Press Release

For Immediate Release: March 13th, 2008 Contact: Tony Newman (646) 335-5384 or Bill Piper (222) 669-6430 New Report Evaluates U.S. Methamphetamine Policies, Recommends Comprehensive and Integrated Response California, New Mexico and Utah Cited as States with Exemplary Methamphetamine Policies Tuesday 1:00 PM EDT: Methamphetamine Experts Discuss New Report’s Recommendations and What They Mean for State and Federal Policymakers What: Tele-Press Conference When: Tuesday, March 18, 2008, 1:00 PM EDT Call in information: 1-800-311-9402, Passcode: Meth Report Who: Reena Szczepanski, director of DPA New Mexico and co-chair of Gov. Bill Richardson’s Methamphetamine Working Group New Mexico has developed a successful “four pillars” approach to methamphetamine that can serve as a model for other states and Congress. Lou Martinez, former meth user and graduate of California’s successful treatment-instead-of-incarceration program, Proposition 36 Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, statewide Prop. 36 coordinator for the Drug Policy Alliance Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance and author of the new report The Drug Policy Alliance, the nation’s leading organization advocating alternatives to the drug war, is releasing a report next week 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. New Mexico is the only U.S. state to have implemented a statewide “four pillars” methamphetamine strategy. 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. An advance copy of the report is available upon request. ###

[Courtesy of Drug Policy Alliance] For Immediate Release: March 12, 2008 For More Info: Tony Newman (646) 335-5384 or Bill Piper (202) 669-6430 Drug Czar John Walters Testifying in Congress Today in Support of Bush’s 2008 National Drug Control Strategy Drug Policy Alliance: Walters is Covering Up a Record of Failure Fatal Overdoses on the Rise, Transmission of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C from Injection Drug Use Continues to Mount, 1 in 100 Americans Now Behind Bars Drug Czar John Walters will testify today at 2pm before the House Domestic Policy Subcommittee. He is expected to defend the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s 2008 Drug Strategy, which continues to fund failed supply-side strategies at the expense of more effective prevention and treatment. Below is a statement from Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. Every year the drug czar tries to put a good spin on the failure of the drug war, and this year is no exception. Americans should ask themselves, ‘Are drugs as available as ever?’ Answer: Yes. ‘Do our communities continue to be devastated by astronomical incarceration rates and death and disease related to drug abuse and drug prohibition?’ Again, yes. Despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars and incarcerating millions of Americans, experts acknowledge that illicit drugs remain cheap, potent and widely available in every community. Meanwhile, the harms associated with drug abuse—addiction, overdose and the spread of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis—continue to mount. Add to this record of failure the collateral damage of drug prohibition and the drug war—broken families, racial inequity, wasted tax dollars, and the erosion of civil liberties. The evidence is clear and it is foolish and irresponsible to claim success. What matters most is not whether drug use rates go up or down but whether we see any improvements in the death, disease, crime and suffering that are associated with both illegal drugs and drug prohibition. The current approach, with its “drug-free America” rhetoric, and over reliance on punitive, criminal justice policies costs taxpayers billions more each year, yet delivers less and less. It’s time for a new bottom line in drug policy, one that focuses on reducing the harms associated with both drug misuse and the collateral damage from the drug war.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 3rd, 2008 Contact: Nathan Sands, t: (916) 709-2483, e: [email protected] California Dr. Mollie Fry to be Sentenced for Medical Marijuana Sentencing scheduled for March 6th at 10am in Sacramento Federal Court The federal sentencing of medical marijuana defendants Dr. Mollie Fry and her husband, Attorney Dale Schafer will take place on Thursday, March 6th at the US courthouse in Sacramento (5th and I St.). The sentencing is at 10 AM. There will be a press conference afterwards at Noon in front of the Court House. The couple was denied the right to defend their actions that were protected under the Laws of the State of California. WHO: Sentencing in Federal Court of Dr. Mollie Fry and her husband, Attorney Dale Schafer for cultivation and dispensing medical marijuana under the Laws of California. WHAT: Press Conference to follow at NOON WHEN: Sentencing is Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 10am WHERE: Federal Court House, 501 I St., Sacramento, CA “We never would have grown marijuana had it not been sanctioned by the Laws of the State of California, the Attorney General of California and the District Attorney and Sheriffs’ of El Dorado County. Why aren’t they being charged with conspiracy to violate Federal Law?” Dr. Fry asks a group of patients who are waiting to see her at her clinic. Dr. Fry and her husband face a likely 5-year mandatory minimum sentence for conspiracy to cultivate and dispense medical marijuana for a small number of Dr. Fry’s patients. They ran (and continue to run) a popular medical marijuana clinic in El Dorado County that provides recommendations for many needy patients in the Sierra Foothills: http://www.docfry.com. Go to articles link for background. Like other federal defendants, they were denied the right to mention medical marijuana or Prop 215 in their trial. Both are in fragile health - Dale has hemophilia and suffers from chronic back pain, and Mollie is a breast cancer survivor. They are currently caring for three beautiful children and two grandchildren in their home. They were among the first medical marijuana providers raided by the Bush Administration, just a couple of weeks after 9/11 (9/28/01), but were not successfully indicted until June 22nd, 2005 after the Raich decision was overturned by the Supreme Court. Dale Schafer had also run for District Attorney in 2001. The sentence they face is particularly egregious compared to other defendants who have grown far more marijuana. They are liable to a five-year mandatory minimum because they were convicted of growing (not a lot more than) 100 plants over a period of three years, a number far smaller than is usually prosecuted by federal authorities. The jury was forced to add three different years worth of gardens to come up with the 100-plant count. They were not allowed to mention at their trial that local law enforcement had (deliberately) entrapped them by telling them it was OK to grow their relatively modest garden or that they had received advice of counsel supporting their right to grow and care for others under the Law in California. The Attorney General, Bill Lockyer, the District Attorney and the Sheriff in El Dorado County were all aware of and supportive of Dr. Fry and Schafer’s activities, but the jury was also denied these truths. Dale Schafer is still meeting with the local Task Force (2/29/08) made up of local law enforcement and medical marijuana advocates to further implement the State and County guidelines regarding medical marijuana. Fry and Schafer’s case aptly exemplifies the kind of DEA enforcement abuses bill SJR 20 condemns. Patients and medical marijuana rights supporters are welcome to attend. Bobby Eisenberg-FRY/SCHAFER Defense Committee • [email protected] • 530-823-9963

Media Advisory: February 29, 2008 CONTACT: Bill Piper, Drug Policy Alliance at 202-669-6430 or Charles Thomas, Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative at 301-938-1577 Religious Leaders to Urge Congress to Expand Access to Clean Needles for Drug Users Preserving Life is a Moral Imperative; Congress Should Allow States to Use Federal Funding for Needle Exchange Programs WHEN: Monday, March 3, at 2:00 p.m. WHERE: U.S. Capitol Building, room HC-6 Capitol (House side), Washington, D.C. WHAT: Recently Congress lifted a ban on local funding for needle exchange in the District of Columbia. Now scholars and spokespersons from a variety of denominations will converge in the nation’s capital to urge Congress to help save lives by repealing the national ban that prohibits states from using their share of federal HIV/AIDS prevention money on needle exchange programs. They will explain their position and be available for questions from the media. WHY: The scientific evidence is irrefutable that needle exchange saves lives without increasing drug use. But many politicians say that it’s still “just wrong” to provide clean needles to drug users. It’s time for moral clarification. WHO: * Mary Jo Iozzio, Ph.D., serves on the executive board of the Society of Christian Ethics -- comprised of nearly 1,000 ethics professors -- which adopted a resolution in 2000 to "encourage the development of needle exchange programs.” Dr. Iozzio is a professor of Moral Theology at Barry University in Florida and an active member of the Catholic Theological Society of America. * William Martin, M.Div., Ph.D., is a senior fellow for Religion and Public Policy at the James Baker Institute at Rice University and a member of the Covenant Baptist Church in Houston. Dr. Martin wrote the authoritative biography of the Rev. Billy Graham. * John B. Johnson represents the Episcopal Church as a Domestic Policy Analyst in the denomination’s Office of Government Relations in Washington, D.C. * Rev. Michael T. Bell, D.Min., is an African-American