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Press Release

MPP of Nevada to Offer $10,000 Challenge: Marijuana is Safer Than Alcohol

MEDIA ADVISORY   
SEPTEMBER 21, 2009

 

MPP of Nevada to Offer $10,000 Challenge:
Marijuana is Safer Than Alcohol -- Prove Us Wrong and We'll Pay $10,000

Press Conference Sept. 23 to Reveal Details


PHOTO-OP: Large Mock Check For $10,000


CONTACT: Dave Schwartz,  MPP-NV Manager...................................................702-727-1081


LAS VEGAS -- At a Las Vegas news conference Sept. 23, the Marijuana Policy Project of Nevada will announce details of a $10,000 challenge to the people of Nevada. MPP-NV will pay $10,000 to anyone who can disprove three statements of fact that demonstrate that marijuana is objectively and unquestionably safer than alcohol.


     MPP-NV manager Dave Schwartz will unveil a large mock check for $10,000 as he announces specifics of the challenge, which kicks off a long-term public education campaign regarding the relative harms of marijuana and alcohol, and the harm caused by marijuana prohibition.


     WHAT: News conference to announce the Marijuana Policy Project of Nevada's $10,000 challenge


     WHO: MPP-NV manager Dave Schwartz


     WHEN: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 11:00 a.m.


     WHERE:  Near the emergency room entrance of University Medical Center Hospital (behind the hospital), corner of Goldring Avenue and Rose Street, Las Vegas.

     MPP of Nevada is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating Nevadans about the true nature of marijuana and about the harms caused by marijuana prohibition in the state. For more information about MPP of Nevada, please visit http://www.mppnv.org.

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TV Ads Air, Pleading for Medical Marijuana Law Despite Rejection by CBS, ABC, Fox

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
SEPTEMBER 16, 2009    

TV Ads Air, Pleading for Medical Marijuana Law Despite Rejection by CBS, ABC, Fox
Spots Debut in Key NY Districts as Local Polls Show Strong Support


CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205


ALBANY, NEW YORK -- Two new TV ads featuring patients who have benefited from medical marijuana began airing today in media markets covering key New York Senate districts. Rejected by ABC, CBS and Fox, the spots will nevertheless air on WNBC in New York City and on cable outlets around the state, including the New York City, Buffalo and Rochester metropolitan areas, Westchester and Rockland counties and the rest of the Lower Hudson Valley, Watertown, Oswego, and Ogdensburg.


     Local polls in these districts show overwhelming, bipartisan support for medical marijuana legislation. For example, Mason-Dixon polls conducted Sept. 1-3 in Senate Districts 12 (Queens), 48 (Watertown, Oswego), and 58 (Buffalo and nearby areas) showed support for the legislation running at 72 percent, 69 percent, and 74 percent, respectively. Full results of these and earlier district polls on the medical marijuana bill are at mpp.org/nypolls2009. A separate set of polls from 2007 is at http://www.mpp.org/nypoll2007.


     One of the spots features Conservative Party member Joel Peacock of Buffalo, who suffers from chronic pain as the result of a serious accident. In the ad, he describes running out of his prescription medication while on a work assignment in the south after Hurricane Katrina and being given marijuana by a client. "It took away the pain," Peacock says in the ad. "It took away the nausea. I didn't have stomach cramps. I slept. It just did everything my medicine doesn't do. Please, ask your senator to have compassion."


     Both spots, sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project and New Yorkers for Compassionate Care, can be viewed at mpp.org/NYTVads. In nearly all areas, the ads are customized to name the specific state senator who voters should contact (in New York City and Orange County, the configuration of Senate districts and TV markets made this impractical).

     Kevin Smith, M.D., of Saugerties, who appears in the second spot and who suffers severe pain from a genetic disorder known as ankylosing spondilitis, was angered by the stations' rejection of the ads. "As a patient whose well-being would be dramatically improved by the medical marijuana bill, I am appalled that these TV stations won't even let us tell our stories to their viewers," Smith said. "These stations are out of touch with the public, 76 percent of whom support protecting patients."

