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This week: a new study further demonstrates cannabis’ efficacy in treating disease and a recent nationwide polling data shows about 3/4ths of Americans want the federal government out of state-approved medical marijuana programs.

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Medical marijuana advocates have a message for Democratic leaders and federal prosecutors with an eye on political office: Don’t mess with pot. Pushing back against a federal effort to stem the proliferation of medical marijuana operations, one of the nation’s largest drug policy groups claimed credit Wednesday for the defeat of a former federal prosecutor who was the early favorite to win the Democratic primary for Oregon attorney general.

As interim U.S. attorney, Dwight Holton called Oregon’s medical marijuana law a “train wreck” and oversaw efforts to crack down on medical marijuana clubs and grow operations that he said were fronts for illegal marijuana sales. Federal prosecutors have led similar crackdowns in other states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal use.

“Drug war rhetoric and tactics will not be tolerated,” said Jill Harris, managing director for the campaign arm of Drug Policy Alliance.

Retired state appeals court judge Ellen Rosenblum said she’d make marijuana enforcement a low priority. She easily defeated Holton with the help of Harris’ group and its allies, which chipped in at least a quarter of Rosenblum’s total campaign cash.

“What we’re hoping, and what we assume, is that any U.S. attorney who’s thinking of running for statewide office in a Democratic Primary anywhere in the country is going to think twice now before adopting a highly aggressive posture toward the medical marijuana law,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director Drug Policy Alliance and its campaign branch, Drug Policy Action.

Rosenblum downplayed the role of the marijuana vote in her victory in a brief interview following her victory Tuesday night. With most votes counted, she defeated Holton 64 percent to 36 percent.

“There’s lots of issues that played into my victory, and that may well be one of them,” Rosenblum said of the surprising emergence of medical marijuana as a defining issue.

About 55,000 people are registered marijuana users in Oregon.

Sixteen states allow people with a doctor’s recommendation to use marijuana, an issue that has long been a source of tension with the federal government. Federal officials have said some state medical marijuana laws are being used as cover to grow and sell pot for the black market. Law enforcement agencies have cracked down on some pot growers, dispensaries and clubs in several states, including California, Colorado and Oregon.

Campaign finance records show Rosenblum raised $600,000 through May 9, including $80,000 from Drug Policy Action and $70,000 from John Sperling, Chairman of Apollo Group Inc., who has financed medical marijuana campaigns nationally. Oregon has no caps on campaign contributions.

Citizens for Sensible Law Enforcement, a local organization working on a ballot measure to legalize marijuana, spent another $40,000 to boost Rosenblum, much of it on radio ads attacking Holton over marijuana.

“We’re glad to have played a role in her victory,” said Bob Wolfe, one of the organization’s directors. “But I do think Dwight’s defeat is directly related to his stance on marijuana.”

Holton declined to comment. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Published: May 17, 2012
Copyright: 2012 The Associated Press

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In a just-released poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, three quarters of American voters (74%) want the Obama administration to respect individual state medical marijuana laws. The nationwide poll of 1000 registered likely voters was conducted May 7 to 11, 2012, and commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project. The poll informed voters that medical marijuana is legal with a doctor’s recommendation in 16 states as well as the District of Columbia, and in some of those states it is legal for licensed and tightly regulated individuals to grow and sell marijuana to qualifying patients. Respondents were then asked if President Obama should respect the medical marijuana laws in these states, or continue to use federal resources to arrest and prosecute individuals who are acting in compliance with state medical marijuana laws.

"These results are consistent with the clear and growing body of evidence that documents substantial voter support for the legalization of medical marijuana," said Larry Harris, a principal with Mason-Dixon Polling & Research.

Support for keeping the federal government out of state medical marijuana issues was universal across all demographics. With respect to political affiliation, 75% of Democrats, 67% of Republicans, and, notably 79% of Independents said that President Obama should respect state medical marijuana laws. Even among the least supportive group (those identified as over 65 years of age), 64% were in favor of respecting state law.