minister serving as the senior pastor at Peace Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. *Charles Thomas is the executive director of the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative (IDPI), a national organization of clergy and other people of faith advocating for compassionate policies to reduce the problems associated with drugs. Thomas will provide details about the positions of other denominations supporting needle exchange, including the Union for Reform Judaism; Presbyterian Church USA; United Church of Christ; and Unitarian Universalist Association. * Naomi Long represents the Drug Policy Alliance, the nation's largest organization advocating for drug policies grounded in reason, compassion and justice, and is a member of the executive board of Prevention Works, Washington, D.C.’s local needle exchange program. All of the speakers will also be available for subsequent phone interviews, which can be arranged by e-mailing [email protected] or calling 301-938-1577.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 23, 2008 Contact Persons: Carol Sholiton, Founder/Director, E: [email protected]; Chuck Hilger, Colonial Management Group, E: [email protected] Colonial Management Group (CMG) Now offering Suboxone in all Clinics Colonial Management Group (CMG), with 54 opiate addiction treatment centers located throughout the United States, announced that as of January 1, 2008 all of their facilities are now offering Buprenorphine (Brand name Suboxone) in addition to their Methadone Maintenance Program. Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) received approval by the FDA on October 8, 2002. It is state of the art medication to treat the medical condition of Opioid addiction. It is improving the quality of life for patients in recovery and giving them hope, dignity, and the ability to have a normal life again. CMG focuses the work in their clinics on managing the disease of addiction and strive to improve their patients' quality of life. This involves implementing the most current research findings in the treatment of their patients.

[Courtesy of Americans for Safe Access] For Immediate Release: February 21, 2008 Contact: ASA Media Liaison Kris Hermes (510) 681-6361 or ASA Chief of Staff Rebecca Saltzman (510) 251-1856 x308 State Bill Introduced Yesterday Protects Employment Rights of Medical Marijuana Patients AB 2279 would reverse the State Supreme Court in Ross v. Raging Wire Sacramento, CA -- Assemblymember Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and several co-authors introduced a bill yesterday that would protect the rights of hundreds of thousands of medical marijuana patients in California from employment discrimination. The bill leaves intact existing state law prohibiting medical marijuana consumption at the workplace and protects employers from liability by carving out an exception for safety-sensitive positions. The employment rights bill, which is being co-authored by Assemblymembers Patty Berg (D-Eureka), Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) and Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego), is in response to a January decision by the California Supreme Court in Ross v. RagingWire. National medical marijuana advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) argued the case before the court and is now a sponsor of the bill. "The California Supreme Court decision said that an employer may fire someone solely because they use medical marijuana outside the workplace," said Assemblymember Leno. "Long ago, the legislature prohibited patient use of medical cannabis in the workplace or during working hours," continued Leno. "AB 2279 is merely an affirmation of the intent of the voters and the legislature that medical marijuana patents need not be unemployed to benefit from their medicine." On January 24, in a 5-2 decision, the California Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling that denied qualified patients a remedy from employment discrimination, based either on their status as a patient or a positive test for marijuana. The plaintiff in the case, Gary Ross, is a 46-year old disabled veteran who was a systems engineer living Carmichael, California, when he was fired from his job in 2001 at RagingWire Telecommunications for testing positive for marijuana. "It's important that we not allow wholesale employment discrimination in California," said former plaintiff Gary Ross. "If the court is going to ignore the need for protection, then it's up to the legislature to ensure that productive workers like me are free from discrimination." The decision in Ross v. RagingWire closed the door on redress through the courts, shifting the debate to the state legislature. California is not alone in its attempt to affirm employment protections for medical marijuana patients. Both Oregon and Hawaii have introduced similar legislation aimed at clarifying the