 

     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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Press Release: 33 U.S. Clinical Studies Show Marijuana's Medical Use, New Journal Article Says

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

33 U.S. Clinical Studies Show Marijuana's Medical Use, Journal of Opioid Management Article Says
Contrary to Opponents' Claims, Controlled Studies Have Repeatedly Demonstrated Safety, Efficacy


CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205


SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- In a landmark article in the Journal of Opioid Management, University of Washington researcher Sunil Aggarwal and colleagues document 33 U.S. controlled clinical trials published from 1971 to 2009 confirming that marijuana is a safe, effective medicine for specific medical conditions.    


     Under federal law, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, defining it as having high potential for abuse, unsafe for use even under medical supervision, and lacking currently accepted medical uses in the U.S. "In fact," Aggarwal and colleagues write, "nearly all of the 33 published controlled clinical trials conducted in the United States have shown significant and measurable benefits in subjects receiving the treatment."  Additionally, the paper documents the growing acceptance of the therapeutic use of marijuana among organized medicine groups and estimates that "in 2008, approximately 7,000 American physicians have made such authorizations for a total of approximately 400,000 patients."


     Regarding abuse and safety issues, Aggarwal et al. write that withdrawal symptoms -- a classic symptom of drug dependence -- are notably absent from the published trials, while "the vast majority of reported adverse events were not serious ... It is clear that as an analgesic, cannabis is extremely safe with minimal toxicity."


     Unfortunately, the article continues, ignorance regarding marijuana remains widespread in the medical community. "There remains a near complete absence of education about cannabinoid medicine in any level of medical training," Aggarwal writes.


     "This is arguably the most thorough review of the literature on medical marijuana since the Institute of Medicine report over a decade ago, with a trove of data that wasn't available to the IOM," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "It is simply incomprehensible that a medicine that is so clearly safe and effective remains banned from medical use by federal law and the laws of 37 states."


     The article, "Medicinal Use of Cannabis in the United States: Historical Perspectives, Current Trends, and Future Directions," is available at http://tinyurl.com/m9oo44. A complete list of the 33 U.S. clinical trials is available from Sunil Aggarwal at [email protected] or 206-375-3785.


     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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Press Release: New FBI numbers show failure of prohibition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 14, 2009 CONTACT: Tom Angell - (202) 557-4979 or [email protected] ONE DRUG ARREST EVERY 18 SECONDS IN THE U.S. NEW FBI NUMBERS SHOW FAILURE OF "WAR ON DRUGS" WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A group of police and judges who want to legalize drugs pointed to new FBI numbers released today as evidence that the "war on drugs" is a failure that can never be won. The data, from the FBI's "Crime in the United States" report, shows that in 2008 there were 1,702,537 arrests for drug law violations, or one drug arrest every 18 seconds. "In our current economic climate, we simply cannot afford to keep arresting more than three people every minute in the failed 'war on drugs,'" said Jack Cole, a retired undercover narcotics detective who now heads the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). "Plus, if we legalized and taxed drug sales, we could actually create new revenue in addition to the money we'd save from ending the cruel policy of arresting users." Last December, LEAP commissioned a report by a Harvard University economist which found that legalizing and regulating drugs would inject $77 billion a year into the struggling U.S. economy. Today's FBI report, which can be found at http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2008/arrests/index.html, shows that 82.3 percent of all drug arrests in 2008 were for possession only, and 44.3 percent of drug arrests were for possession of marijuana. Pointing to the collateral consequences that often follow drug arrests, LEAP's Cole continued, "You can get get over an addiction, but you will never get over a conviction." Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) is a 13,000-member organization representing cops, judges, prosecutors, prison wardens and others who now want to legalize and regulate all drugs after witnessing horrors and injustices fighting on the front lines of the "war on drugs." More info online at http://www.CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com. # # #

Press Release: Marijuana Arrests Drop for First Time Since 2002

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Marijuana Arrests Drop for First Time Since 2002
Five Years of Record Arrests Had No Effect on Rate of Marijuana Use


CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. marijuana arrests declined in 2008 - the first such drop since 2002 -- according to figures released by the FBI today. According to the just-released Uniform Crime Reports, U.S. law enforcement made 847,863 arrests on marijuana charges, 89 percent of which were for possession, not sale or manufacture -- more arrests for marijuana possession than for all violent crimes combined. An American was arrested on marijuana charges every 37 seconds.


     Marijuana arrests peaked in 2007 at over 872,000.