“The results of this survey demonstrate that there is virtually no support in the country for the Obama administration's crackdown on state medical marijuana laws,” said Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. “Across all demographic and ideological groups, the American people strongly believe the president should respect state medical marijuana laws, as he promised he would when he campaigned to be president. It is clearly time for President Obama to stand up to the members of his administration who are carrying out the morally wrong and politically unpopular policy of denying patients safe access to this beneficial medicine.”

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NORML Advisory board member, and long time cannabis law reform advocate, Willie Nelson recently filmed a new PSA for NORML. Check it out below or on NORMLtv.

“Let’s get the government out of our private lives, once and for all, and stop arresting smokers. Let’s take a stand for personal freedom.” – Willie Nelson

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Smoking medical marijuana could help relieve some symptoms of multiple sclerosis, a small new study suggests. Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, found that people with MS who smoked cannabis had decreased pain and muscle tightness, called spasticity. However, the researchers warned that smoking the cannabis also led to problems with focus and attention.

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, included 30 people — 63 percent of them women — with an average age of 50. More than half the participants needed aids for walking, and 20 percent of them were in wheelchairs. Some of the study participants were randomly assigned to have the cannabis, while others received a placebo.

At the end of the study, researchers found that people who smoked the cannabis had lower numbers on a spasticity scale, as well as a 50 percent decrease in pain scores.

But researchers found that the people who smoked the cannabis had decreased cognitive functioning, in that they scored lower on a test that measured their focus. This effect was only seen for a short term.

“Smoked cannabis was superior to placebo in symptom and pain reduction in participants with treatment-resistant spasticity,” researchers wrote in the study. “Future studies should examine whether different doses can result in similar beneficial effects with less cognitive impact.”

Just last year, a study in the journal Neurology also showed that multiple sclerosis patients who smoked medical marijuana have a doubled risk of developing cognitive impairments.

“Whatever benefits patients feel they might be getting from smoking marijuana might come at the cost of further cognitive compromise,” the researcher of that study, Dr. Anthony Feinstein, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Toronto, told WebMD.

Marijuana use is currently legal for medical purposes in 16 states and Washington, D.C., the New York Times reported.

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease of the brain and spinal cord, according to the National Institutes of Health. It occurs when the myelin sheath, which is responsible for protecting nerve fibers, is damaged, causing symptoms of cognitive problems, muscle weakness, disturbed vision, strange touch sensations and balance and coordination problems.

While there’s no cure for the condition, current treatments for multiple sclerosis attacks include taking drugs called corticosteroids and undergoing plasma exchange (where blood cells and plasma are mechanically separated), according to the Mayo Clinic. Other drugs and even physical therapy can help reduce symptoms or even slow the disease down.

Source: Huffington Post (NY)
Published: May 14, 2012
Copyright: 2012 HuffingtonPost.com, LLC
Contact: scoop@huffingtonpost.com
Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/

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Marijuana relieves muscles tightness, pain of multiple sclerosis: Study
via the Toronto Star

Smoking marijuana can relieve muscle tightness, spasticity (contractions) and pain often experienced by those with multiple sclerosis, says research out of the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

The findings, just published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, included a controlled trial with 30 participants to understand whether inhaled cannabis would help complicated cases where existing pharmaceuticals are ineffective or trigger adverse side effects.

MS is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain and spinal cord.

The disease attacks the myelin, the protective covering wrapped around the nerves of the central nervous system, and — among other symptoms — can cause loss of balance, impaired speech, extreme fatigue, double vision and paralysis.

The average age of the research participants was 50 years with 63 per cent of the study population female.

More than half the participants needed walking aids and 20 per cent used wheelchairs.

Rather than rely on self-reporting by patients regarding their muscle spasticity — a subjective measure — health professionals rated each patient’s joints on the modified Ashworth scale, a common objective tool to evaluate intensity of muscle tone.

