing were just part of Sensible Colorado's campaign.

Director Brian Vicente also convinced such prominent state organizations as the Northern Colorado AIDS Project, the ACLU of Colorado and the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar to publicly oppose the changes, and he persuaded one of the state's Congressional delegation, Rep. Jared Polis, to write a personal letter of opposition to the board.

The success of Sensible Colorado's organizing paves the way for increased access to medical marijuana through safe and affordable distribution, an issue that many of the 13 states with medical cannabis laws are confronting.

With only one exception, state medical marijuana laws failed to address how qualified patients are to obtain their medicine. The legislatures of several states have now amended their laws to establish rules for centralized distribution of marijuana to patients.

In the past few years, California, Washington and Oregon have created provisions for regulating distribution. This year, both Maine and Rhode Island have taken up the issue, with Rhode Island changing its law in June to license three "Compassion Centers" to provide medical marijuana to patients. Voters in Maine will also have the chance to approve a ballot initiative in November that would implement a distribution mechanism for patients.

One state that has tried to deal with this issue from the beginning is New Mexico. When the legislature adopted a medical marijuana law in 2007, lawmakers not only established protections for patients who use medical marijuana, but directed state officials to find ways of distributing it. In March, the New Mexico Department of Health issued its first license for non-profit medical marijuana production.

Distribution questions are also shaping new medical marijuana laws coming before state legislatures. Lawmakers in New Jersey and Iowa have been debating measures that incorporate plans for distributing medical marijuana to patients, not just protect them from prosecution once they have it.

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DrugSense FOCUS Alert #407: Mendocino County Marijuana

DrugSense FOCUS Alert #407 - Monday, 27 July 2009 Last week we distributed an alert about the Wall Street Journal front page article "With 'Med Pot' Raids Halted, Selling Grass Grows Greener" http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v09/n731/a02.html Today readers of the Washington Post, including the folks on Capitol Hill, may read an article about marijuana in California. In the first half of this year MAP has archived 782 news clippings about California marijuana. In the first half of last year it was 437. The increased interest in what is happening with the marijuana issue in California is real. The Post writes on it's website "Letters must be fewer than 200 words and exclusive to The Washington Post. They may not have been submitted, posted to, or published by any other media. They must include the writer's home address, e-mail address, and home and business telephone numbers." 200 words is the average published letter length. However, longer well written letters have been published. News items about marijuana in California may be found at http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER Please post copies of your letters to the sent letter list ([email protected]) if you are subscribed. Subscribing to the Sent LTE list will help you to review other sent LTEs and perhaps come up with new ideas or approaches. To subscribe to the Sent LTE mailing list see http://www.mapinc.org/lists/index.htm#form Suggestions for writing LTEs are at our Media Activism Center http://www.mapinc.org/resource/#guides

Obama's drug czar declares marijuana has no medical value

[Courtesy of MPP] 

Dear friends:

“Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit.”
— White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, at a Fresno, Calif., press conference yesterday

Not again.

In fact — and it's getting a little tiresome to keep repeating it — the esteemed Institute of Medicine, American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, American Academy of HIV Medicine, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Lymphoma Foundation of America, American Academy of HIV Medicine, and dozens of other medical organizations recognize marijuana's medical value.

What's more, President Obama's own statements on the campaign trail about marijuana's medical efficacy run counter to his new drug czar's statements yesterday. 

We need to stop this in its tracks. Would you please speak out against this ridiculous, outdated argument:

1. Please use MPP's online action center to e-mail the president about the drug czar's statement.

2. Please call the drug czar's office at (202) 395-6700 to politely complain that we're still hearing this sort of nonsense.

We need to make sure the drug czar receives the message loud and clear that the anti-science Bush era is over.

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.

Press Release: Congress and Obama Administration Embrace Major Drug Policy Reform

