MEDIA ADVISORYÂ Â Â
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
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   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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