The researchers found that the individuals in the group that smoked cannabis experienced an almost one-third decrease on the Ashworth scale — 2.74 points from a baseline score of 9.3 — meaning spasticity improved, compared to the placebo group.

As well, pain scores decreased by about 50 per cent.

“We saw a beneficial effect of smoked cannabis on treatment-resistant spasticity and pain associated with multiple sclerosis among our participants,” says Dr. Jody Corey-Bloom of the university’s department of neuroscience.

To those familiar with medicinal cannabis research, the results are hardly surprising. After all, Sativex — an oral spray containing plant cannabis extracts — is already legal by prescription to treat MS-related symptoms in over a dozen countries, including Canada, Germany, Great Britain, New Zealand, and Spain. Further, long-term assessments of the drug indicate that in addition to symptom management, cannabinoids may also play a role in halting the course of the disease.

Nevertheless, the National MS Society — like the US government — shares little enthusiasm for cannabis medicine, stating, “Studies completed thus far have not provided convincing evidence that marijuana or its derivatives provide substantiated benefits for symptoms of MS.”

Patient advocacy organizations, like the MS Society, have a responsibility to represent the interests of their constituents and to advise practitioners regarding best treatment practices. Why then does this responsibility not extend to patients who use cannabis as an alternative treatment therapy or to those that might one day potentially benefit from its use?

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Johnnie Scott Rice has held a lot of titles in her life: director of constituent services, advisory neighborhood commissioner, D.C. Council candidate. But there is one title she covets that has eluded her: District pot dealer.

Rice, 71, is part of the Green House, a self-proclaimed “group of old ladies,” that the city recently turned down for a license to sell medical marijuana. Three other rejected applicants, including a Bethesda eye doctor and a competitive bass fisherman, have gone to court in the past week to contest the city’s decision, said Ted O. Gest, spokesman for the D.C. Office of Attorney General.

Many of those turned down have said the selection process is confusing and opaque. They contend the D.C. Health Department did not provide clear explanations for its decisions — an accusation city officials deny.

Rice and her partners, who include a former lingerie store owner and a social worker, are disappointed, although they have decided not to pursue legal action. For nearly a year, the women have used their retirement savings to lease a dispensary location in Shaw, hoping to provide medical marijuana to people with glaucoma, AIDS, cancer, and multiple sclerosis. They want to know exactly where they fell short in their months-long application bid.

“We don’t want to waste their time or our time,” Rice said. “It’s confusing even to us.”

The health department, which is overseeing the roll-out of the medical marijuana program, relied on a panel of experts to score each application.

The agency told one applicant that much of the proposal was “adequate” but denied it. It dinged at least three of the unsuccessful applicants for not providing a sample label even though the application didn’t require one.

Rice’s group asked to see its scores through a request under the District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act. But the agency refused to release the scores or other material that would shed light on the panel’s decision-making process, arguing that a final announcement has not yet been made, and that such documents contain trade secrets. The scores are also part of confidential deliberations by government officials that the city is not legally obligated to disclose, said health department spokeswoman Najma Roberts.

That explanation troubles the applicants that were turned away.

“I don’t understand why this is so secretive, especially for something so high profile,” said Tom Lindenfeld, a local political consultant working with Compassion Centers, which is affiliated with an established dispensary operator in California.

The two other groups that have filed appeals are the Health Company, which is led by Michael Duplessie, a Bethesda ophthalmologist, and the Free World Remedy, lead by Jonathan Marlow, a competitive bass fisherman from Northern Virginia whose mother suffers from multiple sclerosis.

The legal challenges are the latest wrinkle in a selection process marred by glitches from the start.

Since passing a medical marijuana law in 2010, the District has taken a go-slow approach in an effort to avoid some of the mistakes that have been made in other jurisdictions, such as Colorado and California, where critics say medical marijuana has become little more than legalized drug dealing.