intent of the state legislatures. This recent multi-state effort builds on existing legislation adopted in ten out of twelve medical marijuana states, including California, which already sought to protect patients from employment discrimination. "We welcome and strongly endorse this clarification from the legislature," said ASA spokesperson Kris Hermes. "Despite the ill-conceived ruling by the California Supreme Court, the intent of state legislatures has been to recognize the civil rights of patients and to offer them reasonable protections." Before the court made its final decision, Ross enjoyed the support of ten state and national medical organizations, all of the original co-authors of the Medical Marijuana Program Act (SB 420), and disability rights groups. Since it began recording instances of employment discrimination in 2005, ASA has received hundreds of such reports from all across California. Employers that have either fired patients from their job, threatened them with termination, or denied them employment because of patient status or because of a positive test for marijuana, include Costco Wholesale, UPS, Foster Farms Dairy, DirecTV, the San Joaquin Courier, Power Auto Group, as well as several construction companies, hospitals, and various trade union employers. Further information: Employment rights legislation introduced yesterday: http://safeaccessnow.org/downloads/AB2279.pdf California Supreme Court decision in Ross v. RagingWire: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/Ross_Ruling.pdf Review legal briefs and more about the Ross v. RagingWire case here: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/Ross # # #

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, February 19, 2007 CONTACTS: Tom Murphy 207-542-4998 or [email protected], Adam Eidinger 202-744-2671 or [email protected] North Dakota’s Licensed Hemp Farmers File Appeal in Eighth Circuit BISMARCK, ND – Two North Dakota farmers, whose federal lawsuit to end the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) ban on state-licensed and regulated commercial hemp farming in the United States was dismissed on November 28, 2007, filed their appeal today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. A copy of the appeal will be available later this evening at: http://www.VoteHemp.com/legal_cases_ND.html. Lawyers working on behalf of the farmers, State Representative David Monson and Wayne Hauge, are appealing the district court’s inexplicable ruling that said hemp and marijuana are the “same,” as the DEA has contended. The ruling failed to properly consider the Commerce Clause argument that the plaintiffs raised — that Congress cannot interfere with North Dakota’s state-regulated hemp program. Indeed, the lower court itself recognized in the decision under appeal that “the stalk, fiber, sterilized seed, and oil of the industrial hemp plant, and their derivatives, are legal under federal law, and those parts of the plant are expressly excluded from the definition of ‘marijuana’ under the CSA [Controlled Substances Act].” “This appeal is basically saying why can Canadian farmers grow non-drug industrial hemp plants to produce perfectly legal hemp fiber and seed commodities for the interstate US market, but North Dakota farmers cannot under North Dakota’s state-regulated industrial hemp program,” says Vote Hemp President Eric Steenstra. “The DEA has banned hemp farming for 50 years by conflating hemp and marijuana on very shaky legal ground while at the same time imports of hemp fiber, seed and oil are allowed. With North Dakota regulating industrial hemp, there is no reasonable threat farmers would be able to grow marijuana without being caught,” says Steenstra. Scientific evidence clearly shows that industrial hemp, which includes the oilseed and fiber varieties of Cannabis that would be grown pursuant to North Dakota law, is genetically distinct from the drug varieties of Cannabis and has absolutely no use as a recreational drug. Vote Hemp, the nation's leading industrial hemp advocacy group, and its supporters are providing financial assistance for the lawsuit. If the suit is ultimately successful, states across the nation will be free to implement their own regulated hemp farming programs without fear of federal interference. More information about the case can be found at: http://www.VoteHemp.com/legal_cases_ND.html. # # # Vote Hemp is a national, single-issue, non-profit organization dedicated to the acceptance of and a free market for low-THC industrial hemp and to changes in current law to allow U.S. farmers to once again grow this agricultural crop. More information about hemp legislation and the crop's many uses may be found at www.VoteHemp.com and www.HempIndustries.org. BETA SP or DVD Video News Releases featuring footage of hemp farming in other countries are available upon request by contacting Adam Eidinger at 202-744-2671.

