FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 11, 2010
Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana PA4MMJ
www.pa4mmj.org
CONTACT: Pittsburgh: Patrick Nightingale [email protected] 412-225-7959
Philadelphia: Derek Rosenzweig or Chris Goldstein [email protected] or 215-586-3483
PA: Public hearing for medical marijuana bill scheduled
8/11/2010 - The Pennsylvania House Health and Human Services Committee will hold a satellite hearing on medical marijuana in Pittsburgh, PA on August 19, 2010.
HHS Committee Chair Representative Frank Oliver issued a memo yesterday:
Please be advised that on Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 3:00 p.m. in the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health at 130 Desoto Street, Room G-23, Pittsburgh, PA 15320, there will be a public hearing on House Bill 1393.
Representative Mark B. Cohen introduced HB1393 and the first public hearings took place in Harrisburg last December. Residents living with chronic medical conditions, doctors, medical professionals and attorneys testified in favor of the bill.
Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana (PA4MMJ) is a statewide non-profit advocacy group promoting passage of the bill. Patrick Nightingale Esq., a criminal defense attorney in Pittsburgh, serves on the Board of Directors for PA4MMJ and coordinates efforts in Western Pennsylvania.
Nightingale commented on the memo, “We at Pittsburgh NORML and Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana are thrilled to learn of the upcoming hearing. We have heard from dozens of current medicinal patients or potential medicinal cannabis patients - veterans, retired school teachers, young people, grandparents, professionals and blue collar workers - all united by the belief that marijuana can provide relief for their medical conditions.”
Nightingale added, “ We believe that passage of the Barry Busch Compassionate Use Act will greatly benefit the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania just as it benefits the citizens of 14 other states and the District of Columbia who's legislatures have enacted medicinal marijuana laws.”
A Franklin & Marshall poll conducted this year showed that 80% of PA residents support the medical marijuana legislation.
The twenty-six-member House HHS committee includes HB 1393’s sponsor Rep. Cohen and co-sponsor Representative Tony Payton Jr.
Senator Daylin Leach introduced the companion bill, SB 1350, earlier this year. Senator Jim Ferlo of the Pittsburgh area recently co-sponsored the medical marijuana legislation. Senate committee hearings are expected in the fall.
Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana will be holding rally events, information seminars and fundraisers across the Commonwealth to raise awareness for HB 1393 and SB 1350.
PA4MMJ welcomes the opportunity to put legislators and the media into contact with local patients and cannabis experts.
CONTACT: Pittsburgh: Patrick Nightingale [email protected] 412-225-7959
Philadelphia: Derek Rosenzweig or Chris Goldstein [email protected] or 215-586-3483
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For Immediate Release: August 5, 2010
Police Raid of Medical Cannabis Dispensary Puts Patients at Risk
Yesterday, Cannabis as Living Medicine (CALM), one of the most well- established medical cannabis dispensaries in Canada, was raided by police in Toronto for the second time in five months. In the last couple of months, a dispensary in Guelph, another in Iqaluit, and several in the province of Quebec were also raided.
Canadians for Safe Access, a national patient advocacy organization, is denouncing these raids. The result is that thousands of Canadians suffering from MS, Cancer, HIV/AIDS, arthritis and other critical and chronic illnesses have lost an important source of their medicine, laments Rielle Capler, a researcher and co-founder of the organization. They will have to go to the streets or suffer without their medicine. Capler adds, Rather than leave these dispensaries vulnerable to police raids, CSA is calling on Health Canada to work with them to develop regulations that would ensure their protection as well as the highest quality of care for patients. Our government should be supporting patients to access the best possible medicine, and supporting the organizations that are providing this vital service."
While the use of cannabis for medical purposes is constitutionally legal in Canada, the Federal Governments program, which provides licenses to patients for legal possession of cannabis, does not provide an adequate legal source of this medicine. Government statistics show that only about 800 of the 4000 licensed medical cannabis users access the governments supply, which is considered by many to be inferior. Research indicates that over half of license holders acquire their cannabis from dispensaries, which currently supply high quality medicine to an estimated 20,000 Canadians with critical and chronic medical conditions.
Medical cannabis dispensaries, also know as compassion clubs, have played a vital role supplying safe access to cannabis for the critically and chronically ill in Canada for over 12 years. These organizations provide access to a variety of high quality cannabis strains and preparations that can effectively alleviate pain, muscle spasms, nausea, anxiety, and other serious symptoms. Compassion clubs are also at the forefront of academic peer-reviewed research on medical cannabis in Canada. Well-run dispensaries are appreciated by patients, accepted within communities, and their work has been lauded by various court rooms across the country.
Contacts:
Rielle Capler 604-818-4082- [email protected] Philippe Lucas 250-884-9821 [email protected]