The District’s regulations are among the toughest in the country, with strict limits on how many plants can be grown, how much the dispensaries can charge and who can buy it. Only people with certain chronic conditions such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma qualify; they are allowed two ounces in a 30-day period with a doctor’s recommendation.

The city began accepting applications last year for licenses to operate up to 10 cultivation centers and five dispensaries. There were problems almost immediately. Some who had planned on applying were scared off by having to sign a statement saying they understood growing and selling marijuana was still illegal under federal law.

The health department initially rejected some applicants for minor errors, such as leaving off e-mail addresses, then later let them back in. Officials also rejected Duplessie’s application to operate a cultivation center because it was 90 minutes late — even though an evacuation of the agency’s offices was partly to blame.

The agency was supposed to announce the dispensary licensees earlier this spring but pushed the date back to June, forcing some of the applicants, including Rice’s group, to spend additional money to continue leasing space.

Last month the health department last month informed the 17 aspiring pot retailers which of them were still in the running. Only four made it through, and they must win approval from their local advisory neighborhood commissions.

The four that made it: Herbal Alternatives, which is looking to open a dispensary near 20th and M streets NW; Metropolitan Wellness Center Corporation, which is eyeing a location along Barracks Row on Capitol Hill by a fast-food restaurant and a tattoo parlor; Takoma Wellness Center, which plans to open near the Takoma Metro Station; and VentureForth LLC, which has a site by O and North Capitol streets NW.

So far, many of the groups that the city has tapped to grow and to sell medical marijuana have mainly been established pot dispensaries and cultivators from other parts of the country, including Abatin Wellness Center of Sacramento, the brainchild of former talk-show host Montel Williams.

Local officials, including D.C. Council member David Catania (I-At Large), had hoped for more local representation. The local players who have made the cut for either a dispensary or cultivation license are retired Takoma Park rabbi Jeffrey Kahn and his wife, Stephanie; lawyer Edward Grandis, executive director of the Dupont Circle Merchants and Professionals Association; financier Corey Barnette; and Capitol Hill liquor store owners Rick and Jon Genderson.

Deep roots in the city were a big part of the pitch that Rice, a third-generation Washingtonian, made at community gatherings in Shaw, where their dispensary was to be located, on the same block as social service agency Bread for the City.

Rice grew up in Trinidad, the daughter of a bricklayer, and has been a longtime fixture on the D.C. political scene. She has run for office, worked as an aide to Catania and served as an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 7 for 10 years. She is also an insulin-dependent diabetic, has glaucoma and can no longer drive at night. Not long after the D.C. Council made medical marijuana legal, she heard from friends in California that cannabis could help people with glaucoma.

“It made me think about this,” she said. “If this medicine can improve these conditions in me, why not?”

Unbeknownst to her, Francine Levinson, 61, was also thinking about applying for a license. Levinson has started businesses before. She got into banking after she discovered she couldn’t get a loan without her husband or her father signing for her. She became a founding member of the First Women’s Bank of Maryland. Levinson later ran a lingerie store for nine years. She and Rice have been friends for years, but they didn’t tell each other right away about their interest in pursuing a medical marijuana dispensary license.

“Everybody was so timid about it,” Rice said.

After a mutual friend clued both of the them in, the two decided to partner up and even considered naming the business, “Frankie and Johnnie,” a reference to the classic song, until Levinson’s daughter, Stephanie Mantelmacher, 46, said, “no one is going to know what that means.” Seeing that her input might come in handy, Mantelmacher, a former executive with XM Satellite Radio, joined the group. Leigh A. Slaughter, 58, a lawyer and real estate agent, and former Whitman-Walker Clinic official Patricia Hawkins, 71, filled out the team.

If the city opens up the process again, Rice said, they would consider making another attempt. Until then, they can only imagine what might have been.

