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[Courtesy of CA NORML] SACRAMENTO, March 18th: Medical marijuana advocates appealed to the state Board of Equalization to recognize their contribution to California's sales taxes revenues and stand up for their right to "taxation with representation." The Board heard testimony from ASA, CA NORML, and half a dozen dispensary owners concerned about harassment by DEA despite paying sales taxes to the BOE. Speaking for ASA, Rebecca Saltzman reminded the Board that California's dispensaries are generating some $100 million in sales tax revenues, but are nonetheless being threatened with raids, arrest and asset seizure by the DEA. She asked the Board to stand up for the dispensaries and urge the Governor to do likewise. Cal NORML coordinator Dale Gieringer testified that the total retail market for medical cannabis is around $870 million to $2 billion per year in California, enough to generate $70 to $160 million in sales taxes, according to a report by Oakland's Measure Z marijuana oversight committee: http://www.canorml.org/background/OakFinancialReportRelse.htm. He noted that DEA raids have robbed the state of millions in dollars of sales tax revenues, and that the DEA had even gone so far as to confiscate sales tax payment checks in the process of their transfer to the BOE. http://www.canorml.org/news/DEASeizesStateTax$$_relse.htm Lisa Sawoya, director of Hollywood Compassionate Care in LA, testified that she had begun paying sales taxes in 2006 and had voluntarily sent the board six months' back taxes, but was nonetheless subsequently raided and shut down by the DEA. Dona Frank of Organic Cannabis Foundation in Sonoma Co. testified that her group had paid $500K in sales taxes in 2007, and would continue to do so, but had nonetheless been forced to move on account of DEA landlord letters. She called on the board to "stand up" against the DEA's actions. Lisa Molyneux of Greenway Compassionate Relief in Santa Cruz said she was providing workers with employment, benefits and health insurance, in addition to paying taxes, but that DEA raids were putting these revenues at risks. Rebeccca De Keuster of Berkeley Patients' Group said that dispensaries were caught in a "Catch-22" situation. She testified that the DEA had seized $100K that BPG had saved up to pay taxes, and that their raids appeared to be timed to the last week of the month, just before bills are paid. Bill Pearce, director of the River City Patients' Dispensary in Sacramento, testified that he had paid $700K in sales taxes to the BOE plus $250K more to the IRS and Franchise Tax Board, before being shut down and having assets seized by the DEA. Tariq Alazraie, manager of Purple Heart Caregivers and the former Mason St dispensary in S.F., said the board had an obligation to stand up for dispensaries, given that it was recognizing them by accepting their tax payments. State BOE member Betty Yee urged her colleagues to heed advocates' testimony, saying she felt a "tremendous sense of responsibility on this issue," and it would "not be a pretty picture" if dispensaries were driven back underground. BOE member Bill Leonard, one of the Board's Republicans, said he was concerned about allegations that the board might have shared confidential information with federal investigators, noting that confidentiality laws strictly forbid any such cooperation except by subpoena. Medical cannabis activists left the hearings with the impression that the Board had given them serious attention, and hopeful that their objections to " taxation without representation" will be heard by other public officials, including the Governor. -- California NORML, 2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114 -(415) 563- 5858 - www.canorml.org

For Immediate Release: March 18th, 2008 Contact: Tony Newman (646) 335-5384 or Bill Piper (202) 669-6430 New Report Evaluates U.S. Methamphetamine Policies, Recommends Comprehensive and Integrated “Four Pillars” Response California, New Mexico and Utah Cited as States with Exemplary Methamphetamine Policies Federal Government Criticized for Short-Changing Treatment and Public Health At a tele-press conference today, the Drug Policy Alliance released a groundbreaking report that evaluates current state and federal methamphetamine policies and recommends major reforms. The report, entitled “A Four-Pillars Approach to Methamphetamine: Policies for Effective Drug Prevention, Treatment, Policing and Harm Reduction,” is the first report in the U.S. to lay out a “four pillars” approach to addressing methamphetamine abuse. In Geneva, Zurich, Frankfurt, Sydney and other major cities around the world, most notably Vancouver, the four pillars approach to substance abuse has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the number of users consuming drugs on the street, a significant drop in overdose deaths, and a reduction in the infection rates for HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. “The U.S. government has taken a punitive, supply-side approach to methamphetamine for more than 40 years, and at every step of the way this approach has enriched organized crime, made street methamphetamine more potent, and worsened meth-related problems,“ said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance and author of the new report. “It’s time for a demand-side approach that prioritizes treatment, public health and family unity.” Other speakers included Reena Szczepanski, director of DPA New Mexico and a member of the Mid Region Council of Governments’ Methamphetamine Task Force; Lou Martinez, a former methamphetamine user and graduate of California’s successful treatment-instead-of-incarceration program, Proposition 36; and Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, statewide Prop. 36 coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance. The report makes numerous recommendations for improving U.S. prevention, treatment, policing and harm reduction efforts, including: - Eliminate barriers to successful meth treatment, such as the shortage of treatment programs for pregnant and parenting women; - Divert nonviolent methamphetamine offenders to treatment instead of jail; - Invest in research to develop the equivalent of methadone and buprenorphine for the treatment of methamphetamine abuse, and allow doctors to prescribe dextroamphetmaine, modafinil, Ritalin and other medications to treat stimulant addiction as part of counseling and drug treatment; - Eliminate failed, scare-based prevention programs like D.A.R.E. and the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, and increase funding for after-school programs instead; - Re-prioritize local and federal law enforcement agencies to focus on violent criminals instead of nonviolent drug offenders, and set clear statutory goals and reporting requirements for the disruption of major methamphetamine operations; and - Make sterile syringes widely available to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. While the report concludes that the federal government has failed to enact an effective methamphetamine strategy, it finds that several states are already leading the way, including California, New Mexico and Utah. California’s Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act (Proposition 36) has proven to be the nation’s most systematic public health response to methamphetamine to date. This landmark measure, approved by 61% of voters, diverts approximately 35,000 persons from jail to drug treatment every year—over half of whom identify methamphetamine as their primary illegal drug. No other statewide program in the nation has offered treatment to or graduated more methamphetamine users than Proposition 36. In the process, California taxpayers have saved more than $1.3 billion over the program’s first six years. New Mexico is the only state to have developed a statewide methamphetamine strategy that combines prevention, treatment, policing, and harm reduction. This strategy is becoming a model for bringing together key stakeholders, fostering interagency collaboration, and implementing a coordinated methamphetamine strategy. In addition, DPA New Mexico is working with state agencies and the private sector to implement a youth methamphetamine education program funded by federal grant money that will serve as an alternative to the failed scare tactics of D.A.R.E., the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, and the Montana Meth Project. Utah recently enacted an innovative program that provides substance abuse screening and assessment to anyone convicted of a felony offense (drug- and non-drug-related). The results of these screenings and assessments are provided to the court before sentencing, allowing judges to divert certain offenders to treatment instead of jail. This program, the Drug Offender Reform Act (DORA), is based on a pilot program that has diverted more than 200 offenders in Salt Lake County to treatment instead of jail, many of whom have methamphetamine-related problems. The Utah Methamphetamine Joint Task Force recently rejected calls to develop scare-based TV ads in favor of developing a more realistic and uplifting prevention campaign. “Our country cannot incarcerate its way out of the methamphetamine problem,” said Piper. “Punitive policies have been exhaustively tried and they have failed, not just with methamphetamine, but also with cocaine, heroin, marijuana and numerous other drugs including alcohol during Prohibition. The federal government should follow the lead of California, New Mexico and Utah and emphasize treatment over incarceration.”