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 22, 2009 CONTACT: Bill Piper at 202-669-6430 or Tony Newman at 646-335-5384 Congress and Obama Administration Embrace Major Drug Policy Reform Crack/Powder Disparity, Syringe Exchange Funding, Medical Marijuana, HEA Reform All Advancing Decades of Harsh and Ineffective Federal Laws Likely to be Dismantled this Year At least four of the worst excesses of the federal war on drugs appear likely to be rolled back this year – the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity, the federal ban on the funding of syringe exchange programs, the all-out federal war on medical marijuana, and the HEA AID Elimination Penalty. All four reforms are advancing quickly in Congress. “Policymakers from the President of the United States on down are calling for a paradigm shift so drug use is treated as a health issue instead of a criminal justice issue” said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. “Eliminating the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity, repealing the ban on federal funding for syringe exchange programs to reduce HIV/AIDS, allowing the District of Columbia to move forward with medical marijuana, and reforming the HEA Aid Elimination Penalty are all examples of pairing action with rhetoric.” The House Crime Subcommittee is expected to pass legislation today eliminating the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity that punishes crack cocaine offenses one hundred times more severely than powder cocaine offenses. Both President Obama and Vice-President Biden have spoken in support of eliminating the disparity. In numerous statements this year, Justice Department officials have called on Congress to eliminate the disparity this year. Last week, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee repealed the 20-year ban prohibiting states from spending their share of HIV/AIDS prevention money on syringe exchanges program to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and other blood-borne diseases. The full U.S. House takes up the underlying bill later this week. The ban is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans. If the ban is not repealed, as many as 300,000 Americans could contract HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C over the next decade. President Obama called for elimination of the ban on the campaign trail. In legislation last week, the U.S. House repealed a provision of federal law that overturned a medical marijuana law approved by Washington, DC voters, setting the stage for the nation’s capital to make marijuana available to cancer, AIDS, and other patients, possibly as soon as next year. Earlier this year Attorney General Eric Holder declared that the Justice Department would no longer arrest medical marijuana patients, caregivers and providers, even if they violated federal law, as long as they were following the laws of their states. 13 states have legalized marijuana for medical use, but the Bush Administration raided medical marijuana dispensaries and made numerous arrests and prosecutions. In a vote yesterday, the House Education and Labor Committee reformed the HEA AID Elimination Penalty that denies loans and other financial assistance to students convicted of drug law offenses, including simple marijuana possession. Since 1998, more than 180,000 students have lost aid and many, no doubt, have been forced to drop out of college. Although the Obama Administration has not stated where it stands on the underlying law, it has said it wants to remove a question from financial aid applications that ask students if they have ever been convicted of a drug crime. In other drug policy news, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. Ron Paul (R- Texas) have introduced bi-partisan legislation to decriminalize possession of marijuana for personal use. Sen. Jim Webb, D-VA, President Reagan’s Secretary of the Navy, has introduced bipartisan legislation to create a national commission to study the U.S. criminal justice system and make recommendations on how to reduce the number of Americans behind bars, with a particular emphasis on reforming drug laws. Almost a third of U.S. Senators are cosponsors of the bipartisan bill and it is expected to pass the Senate sometime this year. “The ice is starting to crack,” said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. “The decades of harsh and ineffective laws that have led to overstuffed prisons and a growing HIV epidemic are starting to be challenged and hopefully soon dismantled.” ###

Press Release: Oakland Voters Approve Taxing Cannabis Dispensaries

[Courtesy of DPA] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 22, 2009 CONTACT: Laura Thomas at (415) 283-6366 or Tommy McDonald at (510) 229-5215 Oakland Voters Approve Taxing Cannabis Dispensaries; Measure Expected to Produce $300,000 Annual Revenue for Essential Services DPA Congratulates Oakland Voters on Passing Medical Cannabis Revenue Measure, Expects other Cities to Follow Efforts to tax cannabis to generate revenue for California’s sagging coffers received a boost last night as Oakland voters approved Measure F by 80 percent Measure F adds a 1.8 percent gross receipts tax to medical cannabis dispensaries, producing nearly $300,000 in annual revenue. Early returns showed Measure F passing by the largest margin of all of the revenue measures on Tuesday’s ballot. The tax will go into effect in January 2010. “Oakland voters know a good idea when they see one,” said Laura Thomas, deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance. “Once again, Oakland voters are ahead of the curve and we hope the rest of the state will follow their lead. The politicians need to listen to the wisdom of the voters.” Medical cannabis dispensaries in Los Angeles and other communities also are pushing for new taxes, and should be recognized as a revenue source. Dispensaries already contribute payroll taxes, sales taxes, and licensing and other fees to government coffers. Marijuana sales have the potential to raise millions for California if regulated and taxed. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano introduced a bill (AB 390) where California would tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol. Recent estimates from the state Board of Equalization showed a possible $1.4 billion annual revenue stream. “Taxing medical marijuana is a no brainer and fiscally makes sense for a cash-strapped state like California. But this is the tip of the iceberg,” added Thomas. “Once Californians see the benefits of taxing and regulating medical marijuana in Oakland, the next logical step is to tax and regulate all marijuana revenue across the state.”

Health Board votes down pot restriction (We Won!)

[Courtesy of Sensible Colorado]

A Stunning Victory for Patients' Rights


Late last night the Colorado Board of Health rejected a series of controversial restrictions to the state's medical marijuana law.  The proposals were met with vast opposition from across the state, with approximately 1000 opponents attending the hearing.  Hundreds testified against the changes including lawyers, doctors, care providers, veterans, and numerous health-care and religious organizations.

Learn more about the Hearing here.