The people who will be coming to buy medical marijuana “don’t want to see some young kids selling dope,” she said. “Most of the clientele is going to look like us. We are the face of the users of medical marijuana.”

Source: Washington Post (DC)
Author: Annys Shin
Published: May 9, 2012
Copyright: 2012 Washington Post Company
Contact: letters@washpost.com
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/

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Yesterday, 163 members of the House of Representatives voted to defund federal raids on medical marijuana where the plant is legal under state law. The amendment was sponsored by three California congressmen—Dana Rohrabacher (R), Tom McClintock (R), Sam Farr (D)—and New York's Maurice Hinchey (D), and was tacked on to Fiscal Year 2013 Commerce, Justice, State Appropriations bill. The amendment, which failed yesterday 163-262, reads as follows:

None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to the States of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, to prevent such States from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.

Seventy-three percent of Democrats supported the amendment, but only 29 House Republicans.

"It is time for the federal government to stop targeting the legal vendors that are providing safe access to this treatment, and instead focus limited resources on those who sell illicit drugs," Rep. Farr told the Huffington Post yesterday. "The amendment I will offer with my colleagues will work to assure funds under the Department of Justice do not target the safe access to treatment patients need.”

Some reactions from the drug reform lobby, starting with MPP's Steve Fox:

“It is encouraging to see so many members sending a clear message to the Obama administration,” said Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. “These 163 members are tired of seeing federal resources dedicated to undermining state medical marijuana laws. They understand, especially members from medical marijuana states, that when the Obama administration forces the closure of medical marijuana dispensaries, they are driving patients back to the streets to acquire their medicine. States are doing the right thing by ensuring that patients have safe access to medical marijuana. It is only a matter of time before every member of Congress accepts this truth.”

Drug Policy Alliance's Bill Piper:

“Both Democrats and Republicans are telling the Obama administration: enough is enough, stop wasting taxpayer money to undermine state medical marijuana laws,” said Bill Piper, director of national affairs of the Drug Policy Alliance. “President Obama needs to realize his assault on patient access is not just immoral – but a serious political miscalculation. For more than a decade, polling has consistently shown that 70 to 80 percent of Americans support medical marijuana.”

This isn't going away. Last week, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) released a letter condemning Obama's raids. The week before that, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) called the raids "bad policy and bad politics."
 

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I wish we would have broken in earlier to hear the remarks from Rep. Nadler and the other representatives who spoke on the issue. Full coverage of the debate should be up on C-SPAN’s website soon. For now, enjoy the remarks of Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO). Then recoil back to reality with Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA) comparing medical marijuana to sex trafficking and a voice vote dominated by bellowing Republicans to kill the amendment.

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State senators voted 21-to-13 in favor of the measure early Saturday, after nearly 10 hours of debate dominated by bill opponent Republican Sen. Toni Boucher.

Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who has said he supports the measure, is expected to sign the legislation into law.

The bill moves away from the largely criticized precedent set in California, proposing a complex regulated system of cultivation, dispensing and licensing.

The Connecticut bill outlines specific diseases that would be treated under the drug. It requires a recommendation from an individual’s physician and establishes a system of licensing for patients, caregivers and growers.

Source: HuffPost News

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/05/medical-marijuana-connecticut_n_1483670.html

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The case centres on Toronto marijuana activist Matthew Mernagh, who launched a constitutional challenge after being charged with producing marijuana illegally. The trial judge accepted Mernagh’s position that the federal Marihuana Medical Access Regulations (MMAR) constitute an unfair barrier for sick people, and struck down both the MMAR and sections of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act banning marijuana production and possession. That ruling is on hold pending the outcome of the federal government’s appeal.

Before three Appeal Court judges Monday, Crown attorney Croft Michaelson rejected the trial judge’s findings as “extravagant and wholly unsupported by the record.”

Michaelson said Justice Donald Taliano made numerous errors in finding that Canadian doctors have engaged in a “massive boycott” of the medical marijuana program, leaving many needy patients with nowhere to turn.

