Medical Marijuana

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
MAY 8, 2008

CONTACT: Neal Levine, MPP director of state campaigns, (612) 424-7001

MINNEAPOLIS — Proponents of a bill to protect seriously ill patients from arrest for using medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation released their latest TV ad today featuring former Fillmore County sheriff and state representative Neil Haugerud, who suffers from severe, intractable pain due to inflammation of the spine.

    Opposition to the bill, which according to a new KSTP poll has the support of 64 percent of Minnesotans and has already passed the Senate, has been largely confined to a handful of members of the law enforcement community. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has threatened to veto the bill as long as law enforcement opposes it, but advocates and patients maintain that that opposition relies on false, misleading arguments.

    "Law enforcement I think is stepping out of bounds," Haugerud says in the ad. "Law enforcement is there to enforce the laws in relation to what the law is – they really don't need to influence ... what the law should be." The new ad is online at http://minnesotacares.org/Ads_video.html.

    "Neil Haugerud knows this issue from both sides – as a longtime sheriff, and now as a patient suffering severe pain every day, who might benefit from medical marijuana," said Neal Levine, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project. "We urge the House to quickly send this to the governor’s desk, and hope that Governor Pawlenty will reject the misinformation coming from a few in law enforcement and sign this compassionate, tightly crafted bill into law."

    The most egregious misinformation came from Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom, who in a May 1 e-mail to legislators accused medical marijuana supporters of making "inflammatory, slanderous and extremely offensive" charges – for calling him on his misstatements, which included objections to portions of the bill that were removed or amended at law enforcement's request over a year ago. Backstrom's statements are available at http://minnesotacares.org/backstrom_email_mn_house.html and http://minnesotacares.org/mm_email_mn_house.html. Detailed, sourced refutations of 32 false claims in these statements are available here: http://minnesotacares.org/32_false_law_claims_mm.html, and video responses to the most blatant falsehoods are at http://minnesotacares.org/Videos.html.

    With more than 23,000 members and 180,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAY 6, 2008 

  

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications, 415-668-6403 or 202-215-4205

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A little-known federal government program that supplies medical marijuana to a handful of patients will mark its 30th anniversary on May 10.

    The federal medical marijuana program -- referred to as a Compassionate Investigational New Drug (IND) program -- resulted from a lawsuit filed by glaucoma patient Robert Randall, who successfully showed that his use of marijuana was a medical necessity.

    The program slowly grew for over a dozen years. In the wake of a flood of new applications from patients battling AIDS -- who found that marijuana boosted their appetites and relieved the nausea often caused by anti-HIV drugs -- the George H.W. Bush administration closed it to new applicants in March 1992, but continued supplying federal marijuana to those already receiving it. Four of those patients survive today.

    "Most Americans would be shocked to know that the federal government supplies medical marijuana to patients while claiming that marijuana is a harmful drug with no medical value," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. "If federal officials believe their own statements, they're knowingly poisoning four innocent people, but in fact they know better. The four remaining patients in the federal program have benefited from their medical marijuana use, groups like the American College of Physicians and the American Public Health Association have said that marijuana is a safe and effective medicine and, as a result, we must change the federal laws that prohibit medical marijuana."

    Officially, the Compassionate IND is a research program. Participants were required to sign a consent document calling the program a "study." Yet the federal government has never studied the patients in the "study." In fact, the only study ever published of these patients was privately financed and conducted.

    "May 10 marks the 30th anniversary of federal hypocrisy and dishonesty about medical marijuana," Kampia said. "When future historians see how much effort our government made to avoid learning that marijuana is a safe and effective medicine, they'll shake their heads in disbelief."

    With more than 23,000 members and 180,000 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.

[Courtesy of Illinois Compassion Access Network] 

MEDIA ADVISORY: APRIL 30, 2008

CONTACT: John Walker, Illinois Compassion Access Network, (847) 769-1772

SPRINGFIELD, IL. – In a press conference today, Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), lead sponsor of a bill to protect from arrest seriously ill Illinoisans who use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, announced significant changes to the legislation based on input from law enforcement.

    Although members of the law enforcement community have been among the most vocal opponents of the bill, Cullerton said the recent amendments reflected specific objections law enforcement officers raised in good faith in a meeting with bill proponents last month.

    "I'm grateful to the members of the law enforcement community who sat down with us to help us craft this improved medical marijuana bill," he said. "Thanks to their help, I'm confident we have legislation here that protects our most suffering patients while ensuring law officers are able to do their jobs and keep our streets safe."

    A comprehensive list of the amendments made at the request of law enforcement representatives can be viewed online here: http://www.mpp.org/states/illinois/ChangesToSB2865.html

    Also at the press conference, medical marijuana activist and Chicago multiple sclerosis patient Julie Falco announced a new campaign to reach out to representatives by sending personal video appeals by seriously ill patients asking for support on the medical marijuana bill.

