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The Truth About Why Republican Candidates Oppose Medical Marijuana
McCain, Giuliani, and Romney have all attracted unwanted attention this week with their pledge to continue the federal government's unpopular war on medical marijuana patients and providers. The question is "why?" Everyone knows mainstream republican politicians are often a tough sell when it comes to drug policy reform, but given massive public support for medical marijuana, their callous position appears politically unwise and thus more difficult to explain.
First, it helps to clarify how narrow and simplistic their argument really is. The McCain/Giuliani/Romney consensus on medical marijuana is grounded in the claim that "other medications" are available and should be used instead. This one argument virtually encompasses the totality of their opposition to medical marijuana. It is their only talking point, which is why they move on quickly to the next topic after saying it.
Still, I don't believe this argument actually tells us very much about their true motivations. When Mitt Romney recommends "synthetic marijuana" to a wheelchair-bound patient, it becomes clear that he understands the medical efficacy of the drug. Indeed, these "other medications" are often derived from synthetic cannabinoids, so the debate is clearly not over whether marijuana has medical properties. We've moved beyond that, thankfully.
At this point, it becomes a question of how patients should be acquiring and administering their medicine. Giuliani and Romney both faltered when the patients they encountered explained that they were allergic to pharmaceutical alternatives to marijuana. If they take these patients at their word, they must then confront the insufficiency of these drugs and recognize the unique predicament in which certain patients find themselves. Perhaps this new information will sink in, but that is all beside the point.
Ultimately, McCain, Giuliani, and Romney have access to all the same facts about medical marijuana as everyone else. Their problem is not a misunderstanding of the issue. They've met and spoken with the patients. They know doctors are recommending it. Their real concerns have nothing whatsoever to do with the medical efficacy of marijuana. They are worried about something else entirely:
First, it helps to clarify how narrow and simplistic their argument really is. The McCain/Giuliani/Romney consensus on medical marijuana is grounded in the claim that "other medications" are available and should be used instead. This one argument virtually encompasses the totality of their opposition to medical marijuana. It is their only talking point, which is why they move on quickly to the next topic after saying it.
Still, I don't believe this argument actually tells us very much about their true motivations. When Mitt Romney recommends "synthetic marijuana" to a wheelchair-bound patient, it becomes clear that he understands the medical efficacy of the drug. Indeed, these "other medications" are often derived from synthetic cannabinoids, so the debate is clearly not over whether marijuana has medical properties. We've moved beyond that, thankfully.
At this point, it becomes a question of how patients should be acquiring and administering their medicine. Giuliani and Romney both faltered when the patients they encountered explained that they were allergic to pharmaceutical alternatives to marijuana. If they take these patients at their word, they must then confront the insufficiency of these drugs and recognize the unique predicament in which certain patients find themselves. Perhaps this new information will sink in, but that is all beside the point.
Ultimately, McCain, Giuliani, and Romney have access to all the same facts about medical marijuana as everyone else. Their problem is not a misunderstanding of the issue. They've met and spoken with the patients. They know doctors are recommending it. Their real concerns have nothing whatsoever to do with the medical efficacy of marijuana. They are worried about something else entirely:
"But having legalized marijuana is in my view an effort by a very committed few to try to get marijuana out in the public and to ultimately legalize marijuana. It's the wrong way to go." â Mitt Romney
"I believe the effort to try and make marijuana available for medical uses is really a way to legalize it. There's no reason for it." â Rudy Giuliani
This tells us everything there is to know about opposition to medical marijuana from republican presidential candidates, and for that matter, the Drug Czar himself. The whole anti-medical marijuana machine is merely a conspiracy to prevent the outright legalization of marijuana. Its adherents are fearful that telling the truth about the drug's medical value will pave the way for a shift in public attitudes about marijuana in general. They dread the "marijuana lobby" and will concede nothing to it, even if doing so forces them to take unpopular and transparently flawed positions on medical use.
Cynically, they focus on the role of marijuana legalization advocates in promoting medical access, while ignoring the much larger constituency of medical marijuana supporters who donât advocate recreational legalization. That is why support for medical marijuana from mainstream organizations such as the American Nurses Association and the American Public Health Association is ignored, while the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project's position is cited routinely.
Of course, when the truth about medical marijuana becomes a political hostage in the broader legalization debate, it is legitimate patients rather than marijuana activists who suffer the consequences. Fortunately, the rise of internet video has given voters a front row seat in this enduring and increasingly ugly debate. The next victims in the war on medical marijuana may be those candidates who would sacrifice the seriously ill to drug war politics.
In The Trenches
Press Release: Hundreds to Rally in LA, Urge Governor to End Federal Medical Marijuana Raids
MEDIA ADVISORY from Americans for Safe Access
For Immediate Release: October 9, 2007
Hundreds to Rally in LA, Urge Governor to End Federal Medical Marijuana Raids
Republican elected officials speak out against federal attempts to undermine state law
Los Angeles, CA -- Hundreds of patients and advocates are expected to rally in front of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Los Angeles office on Thursday, October 11, calling on him to stand up for patients' rights and defend the state's medical marijuana law by urging the Bush Administration to end the raids on patients and providers. The rally is being organized by Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a national medical cannabis (marijuana) advocacy organization.