“You cannot say on this record that the majority of physicians in Canada are opposed to the MMAR . . . It’s mere speculation,” Michaelson said, citing an insufficient evidentiary basis for the judge’s conclusions.

A large number of Mernagh’s supporters turned out for the court hearing, one hoisting a Canadian flag emblazoned with a cannabis leaf in place of the traditional Maple Leaf.

The hearing was slated to resume Monday afternoon.

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With Connecticut passing a medical cannabis bill, approximately one third of the US population now resides in a state that has decided to act in favor of it’s citizens’ will, as compared to the remarkably recalcitrant federal government, which, moronically, still insists cannabis is a dangerous ‘narcotic’ and has no accepted medical value what so ever.

Congratulations to Connecticut NORML and it’s coordinator Erik Williams for leading the charge to write and pass this important and affirming legislation (Erik and company had previously worked the legislature hard in 2011 to pass cannabis decriminalization laws)!

Connecticut’s bill creates guidelines and regulations for cultivation centers and dispensaries.

Read more about Connecticut’s new medical cannabis law here.

The New England clean sweep may happen this year with the New Hampshire legislature possibly overriding the Governor’s oft veto of their medical cannabis bills next week. In Massachusetts, this November voters are expected to approve by a large margin a medical cannabis legalization initiative (in 2008 Massachusetts voters approved a decriminalization initiative by a whopping sixty five percent).

From west to east, the states with legal protections for lawful medical cannabis patients are: Hawaii, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Montana, Colorado, Michigan, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine (as well as the District of Columbia).

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U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Wednesday released a statement pushing back against the Obama administration's interference with medical marijuana laws in California and beyond. Her statement comes after medical marijuana advocates delivered a petition earlier that day calling on Pelosi to defend patients from ramped up federal enforcement measures.

"I have strong concerns about the recent actions by the federal government that threaten the safe access of medicinal marijuana to alleviate the suffering of patients in California," said Pelosi, "and undermine a policy that has been in place under which the federal government did not pursue individuals whose actions complied with state laws providing for medicinal marijuana."

Medical marijuana is currently legal in California and 15 other states, plus the District of Columbia, and during his campaign for president, Obama vowed to stop the raids on medical marijuana users that were prevalent under George W. Bush, saying raiding patients who use marijuana for medicinal purposes "makes no sense."

Yet since October 2009, the Justice Department has conducted more than 170 aggressive SWAT-style raids in nine medical marijuana states, resulting in at least 61 federal indictments, according to data compiled by Americans for Safe Access, an advocacy group. Federal authorities have also seized property from landlords who rent space to growers, threatening them with prosecution, and authorities have even considered taking action against newspapers selling ad space to dispensaries.

Pelosi joins a number of other political figures -- among them Barney Frank, Ron Paul and Pat Robertson -- who have advocated recently in favor of leaving the issue of medical marijuana to the states.

Her full statement reads:

Access to medicinal marijuana for individuals who are ill or enduring difficult and painful therapies is both a medical and a states' rights issue. Sixteen states, including our home state of California, and the District of Columbia have adopted medicinal marijuana laws -- most by a vote of the people.

I have strong concerns about the recent actions by the federal government that threaten the safe access of medicinal marijuana to alleviate the suffering of patients in California, and undermine a policy that has been in place under which the federal government did not pursue individuals whose actions complied with state laws providing for medicinal marijuana.

Proven medicinal uses of marijuana include improving the quality of life for patients with cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other severe medical conditions.

I am pleased to join organizations that support legal access to medicinal marijuana, including the American Nurses Association, the Lymphoma Foundation of America, and the AIDS Action Council.

Medicinal marijuana alleviates some of the most debilitating symptoms of AIDS, including pain, wasting, and nausea. The opportunity to ease the suffering of people who are seriously ill or enduring difficult and painful therapies is an opportunity we must not ignore.