    Many of the videos are available online here: www.illinoiscan.com/videos.html

    "I think it's important for people like me – who are counting on compassion to prevail – to let legislators know who we are and why we need this law, especially those whose conditions prevent them from appearing in person," Falco said. "It's very easy for hysteria and fear to take over the debate, but this medical cannabis bill is about only one thing: easing the suffering of seriously ill people with a medicine that is proven safe and effective."

    Despite opposition from some elements of the law enforcement community, medical marijuana enjoys great support among the medical community and among Illinois voters. In February, the American College of Physicians – the second largest physician organization in the country with 124,000 members – became the latest major medical association to endorse laws protecting patients and doctors from arrest for using medical marijuana.

    Also in February, a Mason-Dixon telephone poll of 625 randomly selected Illinois voters – commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. – found that 68 percent of respondents agreed that "seriously and terminally ill patients should be allowed to use and grow medical marijuana for personal use if their doctors recommended it." Full poll results are available here: http://www.mpp.org/states/illinois/2008poll

    SB 2865 – the medical marijuana bill – is expected to reach the Senate floor within weeks.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
APRIL 29, 2008

CONTACT: Neal Levine, MPP director of state campaigns, (612) 424-7001

    MINNEAPOLIS — In a press conference held today at the statehouse, advocates offered a point-by-point refutation of misleading-to-outright false statements made by some law enforcement officials during testimony before the legislature and in the media regarding the medical marijuana bill pending on the House floor.

    Proponents of S.F. 345, the bill to protect from arrest seriously ill Minnesotans who use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, said certain aspects of the law enforcement community were relying on misstatements and untruths to derail the bill.

    "Some legislators, as well as the governor, have indicated they may not be willing to support this sensible and compassionate legislation, based on the words of certain aspects of the law enforcement community," said Neal Levine, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project. "Therefore, we feel it’s important to look at those words."

    For example, Dakota County Attorney James C. Backstrom stated in legislative testimony that "there is no proven medicinal value in using marijuana to treat illnesses or disease.” In fact, the 124,000-member American College of Physicians has noted "marijuana's proven efficacy at treating certain symptoms and its relatively low toxicity."

    For a detailed list of false and misleading statements made by Minnesota law enforcement officials, along with sourced refutations of each one, visit: http://www.minnesotacares.org/media/law_enforcement.pdf.

    Also during the press conference, Levine announced the latest in a series of TV ads airing statewide, featuring Minnesota medical marijuana patients urging Gov. Tim Pawlenty not to veto the medical marijuana bill as he has threatened to do if the House passes it.

    The new ad features K.K. Forss of Ely, who suffers constant debilitating pain caused by a ruptured disk in his neck and nerve damage from subsequent surgeries. The ad is available online here: http://minnesotacares.org/Ads_video.html.

    "This doesn't have anything to do with culture wars," Forss says in the ad, noting that he is a registered Republican and a born-again Christian. "We have people suffering in horrible pain, and we talk politics – it doesn't have to be that way."

    With more than 23,000 members and 180,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. For more information, please visit www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.

MEDIA ADVISORY   
APRIL 29, 2008

CONTACT: John Walker, Illinois Compassion Access Network, (847) 769-1772

SPRINGFIELD, IL. – After a meeting with law enforcement officials to address their specific objections to Illinois' medical marijuana bill, advocates will announce significant changes to the legislation in a Wednesday press conference at the statehouse.

    The amendments, adopted earlier this month, reflect what bill proponents said they hope is a shared goal: to allow safe, legal access to medical marijuana for suffering Illinoisans who have a doctor's recommendation while ensuring police and prosecutors aren't hindered in enforcing laws involving illicit marijuana use.

    At the press conference, patients will also unveil their latest effort to convince legislators to support the medical marijuana bill under consideration in both chambers of the General Assembly: personal online video testimonies. For the past month, seriously ill Illinoisans – many of whom cannot travel to Springfield – have been sending the videos to their elected representatives so that they can explain the urgency of passing a sensible medical marijuana law in their own words.

    Examples of these videos – which average about 2 minutes each – are available online here: www.illinoiscan.com/videos.html

                    -    WHAT: Press conference explaining changes to the medical marijuana bill requested by law enforcement officials

                    -    WHO: The following people are scheduled to appear at the press conference:
                                o    Zale Glauberman, veteran Springfield lobbyist
                                o    Julie Falco of Chicago, a multiple sclerosis patient who uses medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation

                    -    WHEN: Wednesday, April 30 at 9:15 a.m.

                    -    WHERE: State Capitol Press Blue Room

    The Senate medical marijuana bill is expected to reach the Senate floor within weeks.

    Copies of some of the patient video testimonies will be available on CD for members of the press.