For Immediate Release: February 8, 2008 Contact: Kenneth Alper, M.D.: (212) 263-8854 New Study Documents Increased Use of Ibogaine for Detoxification from Opiates such as OxyContin and Heroin Thousands Participate in the “Vast Uncontrolled Experiment” with the Use of Ibogaine A Naturally Occurring Compound Derived from an African Shrub, Ibogaine may be a Prototype for the Development of New Drugs to Treat Addiction. In what has been termed “a vast uncontrolled experiment” taking place in North America and Europe in the setting of homes, hotel rooms and private clinics, increasing numbers of individuals are taking ibogaine, a naturally occurring psychoactive plant alkaloid, to treat drug addiction. A new study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology provides the first systematic ethnographic description and quantitative estimate of the extent of this remarkable medical subculture. The new study documents that the majority of individuals in the US and Europe that have used ibogaine were severely physically dependent on opiates and took ibogaine for acute detoxification. The study reports that the use of ibogaine increased four-fold between 2001-2006, with as many as nearly 5,000 individuals having taken it. The expansion of the ibogaine subculture parallels the upsurge of opiate addiction in the US, where deaths due to opiates such as heroin and OxyContin have doubled in the first half of this decade. According to the lead author of the study, Kenneth Alper, M.D., an Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at the New York University School of Medicine, “An important finding of the study is that the most frequent purpose for which ibogaine is used is detoxification from opiates, because this suggests a significant, objective, pharmacologically mediated effect. The syndrome of acute opiate withdrawal tends to severe in its clinical expression, especially with the high levels of physical dependence that are typical of individuals who seek treatment with ibogaine. Treatment providers are generally experienced and can make valid observations of the presence or absence of opiate withdrawal signs, even in the nonmedical settings in which ibogaine is presently used. The clinical literature confirms that there is no significant placebo effect in opioid detoxification, indicating that valid observations of an effect can be made without placebo control group. The focus on opioid detoxification distinguishes ibogaine from other compounds designated as “psychedelics”, such as LSD, mescaline or psilocybin, for which there is no preclinical or clinical evidence that suggests a significant effect in acute opiate withdrawal.” Ibogaine has been used as a psychopharmacological religious sacrament in Africa for centuries. In the US in the early 1960s, the unexpected absence of withdrawal symptoms was noted in heroin-dependent individuals who had taken ibogaine. Further case reports, as well as preclinical evidence eventually persuaded the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to support research on ibogaine, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve a clinical study. NIDA ultimately ended its effort to develop ibogaine because the project exceeded its budgetary resources. However, ibogaine, although never popular as a recreational drug regardless of its legal status, has continued to be used outside of conventional medical settings. The expansion of the subculture reflects a demand for new treatment that is sought despite legal prohibition in some cases, and the medical risks, including fatalities that are associated with the lack of clinical and pharmaceutical controls the settings in which ibogaine is used. Alper sees a prospect for innovation in ibogaine, “Researchers are increasingly focused on the development of drugs to treat addiction that extend beyond the present repertoire of pharmacological mechanisms of action. Ibogaine’s mechanism of action is unknown, which makes it potentially informative as a paradigm for studying the neurobiology of addiction and developing new treatment.”