"This is a historic victory for patients' rights and safe access to medicine," said Brian Vicente executive director of Sensible Colorado, the non-profit organization which headed opposition to the plan. "Please help us continue our successful work on behalf of medical marijuana patients and providers by becoming a Sensible Colorado monthly donor today.  As little as $5 a month can make a huge difference in our ability to fight for patients' rights and sensible drug reform."

Many thanks to the hundreds of individuals and organizations who attended the Hearing or submitted written comments.  Your grassroots support absolutely helped sway the vote in the right direction.  Special thanks to our coalition partners SAFER, MPP, ASA, and Norml.  

Press Release: U.S. Congress Ends Decade-Long Obstruction of D.C. Medical Marijuana Law

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
JULY 16, 2009

U.S. Congress Ends Decade-Long Obstruction of D.C. Medical Marijuana Law

Medical Marijuana Law Passed in 1998 May Finally Be Implemented

CONTACT: Dan Bernath, MPP assistant director of communications, 202-462-5747 ext. 2030

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House today passed legislation that removes a decade-old provision that has prevented Washington, D.C., from implementing the medical marijuana law passed by 69 percent of capital voters in 1998.

     Known as the Barr amendment, the provision has forbidden the city 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.

     "Today represents a victory not just for medical marijuana patients, but for all city residents who have the right to determine their own policies in their own District without federal meddling," said Aaron Houston, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. "D.C. residents overwhelmingly made the sensible, compassionate decision to pass a medical marijuana law, and now, 10 years later, suffering Washingtonians may finally be allowed to focus on treating their pain without fearing arrest."

     Although Congress had passed the Barr amendment every year until now, the provision came under greater scrutiny after the high-profile case of 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.

     "Had the District been able to implement its medical marijuana law when it passed in 1998, Mr. Magbie may well be alive today – and free to treat his pain as he and his doctor saw fit," 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."

     With more than 27,000 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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Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana Wins Annual Award by National Sociology Organization

For Immediate Release: Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana wins annual award by national sociology organization Contact: Michele Smith Koontz (SSSP Administrative Officer) at 865-689-1531 or [email protected] WAMM Wins Award The national organization of sociologists, "The Society for the Study of Social Problems," has named the California medical marijuana organization, the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana, as the recipient of its 2009 Social Action Award. WAMM, which is a small patient-caregiver cooperative in Santa Cruz, California, has collectively grown and given away millions of dollars worth of cannabis to seriously and terminally ill people since the early 1990s. The organization is strictly not-for-profit. The $1,000 Social Action Award will be presented to WAMM at the SSSP annual dinner in San Francisco on Saturday August 8th at 8 p.m. The organization is the subject of a recent ethnography by Wendy Chapkis and Richard J. Webb, Dying to Get High: marijuana as medicine (New York University Press 2008): http://www.dyingtogethigh.net

Americans for Safe Access: July 2009 Activist Newsletter

City Loses Suit, Pays ASA $139,000 in Legal Fees

Garden Grove Tried to Avoid Returning Cannabis to Patient

A California city's refusal to return less than $200 worth of cannabis to a qualified patient has now cost them at least a thousand times that. And they had to return the cannabis anyway.

As part of a settlement to resolve their unsuccessful challenge to the state's medical marijuana law, Garden Grove officials wrote a check for $139,000 in attorneys' fees to Americans for Safe Access, who represented the patient. That money is in addition to what the city spent fighting the case, estimated at in excess of $100,000.

"It's unfortunate that the City of Garden Grove felt it necessary to spend more than a quarter of a million dollars challenging a patient's right to his medicine," said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford. "Hopefully, other local officials will now do better upholding medical marijuana patients' rights under the law."

When officials in Garden Grove said they would not return the eight grams of cannabis seized from Felix Kha in June 2005, ASA filed suit. All charges against Kha had been dismissed because he was able to show that he is a qualified patient under state law, but city officials argued that returning his medicine would require them to violate federal law.

In a landmark decision, a superior court disagreed and ordered the city to return the cannabis to Kha, but Garden Grove appealed. A state appellate panel also found in favor of Kha, ruling that, "it is not the job of the local police to enforce the federal drug laws."

City officials then asked first the California Supreme Court and then the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the decision, but both refused to review the case.

"This settlement is a huge victory for patients that underscores law enforcement's obligation to uphold state law," said Elford. "Better adherence to state medical marijuana laws by local police will result in fewer needless arrests and seizures. That protects patients from hardship and avoids wasting resources."

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ASA Suit Gets County to Issue Cannabis ID Cards

Others Face Legal Action if Calif. Program Not Adopted

Medical cannabis patients in Solano County will soon be able to obtain California state ID cards to protect them from wrongful arrest or seizure of their medicine, thanks to legal action by ASA.

The 3-2 vote by the county's supervisors comes five months after ASA filed suit to force them to implement the card program, and one month after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider another county's challenge to state medical marijuana law.