     The new report comes on the heels of the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released Sept. 10, which showed an increase in both the number and percentage of Americans who admit having used marijuana. In  2003, when marijuana arrests set what was then an all-time record of 755,186, 40.6 percent of Americans aged 12 and over said they had used marijuana. In 2008, that figure was 41 percent, or 102,404,000 Americans willing to tell government survey-takers that they had used marijuana.


     "This slight dip in the number of marijuana arrests provides a small amount of relief to the tens of millions of American marijuana consumers who have been under attack by their own government for decades," said Marijuana Policy Project executive director Rob Kampia. "It's time to stop wasting billions of tax dollars criminalizing responsible Americans for using a substance that's safer than alcohol, and to put an end to policies that simply hand this massive consumer market to unregulated criminals."


     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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Press Release: Revelations of DEA Participation in San Diego Medical Marijuana Raids Raises Questions about White House Policy toward State Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 10, 2009 Contact: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli at (213) 291-4190 or Tommy McDonald at (510) 229 5215 Revelations of DEA Participation in San Diego Medical Marijuana Raids Raises Questions about White House Policy toward State Law Advocates Criticize Feds for Supporting Local Political Agenda, Not the Law SAN DIEGO – At a press conference today, San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis described how a number of San Diego medical marijuana dispensaries were raided by local and federal agents yesterday. Advocates condemned the raids and arrests of patients, and criticized federal involvement in a local political effort to restrict legal access to medical marijuana. “We’re extremely disappointed that the feds participated in this attack on patients. The priority of the White House should be protecting patients, not helping local officials enforce oppressive restrictions,” said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance. “Any concerns that the District Attorney may have will not be resolved through SWAT-style tactics like pulling people from their wheelchairs, as we saw yesterday.” Medical marijuana was legalized in California in 1996, when voters approved Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act. San Diego County filed suit to try to overturn the state law in 2004; that effort came to an end in May when the US Supreme Court refused to hear the county’s final appeal. In August, the county enacted a 45-day moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries in unincorporated areas to so the county could develop land-use regulations. On Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted 6-1 to establish a citizen’s taskforce to create regulations governing the supply of medical marijuana. According to San Diego’s Channel 10, the taskforce will devise “guidelines for medical marijuana patients and caregivers, the operation of dispensaries and growing cooperatives and the ground rules for police enforcement.” “The federal government has no business enforcing state and local medical marijuana laws. It’s our local governments’ job to regulate medical marijuana and enforce those rules – not with armed raids, but with civil actions,” said Ms. Dooley-Sammuli. “The Obama administration has allowed Ms. Dumanis to use federal resources to further obstruct implementation of Prop 215 as she prepares to run for re-election in 2010. The people of San Diego deserve better.” The involvement of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in yesterday’s raids came as a surprise to some, because of statements by both President Obama and US Attorney General Eric Holder that suggested that the federal government would reduce its involvement in such enforcement actions in states where medical marijuana is legal. ###

Press Release: Drug Survey Release Thurs. Raises Questions for New Drug Czar

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
SEPTEMBER 9, 2009

Drug Survey Release Thursday Raises Questions For New Drug Czar
Reformers Wonder: Is Kerlikowske's Promise of Smarter, Science-Based Policies Real?


CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This Thursday's scheduled release of the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health marks a critical test for new White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske, officials of the Marijuana Policy Project said today. The tone and priorities Kerlikowske stresses, they said, will offer important clues about whether the Obama administration will continue the failed marijuana policies of the past or make meaningful changes.


     "Gil Kerlikowske deserves credit for shifting the emphasis away from his predecessor's obsession with marijuana and toward true dangers like meth and prescription drug abuse, but that's small potatoes if he is afraid to tackle the reality of failed marijuana policies," said MPP director of government relations Aaron Houston.


     Houston noted that the previous drug czar,  John Walters, was notorious for cherry-picking statistics to create the illusion of success -- claiming progress, for example, even though last year's survey showed an increase in the overall number of illicit drug users and in illicit use of highly dangerous prescription drugs like OxyContin. He urged Kerlikowske to adopt a new policy of honesty.


