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Medical Marijuana

Doctors, Patients to Testify at Pharmacy Board Medical Marijuana Hearing Wednesday

MEDIA ADVISORY   
AUGUST 18, 2009

Doctors, Patients to Testify at Pharmacy Board Medical Marijuana Hearing Wednesday

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

DES MOINES, IOWA -- Medical experts from Iowa and around the country as well as patients and others will testify Wednesday at the first of a series of Iowa Board of Pharmacy hearings to examine the medical value of marijuana and whether marijuana's classification under state law should be changed.

    WHAT: Iowa Board of Pharmacy hearing on medical marijuana
   
    WHO: Witnesses expected to testify include:
        Dr. Joseph McSherry, neurologist at Fletcher Allen Hospital in Burlington, Vt., who has testified before Vermont's legislature and has extensive experience with Vermont's medical marijuana law. Scheduled to speak at 10:30 a.m.
        Dr. Ed Hertko, retired internal medicine specialist from West Des Moines and founder of Camp Hertko Hollow, a residential camp for youth with diabetes. Scheduled to speak at 11:10 a.m.
       Dr. Alan Koslow, vascular surgeon from West Des Moines and founding member of the Iowa Pain Institute, who served on the Governor's Task Force for Early Childhood Care and on the board of the American Diabetes Association. Scheduled to speak at 2:10 p.m.
      Jeff Elton of Des Moines, who suffers from gastric paresis, causing severe nausea and vomiting.

    WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 19, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

    WHERE: Iowa State Historic Building (auditorium), 600 East Locust St., Des Moines.

    To arrange interviews with the above witnesses or with Marijuana Policy Project staffers who can place Wednesday's hearing in a national context, contact MPP director of communications Bruce Mirken at 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205.

     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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Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc. August Agenda and Rally Info

Monthly Public Meeting Agenda Held at the Lawrence Township Library Tuesday, August 11, 2009; 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM 7:00 PM: Call meeting to order. Approve minutes. Discuss: ? Multiple sclerosis (MS) patient John Wilson, who faces 20 years in prison for growing marijuana to treat his disease, was forbidden by the judge to even mention his medical condition during the upcoming trial. Attend a rally to support John Wilson at the court house in Somerville on Fri., 8/21 from 11AM to 2PM. ? CMMNJ will appear at the following upcoming events: • Wed., 8/19 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM; Northeast Regional Library, 2228 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, PA; • Fri., 8/21, 11 AM to 2 PM; Somerset Co. Court House rally for John Wilson, 20 N. Bridge Street, Somerville, NJ; • Wed., 8/26, 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM, Levittown Regional Library, 7311 New Falls Road, Levittown, PA; • “Vasagrass” Music Festival; 8/29, 1:00 to 9:30 PM in Hackettstown, NJ; http://tickets.createavibe.com/; • Boston Freedom Rally, Sept. 19, 2009 & NORML Conference, San Francisco, Sept. 24-26, 2009. ? The NJ Assembly Health Committee passed along the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act to the full Assembly for a vote this fall. The committee inserted last minute "substitutions" making significant changes to the bill, such as eliminating home cultivation, restricting physicians who can recommend marijuana, and nearly eliminating Chronic Pain as a qualifying condition. Tell your legislators that you want the Senate version of the bill that does not contain these restrictions, to pass into law. See CMMNJ’s recent Op Ed for talking points—but tell your story in your own words. Speak out now! Don’t let an overly restrictive and possibly unworkable bill pass into law. ? CMMNJ has new photos, etc. on Facebook and Facebook Friends of CMMNJ. ? Treasury report: Current account balances: Checking: $4129.89; PayPal: $133.23. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to CMMNJ, a 501(c)(3) organization. All funds received go towards public education about medical marijuana. Donations may be made securely through Paypal or checks made out to “CMMNJ” and sent to corporate headquarters at the address below. Get a free t-shirt for a donation above $15—specify size. Thank you for your support. 9:00 PM Adjourn meeting. Scheduled meetings are August 11, Sept. 8, & Oct. 13, 2009. CMMNJ meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month at the Lawrence Twp. Library from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM. All are welcome. Snacks are served. The library is at 2751 Brunswick Pike, Lawrence Twp., Tel. #609.882.9246. (Meeting at the library does not imply their endorsement of our issue.) For more info, contact: Ken Wolski, RN, MPA Executive Director, Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc. www.cmmnj.org 844 Spruce St., Trenton, NJ 08648 (609) 394-2137 [email protected]

More Change, Please

You Can Make a Difference

 

Dear friends,

Urge President Obama to clarify where he stands on medical marijuana. 

Take Action
Email the President

"Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit,” President Obama’s drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, told an audience in California last month.

That’s some pretty classic drug war rhetoric for someone who announced just a few months earlier that the United States is no longer fighting a war on drugs.
 
The Obama administration is sending mixed messages on medical marijuana.  The president has repeatedly said that science should trump politics and has advocated regulating medical marijuana like any other prescription medicine. Did he forget to tell his drug czar?

Ask President Obama where he really stands.

Obama’s Attorney General has said the federal government will not arrest patients and providers following their state’s medical marijuana law. Yet, his drug czar continues to say marijuana has no medical value, and those who own or work in medical marijuana dispensaries still live in fear of being raided by federal law enforcement simply for providing doctor-recommended medicine to sick people.

The administration owes us an explanation.  Where exactly does the White House stand on medical marijuana?  

A key House committee recently urged the administration to finally define its medical marijuana policy in no uncertain terms.  Now, the White House needs to hear from you too.

Write to President Obama today and urge him to make a clear statement on medical marijuana.  Tell him that people shouldn’t be denied the medicine they need because of backwards drug war politics.

If President Obama is serious about putting science before politics, he needs to make clear that his administration won’t fall back on the same old drug war lies about medical marijuana. And he needs to make sure his drug czar gets the memo.

Sincerely,

Bill Piper
Director, Office of National Affairs
Drug Policy Alliance Network

 

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.

Back to Top

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.  

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