For these reasons, I have long supported efforts in Congress to advocate federal policies that recognize the scientific evidence and clinical research demonstrating the medical benefits of medicinal marijuana, that respects the wishes of the states in providing relief to ill individuals, and that prevents the federal government from acting to harm the safe access of medicinal marijuana provided under state law. I will continue to strongly support those efforts.

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Please be advised that on Monday, May 7, 2012 at 4:20 p.m., the local chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) will protest the Drug Enforcement Administration’s detention of UCSD Engineering student Daniel Chong for five days without food and water. The protest will take place outside of the DEA office compound at 4560 Viewridge Avenue in San Diego. If you can’t be in San Diego, show your solidarity by joining the protest live online at live.norml.org.

According to news reports, Chong was arrested for smoking marijuana at a 4/20 party with other UCSD students. He was transported to a DEA holding cell and then forgotten about. During his five days in the federal cell, Chong had no access to food, water, or access to the outside world. He was forced to drink his own urine to stay alive. At one point, Chong broke his glasses with his teeth and used the glass shards to attempt suicide. He attempted to carve the words "Sorry Mom" into his arm. According to Chong, he "pretty much lost (his) mind" during the ordeal.

NORML advocates for the full legalization of marijuana so that innocent users such as Daniel Chong are not subjected to torture at the hands of the DEA. Over 20 million Americans have been arrested for marijuana offenses since 1965. NORML believes that the time has come to amend criminal prohibition and replace it with a system of legalization, regulation, and education.

More information can be found at San Diego NORML’s Facebook page.

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“Access to medicinal marijuana for individuals who are ill or enduring difficult and painful therapies is both a medical and a states’ rights issue. Sixteen states, including our home state of California, and the District of Columbia have adopted medicinal marijuana laws – most by a vote of the people.

“I have strong concerns about the recent actions by the federal government that threaten the safe access of medicinal marijuana to alleviate the suffering of patients in California, and undermine a policy that has been in place under which the federal government did not pursue individuals whose actions complied with state laws providing for medicinal marijuana.

“Proven medicinal uses of marijuana include improving the quality of life for patients with cancer, HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other severe medical conditions.

“I am pleased to join organizations that support legal access to medicinal marijuana, including the American Nurses Association, the Lymphoma Foundation of America, and the AIDS Action Council.

“Medicinal marijuana alleviates some of the most debilitating symptoms of AIDS, including pain, wasting, and nausea. The opportunity to ease the suffering of people who are seriously ill or enduring difficult and painful therapies is an opportunity we must not ignore.

“For these reasons, I have long supported efforts in Congress to advocate federal policies that recognize the scientific evidence and clinical research demonstrating the medical benefits of medicinal marijuana, that respects the wishes of the states in providing relief to ill individuals, and that prevents the federal government from acting to harm the safe access of medicinal marijuana provided under state law. I will continue to strongly support those efforts.”

In other news Berkeley Patients Group, the biggest victim of the crackdown so far, has said on Facebook that it will go delivery-only as it pursues another location to re-open.

Source: East Bay Express (CA)
Author: David Downs
Published: May 3, 2012
Copyright: 2012 East Bay Express
Website: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/

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The open letter to Premier Christy Clark; Adrian Dix, leader of the B.C.  New Democrats; and John Cummins, leader of the B.C.  Conservative Party, comes on the heels of a similar letter from four former Vancouver mayors last December and one from four former B.C.  attorneys general in February.

Corrigan told the NOW in December that while he personally supported an end to pot prohibition, he would not make a public statement in his official capacity as a sitting mayor.

When asked why he changed his position on that, Corrigan said the health and safety concerns were a factor.

“I thought the fact that we had seen a coalition of ex-mayors, and ex-attorneys general and health professionals taking a stand on this issue really meant we had to take it to the next step, which is elected officials taking a position,” he said in a phone interview Thursday.