     "Kerlikowske has said repeatedly, 'Legalization is not in my vocabulary,'" Houston said. "In that case, let's talk about regulation. Let's talk about how teen marijuana use is up since the early 1990s while teen cigarette smoking is way, way down -- because regulation of cigarettes gives society some control over the businesses that produce and market tobacco. We can control marijuana and take profits away from the murderous Mexican drug cartels, but first we'll need to acknowledge that what we've been doing hasn't worked and can't ever work."


     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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Press Release: Seton Hall Center for Health & Pharm Law Supports NJ Medical Marijuana Act

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 27, 2009 CONTACT: Ken @ (609) 394-2137 Seton Hall Center for Health & Pharm Law Supports NJ Medical Marijuana Act WHO: Seton Hall University School of Law Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy WHAT: Published support for the “New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act” WHEN: August 26, 2009 WHERE: A Position Paper in HEALTH REFORM WATCH available at: http://www.healthreformwatch.com/2009/08/26/position-paper-in-support-of-the-new-jersey-compassionate-use-medical-marijuana-act/ WHY: Because the legislation has been carefully drafted to allow New Jersey residents with debilitating medical conditions access to marijuana to ease their suffering without creating an undue risk of abuse or diversion. The Seton Hall University Center for Health & Pharmaceutical Law & Policy published a Position Paper today that supports the passage of the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. The Center said that the legislation has been carefully drafted to allow New Jersey residents with debilitating medical conditions access to marijuana to ease their suffering without creating an undue risk of abuse or diversion. The Center cited available medical evidence that supports the use of marijuana to treat each of the debilitating medical conditions set forth in the Act: AIDS/HIV; cachexia (wasting syndrome); cancer; glaucoma; severe and persistent muscle spasms; severe nausea; severe or chronic pain; and seizures. The Center also addressed the issues of abuse and diversion. The Center noted that no state that has passed a medical marijuana law has subsequently experienced an increase in recreational marijuana use among its children and youth. The Act’s multiple safeguards against abuse and diversion of medical marijuana provide further reassurance, it noted. If passed, the Act would be among the most restrictive of all the states’ medical marijuana laws. Thirteen states, covering about 25% of the U.S. population, currently have medical marijuana programs. On February 23, the New Jersey Senate voted 22-16 to pass S119, the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. The Assembly health committee voted 8-1 to pass an amended version of the bill on June 4. The bill must now pass the full Assembly. If the amended bill clears the Assembly, it would return to the Senate for a second vote because of the changes before it goes to Gov. Jon Corzine (D), who has said that he will sign the bill if it makes it to his desk. The mission of the Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, a 501(c)(3) public charity, is to educate the public about the benefits of safe and legal access to medical marijuana. The Coalition is grateful for this well-researched and well-written Position Paper. For more info, contact: Ken Wolski, RN, MPA, Executive Director Coalition for Medical Marijuana--New Jersey, Inc. www.cmmnj.org 844 Spruce St., Trenton, NJ 08648 609.394.2137 [email protected]