What: Hundreds rally to call on Governor to "Stand Up for Patients' Rights"
When: Thursday, October 11 at Noon
Where: Los Angeles office of Governor Schwarzenegger, 300 South Spring St.
Who: Statements from Los Angeles City Councilmember and former LAPD officer Dennis Zine, and Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby; as well as the following speakers: medical marijuana patient and U.S. Supreme Court plaintiff Angel Raich; raided dispensary operator and advocate Don Duncan; recently raided edible-producer Michael Martin. ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer will MC the event
Responding to recent federal enforcement of medical marijuana, Los Angeles Councilmember and former police officer Dennis Zine said in a July 2007 letter to Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Karen Tandy that, "Voters in California and in Los Angeles support the medical use of cannabis and want safe, well-regulated access. Medical cannabis facilities are a community based response to the need for safe access and represent the State of California's effort to fully implement California's medical cannabis law."
Patients and advocates, angered by increased federal attacks on medical marijuana patients and providers, are calling on Governor Schwarzenegger to take action to end interference by the federal government in the state's medical marijuana law. Paramilitary-style raids by the DEA have become routine since the June 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Gonzales v. Raich, which gave the federal government the discretion to arrest and prosecute patients.
However, this year the DEA has conducted at least 44 separate raids of patients and providers, more than twice that of the prior two years.
Illustrating the breadth of these attacks, the DEA has conducted raids in no less than 10 counties across the state and has shut down entire regions of access to medical marijuana. Bringing a new dimension to the federal effort to undermine state law, letters were recently sent to more than 150 landlords in California, threatening asset forfeiture and criminal prosecution if they continued to lease to medical marijuana providers.
By contrast, the state has had its share of success in implementing Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act. After Governor Davis signed SB 420, the Medical Marijuana Program Act (MMPA), into law in 2003, Governor Schwarzenegger allocated more than $1 million to establish a statewide ID card program. In addition, more than 30 California cities and counties have adopted ordinances regulating medical cannabis dispensaries, which are now required to pay sales tax to the State Board of Equalization.
"We cannot continue to effectively implement state law with this level of federal interference," said ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer. "It is time for the Governor to hold the Bush Administration accountable for its actions and to fend off federal attacks so that we can avert further harm to patients."
The October 11 rally will culminate weeks of advocacy that resulted in more than 40,000 postcards sent to the Governor, as well as hundreds of phone calls and emails, all urging him to take action to defend patients' rights. In addition to calling on the Governor to end the federal raids on patients and providers, advocates are seeking a directive from the Governor to local law enforcement discouraging cooperation with federal raids. Advocates are also urging Schwarzenegger to solicit support from Governors of other medical marijuana states in order to ward off federal interference. In August, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson sent a letter to President Bush after the DEA threatened state officials with criminal prosecution if they implemented the state-mandated medical cannabis distribution system.
In The Trenches
North Wales: Drugs prohibition is âunworkable and immoralâ says Chief Constable
From Transform Drug Policy Foundation
For Immediate Release: October 10 2007
Drugs prohibition is âunworkable and immoralâ says Chief Constable
The Chief Constable of North Wales Police Richard Brunstorm, recommends in a report published today, that his Police Authority officially support his call for the legalisation and regulation of drugs, as part of their submission to the drug strategy consultation being conducted by the Government. He also recommends that they affiliate to Transform Drug Policy Foundation. The Authority meets on Monday 15 October to discuss the recommendations.
Danny Kushlick, Transform Director said:
"We are absolutely delighted at Mr Brunstromâs paper. The Chief Constable has displayed great leadership and imagination in very publicly calling for a drug policy that replaces the evident failings of prohibition with a legal system of regulation and control for potentially dangerous drugsâ.
âMr Brunstromâs call is less surprising when you consider that prohibition, and the illegal markets it creates, is the single largest cause of crime in the UK, generating £100 billion in crime costs alone over the last ten years. As a senior policeman he has witnessed first hand the counter productive effects of abdicating responsibility for this dangerous trade to unregulated and often violent criminals. His call for drug markets to be brought back within the sphere of Government control stands in enlightened contrast to the populist law and order posturing of our Prime Minister, who recently announced that âdrugs are never going to be decriminalisedâ.â
âThe current Government consultation on the drug strategy has inexplicably ruled out any discussion of alternatives to prohibition, despite the policyâs systematic failure over a number of decades. Mr Brunstromâs paper puts these pragmatic alternatives firmly back on the table, where they should be, if a meaningful debate about âwhat worksâ is to be entertained. It is to be hoped that the Police Authority support the Chief Constableâs recommendations and that other Police Authorities seriously examine the impact of enforcing prohibition. It signals the start of a renewed critique of prohibition, which Mr Brunstromâs paper describes as âboth unworkable and immoralâ and should force the Home Office and indeed Government to take the issue far more seriously than it has until now. An enormous amount of respect is due to the Chief Constable for supporting a âpragmatic and ethicalâ policy, despite its taboo nature in front line party politics. Those that denounce him should be wary of relying on what Mr Brunstrom calls âmoralistic dogmaâ.â
Notes for Editors:
The drugs paper was announced on the HYPERLINK http://www.north-wales.police.uk/nwpv2/en/about/coblogs.asp
The full paper is available in pdf here: HYPERLINK http://www.north-wales.police.uk/portal/files/folders/acpoblogs/entry3817.aspx