[Courtesy of Beyond Prohibition Coalition] For Immediate Release: February 1, 2008 Contact: Dr. Susan Boyd: cell: 788-828-8828, email: [email protected] Educating Prime Minister Stephan Harper about Drug Policy In response to Prime Minister Stephan Harper’s flawed drug policy, which emphasizes increased crime control rather than harm reduction and drug policy reform, researcher and educator Dr. Susan Boyd in partnership with Beyond Prohibition Coalition, a Vancouver-based group, has created an educational website called “Educating Harper” at http://www.educatingharper.com. For each of the next 52 weeks, Dr. Susan Boyd will send Prime Minister Harper a letter containing a research article on harm reduction and/or drug regulation. The weekly readings are listed on the website along with a summary and a direct website link to the original paper. The website also provides concerned Canadians with information about drug policy. The first readings on the reading list pertain to the failure of drug prohibition and criminal justice initiatives such as mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offences, the necessity of drug user input, and 25 peer-reviewed articles about the harm reduction initiative Insite. These are followed by summaries of a number of film documentaries and the 1973 federally funded Final Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Non-medical use of Drugs, better known as the LeDain Report. Other federal commissions and provincial and city reports about drugs and regulation, such as the Report on the Task Force into Illicit Narcotic Overdose Deaths in British Columbia, A Framework to Action: A Four-Pillar Approach to Drug Problems in Vancouver, and Cannabis: report of the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs, are included in the reading list. Dr. Susan Boyd is Associate Professor in the Studies in Policy & Practice program and Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Addictions Research-BC at the University of Victoria. She is the author of: Hooked: Drug war films in Britain, Canada, and the United States (2008), From Witches to Crack Moms: Women, Drug Law, and Policy (2004), Mothers and Illicit Drugs: Transcending the Myths (1999), and co-editor of With Child: Substance Use During Pregnancy, A Woman-centred Approach (2007). Beyond Prohibition Coalition is a Vancouver-based group that promotes community health, safety, and drug policy reform. They support moving towards the development and implementation of a system of regulation and control of currently illegal substance within a framework of public health and human rights. www.educatingharper.com

For Immediate Release: January 29, 2008 Contact: ASA Media Liaison Kris Hermes (510) 681-6361 or ASA Director of Government Affairs Caren Woodson (510) 388-0546 Advocates Urge Presidential Candidates to End DEA Raids by Executive Order Nationwide campaign launched today to end federal enforcement against medical marijuana Washington, D.C. -- With only a week left until Super Tuesday, medical marijuana advocates launched a nationwide campaign today to urge presidential candidates to end federal raids in states with medical marijuana laws. The campaign urges candidates to issue an Executive Order upon taking office that would end federal interference in state-sanctioned medical marijuana laws. The proposed Executive Order would deny funds to the Department of Justice for federal enforcement efforts against patients and providers in states that have adopted medical marijuana laws. "To match the increased level of federal interference in states with medical marijuana laws, we're asking candidates to clearly state their opposition by pledging to issue an Executive Order, if elected." said Caren Woodson, Director of Government Affairs at Americans for Safe Access, the advocacy group that launched the campaign. "We're spending millions of dollars on law enforcement actions that harm our most vulnerable citizens," continued Woodson. "And, the President wields the power to stop it at any time." Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gonzales v. Raich (2005), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has stepped up its enforcement actions against medial marijuana patients and providers. While federal interference has occurred in multiple medical marijuana states, some have been hit harder than others. In California, the DEA has conducted more than 100 raids and threatened more than 300 landlords with criminal prosecution and asset forfeiture if they continue to lease to medical marijuana dispensing collectives (dispensaries). In addition, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is currently prosecuting more than 100 medical marijuana-related cases. The campaign focuses on candidates that have already made supportive statements on medical marijuana: Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, former Senator John Edwards, and Representative Ron Paul. These candidates are being asked to officiate their support by pledging to issue an Executive Order, which states that: "No funds made available to the Department of Justice shall be used to prevent States from implementing adopted laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana. In particular, no funds shall be used to investigate, seize, arrest or prosecute in association with the distribution of medical marijuana, unless such distribution has been found by adjudication to violate state or local law." DEA actions have already garnered opposition from both local and federal lawmakers, including Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and House Judiciary Chair John Conyers. In December, Mayor Dellums made a public statement condemning DEA tactics. The same month, Chairman Conyers publicly voiced his "deep concern" over DEA "efforts to undermine California state law," and he committed to sharply question these tactics in oversight hearings. Further information: ASA Executive Order Campaign Page: http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/ExecutiveOrder Proposed Executive Order: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/Proposed_Executive_Order.pdf Background Information on Increased DEA Actions: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/downloads/dea_escalation.pdf Video footage of Candidates' Position on Medical Marijuana: http://safeaccessnow.org/blog/?p=48 Statement by House Judiciary Chair John Conyers: http://judiciary.house.gov/newscenter.aspx?A=889 # # #