Press Release: California Senate Urges New Federal Policy on Medical Marijuana

[Courtesy of Americans for Safe Access] For Immediate Release: August 25, 2009 Contact: Kris Hermes at 510-251-1856 x307 California Senate Urges New Federal Policy on Medical Marijuana Recent enforcement actions in medical marijuana states underscore need for change Sacramento, CA -- The California Senate voted 23-15 yesterday on a resolution that urges the federal government to end medical marijuana raids and to "create a comprehensive federal medical marijuana policy that ensures safe and legal access to any patient that would benefit from it." Recent federal enforcement activity underscores the need for Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 14, introduced in June by State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco). Although President Obama has signaled a willingness to change federal policy on medical marijuana, his Administration has yet to come forward with an actual implementation plan. In a previous statement, Senator Leno stated that, "Patients and providers in California remain at risk of arrest and prosecution by federal law enforcement and legally established medical marijuana cooperatives continue to be the subjects of federal raids." Once passed, "this resolution will clearly state the Legislature's opposition to federal interference with California's medical marijuana law and support for expanded federal reform and medical research," continued Leno. In the last two weeks, federal agents conducted multiple raids on medical marijuana providers in both California and Colorado. On August 12, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Internal Revenue Service, and local police carried out a paramilitary-style raid on a medical marijuana provider in Los Angeles. The government claimed that the raided facility had failed to submit state sales tax revenues despite a lack of corroboration by the California Board of Equalization. Then, on August 14, during an investigation on an unrelated matter, FBI agents raided a medical marijuana provider in Denver, Colorado, causing the facility to shut down. Most recently, on August 18, five people were arrested in Upper Lake, California on federal charges after DEA agents seized 154 plants from what defendants claim was a medical marijuana cultivation site. The search warrant in the Upper Lake raid has been indefinitely sealed, preventing any scrutiny of the government's actions. These and at least a half-dozen other actions that have occurred since President Obama took office seem to contradict repeated statements made by the Obama Administration about a new federal policy with regard to medical marijuana. "Not only do we need an end to these harmful federal raids and unnecessary interference in state medical marijuana laws," said Don Duncan, California Director with Americans for Safe Access, the nationwide medical marijuana advocacy group and sponsor of SJR 14. "The entire country would benefit from a sensible, comprehensive medical marijuana policy." SJR 14 urges President Obama and Congress to "move quickly to end federal raids, intimidation, and interference with state medical marijuana law." But, it goes further by asking the government to establish "an affirmative defense to medical marijuana charges in federal court and establish federal legal protection for individuals authorized by state and local law..." Because of the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gonzales v. Raich, federal medical marijuana defendants are prevented from using a medical or state law defense. "With more than two dozen of these defendants currently being prosecuted by the Justice Department, each of them facing many years in prison, such a change to Justice Department policy would be timely, relevant and critically important," continued Duncan. The resolution also addresses the need to expand research into the medical benefits of marijuana, a recommendation of the White House-commissioned Institute of Medicine report from 1999. Currently, a federal monopoly on the cultivation of marijuana for research purposes has stifled the ability to conduct FDA-approved scientific studies. To address this, the resolution urges the President and Congress "to adopt policies and laws to encourage advanced clinical research trials into the therapeutic use of marijuana." SJR 14 now proceeds to the California Assembly, and if passed the non-binding resolution will become law without needing the approval of Governor Schwarzenegger. Further information: Senate Joint Resolution on medical marijuana: http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/SJR_14.pdf ASA fact sheet on SJR 14: http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/SJR14_Fact_Sheet.pdf Yesterday's Senate vote count: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_0001-0050/sjr_14_vote_200908 24_1259PM_sen_floor.html # # #

Press Release: Study -- Marijuana May Protect Against Alcohol Brain Damage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
AUGUST 21, 2009   

Study: Marijuana May Protect Against Alcohol Brain Damage

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications ............... 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A study just published online by the journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology suggests that marijuana may protect the brain from some of the damage caused by binge drinking.

     The study, by researchers at the University of California San Diego, used a type of high-tech scan called diffusion tensor imaging to compare microscopic changes in brain white matter. The subjects were students aged 16-to-19, divided into three groups: binge drinkers (defined as having five or more drinks at one sitting for boys or four or more for girls), binge drinkers who also smoked marijuana, and a control group who had very little or no experience with either alcohol or drugs.

     As expected, the binge-drinking-only group showed evidence of white matter damage in eight regions examined, as demonstrated by lower fractional anisotropy (FA) scores. But in a finding the researchers describe as "unexpected," the binge-drinking/marijuana group had lower FA scores than the controls in only three of eight regions, and in seven regions the binge-drinking/marijuana group had higher scores -- indicating less damage -- than the binge drinkers who did not use marijuana.

     Brain white matter tracts were "more coherent in adolescents who binge drink and use marijuana than in adolescents who report only binge drinking," the researchers wrote. "It is possible that marijuana may have some neuroprotective properties in mitigating alcohol-related oxidative stress or excitotoxic cell death," as has already been shown in lab and animal studies.

     "This study suggests that not only is marijuana safer than alcohol, it may actually protect against some of the damage that booze causes," said Steve Fox, Marijuana Policy Project director of state campaigns and co-author of the new book, "Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?" (which hit number 17 on the Amazon.com bestseller list). "It's far better for teens not to drink or smoke marijuana, but our nation's leaders send a dangerous message by defending laws that encourage the use of alcohol over marijuana."

     REFERENCE: Jacobus, J. et al. "White matter integrity in adolescents with histories of marijuana use and binge drinking." Neurotoxicology and Teratology.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ntt.2009.07.006

     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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