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Marc Emery Christmas Prison Blog

Marc Emery is approaching the halfway mark of his prison term. In a blog post on cannabisculture.com, "It's a Wonderful Life," he posts a few of the 3,500 letters of support he's received and reminds us that there are hundreds of thousands of nonviolent drug war prisoners in the US.

prison-overcrowding_1.jpg
prison-overcrowding_1.jpg

US Prison Population in First Decline Since 1972

The number of people in prison in the US has dropped for the first time since 1972, and the number of people under correctional supervision has declined for the second year in a row. Is a sea change at hand?
Javier Sicilia addressing conference, with translator Ana Paula Hernandez (photo courtesy HCLU, drogriporter.hu/en)
Javier Sicilia addressing conference, with translator Ana Paula Hernandez (photo courtesy HCLU, drogriporter.hu/en)

Mexico's Symbol of Drug War Resistance Says It's Our Fight, Too [FEATURE]

A panel at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference last week called on Americans to take action to help end the drug war in Mexico, even as Human Rights Watch releases as a damning report on government killings, tortures, and disappearances in the drug war.

Medical Marijuana Businesses Subject of Federal Tax Proposal Sponsored by Rep. Jared Polis

Marijuana businesses looking for help navigating the federal tax code are watching a congressional proposal sponsored by Colorado Rep. Jared Polis. Polis and other House members introduced legislation about medical marijuana. One of the bills would allow marijuana-related businesses to claim business deductions on their federal taxes. Currently the IRS does not permit marijuana-related business to claim business deductions.

Medical Marijuana Advocates Sue Federal Government Over Rescheduling Delay (Press Release)

For Immediate Release: May 23, 2011

Medical Marijuana Advocates Sue Federal Government Over Rescheduling Delay/Writ filed today in DC Circuit Court for unreasonable delay in answering 9-year-old petition

*Washington, DC* -- A Coalition of advocacy groups and patients filed suit in the DC Circuit Court today to compel the Obama administration to answer a 9-year-old petition to reclassify medical marijuana. The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis (CRC) has never received an answer to its 2002 petition, despite a formal recommendation in 2006 from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the final arbiter in the rescheduling process. As recently as July 2010, the DEA issued a 54-page "Position on Marijuana," but failed to even mention the pending CRC petition. Plaintiffs in the case include the CRC, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), Patients Out of Time, as well as individually named patients, one of whom is listed on the CRC petition but died in 2005.

"The federal government's strategy has been delay, delay, delay," said Joe Elford, Chief Counsel of ASA and lead counsel on the writ. "It is far past time for the government to answer our rescheduling petition, but unfortunately we've been forced to go to court in order to get resolution." The writ of mandamus filed today accuses the government of unreasonable delay in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. A previous cannabis (marijuana) rescheduling petition filed in 1972 went unanswered for 22 years before being denied.

The writ argues that cannabis is not a dangerous drug and that ample evidence of its therapeutic value exists based on scientific studies in the US and around the world. "Despite numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies establishing that marijuana is effective" in treating numerous medical conditions, the government "continues to deprive seriously ill persons of this needed, and often life-saving therapy by maintaining marijuana as a Schedule I substance." The writ calls out the government for unlawfully failing to answer the petition despite an Inter-Agency Advisory issued by the Food and Drug Administration in 2006 and "almost five years after receiving a 41-page memorandum from HHS stating its scientific evaluation and recommendations."

The two largest physician groups in the country -- the American Medical Association <http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/AMA_Report.pdf> and the American College of Physicians <http://www.acponline.org/advocacy/where_we_stand/other_issues/medmarijuana.pdf> -- have both called on the federal government to review marijuana's status as a Schedule I substance with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. The National Cancer Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health, added cannabis to its website earlier this year as a Complementary Alternative Medicine (CAM) and recognized that, "/Cannabis/ has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years prior to its current status as an illegal substance."

Medical marijuana has now been decriminalized in 16 states and the District of Columbia, and has an 80% approval rating among Americans according to several polls. In a 1988 ruling on a prior rescheduling petition, the DEA's own Administrative Law Judge Francis Young recommended in favor of reclassification stating that, "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man."

A formal rejection of the CRC petition would enable the group to challenge in court the government's assertion that marijuana has no medical value. "Adhering to outdated public policy that ignores science has created a war zone for doctors and their patients who are seeking use cannabis therapeutics," said Steph Sherer, Executive Director of ASA and a plaintiff in the writ. Jon Gettman, who filed the rescheduling petition on behalf of the CRC added that, "The Obama Administration's refusal to act on this petition is an irresponsible stalling tactic."

A synthetic form of THC, the main chemical ingredient in the cannabis plant, is currently classified Schedule III for its use in a prescribed pill trademarked as Marinol®. The pill goes off-patent this year and companies vying to sell generic versions are petitioning the government to also reclassify the more economical, naturally-derived THC (from the plant) to Schedule III. The rescheduling process involves federal agencies such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse, HHS, and DEA. On average, it takes 6 months from HHS review to final action, whereas it's been nearly 5 years since HHS issued its recommendation on the CRC petition, more than twice as long as any other rescheduling petition reviewed since 2002.

Further information:

Writ filed today: http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/CRC_Writ.pdf

ASA backgrounder on rescheduling:

http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/Rescheduling_Backgrounder.pdf

CRC rescheduling petition:

http://www.drugscience.org/PDF/Petition_Final_2002.pdf

2006 HHS recommendation:

http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/HHS_Rescheduling_Recommendation.pdf

2010 DEA Position on Marijuana:

http://www.justice.gov/dea/marijuana_position_july10.pdf

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Do Your Friends Support Medical Marijuana? (Action Alert)

 

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Dear friends,

Chances are, your friends and family support medical marijuana. But they probably don't know that medical marijuana programs and patients around the country are under attack by the federal government right now.

We're counting on you to let them know about the attacks and tell them how to help stop them. Thanks to supporters like you, the Attorney General has already received 13,803 messages. Help us double that number by forwarding the message below.

Sincerely,

Ethan Nadelmann
Executive Director
Drug Policy Alliance

--------FORWARD THE MESSAGE BELOW--------

Hi,

Did you know that medical marijuana programs across the country are under threat? Even though the Obama administration promised to leave medical marijuana alone, in the past few months the federal government has been threatening state officials, warning them that they still have the power to arrest and prosecute people who are legally licensed to grow and sell medical marijuana.

This is just crazy, because the laws haven't changed! Really, just a few lawyers in the federal government have been sending these letters to states where medical marijuana programs are just getting off the ground, in an effort to stop them. This scare tactic already worked in Washington State, and we can't let it happen anywhere else.

To put an end to this intimidation, we don't need any laws changed – we just need the Attorney General to tell the people sending the threats to stop. Click here, and join me in asking Attorney General Holder to keep the Obama administration's promise to leave medical marijuana alone!

Mexico Drug Prohibition Baron Named 'World’s Most Wanted' After Osama's Death

Enriched by drug prohibition, Joaquin Guzman Loera reportedly possesses a personal fortune capable of rivalling Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Loera is believed to be responsible for more deaths in the United States than bin Laden because of his drug transportation business and the inherent dangers associated with it created by prohibition.

Medical Marijuana Legislation Gets Another Shot in Washington State

Washington medical marijuana advocates have been trying to pass a bill to allow marijuana dispensaries. Last month, Governor Chris Gregoire vetoed large parts of their bill. She said it would’ve put state workers in the position of violating federal law. Gregoire says she wants all the states that allow medical marijuana to petition the federal government to reclassify cannabis as a schedule II drug. She scheduled a conference call among those states Thursday.