Prohibition has not stopped the production and distribution of marijuana, Corrigan said, but it has lined the pockets of criminals, much like alcohol prohibition before it.

“We know alcohol prohibition didn’t work.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t problems with alcohol because there are – it still is a serious problem in our society, but prohibition simply turned the distribution of alcohol over to a criminal element,” he said.

“We saw the rise of Al Capone-like figures making their money off of prohibition, and the same thing is happening with marijuana,” Corrigan added.  “People are making fortunes off of the distribution of marijuana illegally and in fact, we’re not curing the problem at all, we’re just pushing it underground.  I think it’s much better to take the attitude as we do with alcohol and cigarettes that while it is a vice, it’s something that should be done in an upfront manner, the government should regulate and tax it, and there should be controls placed on it.”

He disputed the idea that legalizing marijuana in Canada wouldn’t be worthwhile so long as it’s still illegal in the United States.

The effect on young Canadian’s lives is a factor as well, he said.

“I think that the fact that we continue to give young people criminal records for this offense and continue to have people who live with the stigma of a criminal record for the use of marijuana is a serious problem,” Corrigan said, “one that has individual effects that are way in excess of the act.”

While he doesn’t see things changing tomorrow, he hopes that provincial governments will begin to support a change to the current laws, he said.

“I think it is part of a building process,” Corrigan said.  “Polls and general public opinion indicate that the public wants to find a way to resolve the issue.  They want to find a way to regulate rather than prohibit, and they want to find a way that they can discourage the use of marijuana among young people, and end the lock that crime has on the production of marijuana and distribution of marijuana.”

He hopes this is a movement that spreads across the rest of Canada, and that the issue plays a part in the next federal election, he added.

The open letter – signed by Mayor Corrigan as well as the mayors of Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, the District of Lake Country, Armstrong, Vernon, Enderby, and Metchosin – was put forward by the Stop the Violence B.C.  coalition.

The criminal justice system is overburdened and needs to focus its resources on serious crime, according to Neil Boyd, a professor with Simon Fraser University’s school of criminology.

Boyd joined the Stop the Violence B.C.  coalition after being approached by Dr.  Evan Wood, who started the coalition.

Boyd spoke to the NOW in February, saying he has advocated for marijuana law reform for many years.

“Unlike the other illegal drugs, which are used by less than one per cent of the population, marijuana is used by more than 10 per cent of the population,” he said.  “Given that it isn’t nearly as dangerous a drug, for most people in most circumstances, from a public health perspective, as alcohol or tobacco.”

The focus on the issue by former and current public figures followed a number of public shootings in Vancouver and Surrey during the winter, which police have indicated are likely gang-related.

The most high profile incident was the shooting death of Sandip Duhre at the Wall Centre Hotel in Vancouver on Jan.  17.

An Angus Reid poll, commissioned by the coalition this winter, that found that 77 per cent of British Columbians did not agree that marijuana possession should be a criminal offence and that 78 per cent said they were dissatisfied with the way politicians at the provincial level responded to problems stemming from the illegal marijuana industry.

Julie Di Mambro, press secretary for federal justice minister Rob Nicholson, did not address the issue of legalization in her statement to the NOW in February but made it clear things are not going to change any time soon.

“Our government is committed to ensuring criminals are held fully accountable for their actions and that the safety and security of law-abiding Canadians come first in Canada’s judicial system,” she wrote in an email.  “We will continue to fight crime and protect Canadians so that our communities are safe places for people to live, raise their families and do business.”

For the entire open letter from the mayors, go to www.stoptheviolencebc.org and click on the link for B.C.  Mayors Call for Taxation and Regulation of Marijuana.

Source: Burnaby Now, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Lower Mainland Publishing Group Inc.
Contact: editorial@burnabynow.com
Website: http://www.burnabynow.com/
Author: Janaya Fuller-Evans

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