"Solano had come to the end of its legal rope, with no recourse but to obey state law," said Joe Elford, ASA's chief counsel. "More than twelve years after the passage of California's medical marijuana law, it's time for local officials to respect the legal rights and protections afforded patients."

Some local officials have argued that the federal prohibition on all marijuana use prevented them from complying with California's medical marijuana law. In 2006, San Diego County brought that argument to court in a closely watched case that was also litigated, in part, by ASA. The challenge was rejected first in superior court than at the appellate level. The California Supreme Court refused to review the case in 2008, and last month the U.S. Supreme Court also declined to hear it.

At time the lawsuit was filed in January 2009, Solano was one of 12 counties refusing to comply with California's 2004 Medical Marijuana Program Act, which mandates that counties make available voluntary ID cards to qualified medical cannabis patients and their caregivers.
According to the Department of Public Health, 52 of California's 58 counties are now issuing cards or have plans to do so. Officials in the six remaining counties—Colusa, Madera, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, and Sutter—have received notice from ASA that they face litigation unless they comply.

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California Senate Resolution Asks for Change on Federal Medical Cannabis Policy

While the Obama Administration has promised a new policy on prosecuting medical cannabis cases, California state senators are telling Washington they want to see new law.

Senate Joint Resolution 14, introduced by Mark Leno (D-SF), asks Congress and the President to do more than just end federal raids, intimidation, and other interference with state medical marijuana laws. The resolution asks that the federal government establish a comprehensive policy that ensures safe and legal access for patients as well as allow them a medical defense to federal marijuana charges. It also asks them to actively encourage clinical research on the therapeutic use of marijuana.

The resolution is consistent with ASA's national strategy to enact nationwide protections for patients and advance scientific research to fully unlock the therapeutic potential of cannabis.

"The U.S. is poised for a fundamental overhaul on medical cannabis policy," Said Don Duncan, ASA's California Director. "Our legislative strategy is diverse and multi-faceted, with success on any one of our goals likely to have profound, domino-like policy implications."

ASA is mobilizing its grassroots base of almost 40,000 members in sixty chapters and affiliates to change federal policy. In 2009 and 2010, ASA's efforts will be geographically targeted, and SJR 14 is an important part of that strategy.

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Congress Considers Bill to Protect
Medical Marijuana Patients

Law Would Allow Prescription, End Federal Obstruction

A bipartisan bill that would dramatically transform federal policy on medical marijuana is before the House. The bill seeks to change the classification of marijuana from a Schedule I drug, defined as having no medical value, to a Schedule II drug, which could be prescribed like other medications. Known as the "Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act" or HR 2835, the act would also prevent interference by the federal government in any state or local medical marijuana program.

The bill, introduced by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) along with a dozen other members, is similar to legislation introduced in previous Congressional terms.

"We're hopeful that the Obama Administration's new policy on medical marijuana creates the right political context for passing this important legislation," said Caren Woodson, ASA's Government Affairs Director. "It's time for the federal government to acknowledge marijuana's medical efficacy and develop a comprehensive plan to provide safe, consistent access for the hundreds of thousands of Americans that benefit from its use."

In addition to rescheduling marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), HR 2835 would provide federal legal protections for all qualified patients and caregivers in states that have legalized the use of medical marijuana, as well as any entity authorized under local or state law to distribute medical marijuana.

In addition to the Frank bill, Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) has asked for clarification of the Obama Administration's policy in language he added to the appropriations bill that funds the Department of Justice.

"It's imperative that the federal government respect states' rights and stay out of the way of patients with debilitating diseases such as cancer who are using medical marijuana in accordance with state law to alleviate their pain," Rep. Hinchey said in a statement.

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Rhode Island is Third with Patient Access Program

The Rhode Island legislature this month overrode Governor Donald Carcieri's veto to establish "Compassion Centers" for distributing cannabis to qualified patients.

By votes of 65-0 in the state House and 35-3 in the Senate, state lawmakers overwhelmingly approved the creation of three state-licensed, non-profit centers. The first will be operational within 7 months, the other two within a year after that.

The Obama Administration's new policy of not interfering in state medical cannabis programs has given state officials more options for ensuring access. New Jersey lawmakers are considering a bill similar to Rhode Island's, and a ballot initiative in Maine will give voters a chance to allow dispensaries there, come November. California's legislature codified the legal status of patient collectives back in 2004, and New Mexico has licensed a non-profit medical marijuana producer and has plans for more.

"It's heartening to see states implementing distribution systems for patients who can't grow medical marijuana themselves," said Caren Woodson, ASA's Government Affairs Director. "What's needed now is for the federal government to work in harmony with these states to ensure access for patients."

The bill in Rhode Island was backed by the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition, a group comprised of patients, advocacy groups, and healthcare providers, including the state Medical Society and Nurses' Association.

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