Medical Marijuana

• ASA ACTION: Defense of Patient Collectives Advances
• DISPENSARIES: Kern and San Mateo Counties Hear from Patients
• CALIFORNIA: Collective Garden Uprooted, Patient Protests
• ILLINOIS: Senator’s Support for Medical Marijuana Lacks Action
• FEDERAL: Why Conservatives Should Defend Medical Marijuana
• RHODE ISLAND: More Patients Served in Law’s Second Year
• COLORADO: Activist-Patient Lobbies for Support
• FEDERAL: Lies to Doctor Backfire on DEA
• CALIFORNIA: Another County Implements ID Cards
• CANADA: Health Officials Try to Limit Doses

ASA ACTION: Defense of Patient Collectives Advances

Butte County, California has tried to limit patients’ ability to organize as collectives, but ASA is fighting that in court, arguing that county policy does not conform with state law. A win for patients would mean that the most seriously ill would have better access, since the policy being challenged prevents those who cannot actively participate in a growing collective from receiving medicine from it.

Ruling allows medical pot lawsuit to proceed
by Terry Vau Dell, Chico Enterprise-Record
A Superior Court judge has ruled law enforcement response toward medical marijuana co-operatives or collectives in Butte County is out of step with state law. Joe Elford, chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access, the medical marijuana advocacy group that filed the lawsuit, cheered the pretrial ruling.

DISPENSARIES: Kern and San Mateo Counties Hear from Patients

Recent federal raids in both Kern and San Mateo counties have created a crisis of access for many patients in those communities. Local officials are being asked to stand up for their constituents and find ways to ensure the safe access that state law says is a patient’s right. ASA activists in San Mateo were instrumental in getting their local representatives to look at the issue, calling council members and supervisors, sending hundreds of e-mails, and organizing activists to testify at meetings.

Medical pot advocates ask county to help
by Jason Kotowski, Bakersfield Californian
Medical marijuana advocates packed Tuesday night's meeting of the Kern County Human Relations Commission to ask the county to intercede and protect pot dispensaries. Life's been tough since every medical marijuana dispensary in the county closed after federal drug raids at one of the shops, advocates told the commission.

Kern County Human Relations Meeting to discuss medical pot
KGET - TV
Local medical marijuana patients plan to speak out about the recent raids that shut down several dispensaries around town.

San Mateo County may regulate pot dispensaries
by Michael Manekin, San Mateo County Times (CA)
Two weeks after the DEA raided three San Mateo medical marijuana dispensaries that the county district attorney said violated state law, the County Counsel's office is preparing guidelines for the distribution of medical marijuana.

Advocates urge San Mateo to adopt pot resolution
by Michael Manekin, San Mateo County Times (CA)
Medical marijuana patients and advocates, upset over the federal raid and shutdown of three medical cannabis dispensaries in downtown San Mateo last week, turned out en masse for a Tuesday night San Mateo City Council meeting.

Laguna Hills approves ban on medical marijuana dispensaries
by Alejandra Molina, Orange County Register (CA)
Laguna Hills leaders on Tuesday passed a permanent ban on medical marijuana dispensaries.

CALIFORNIA: Collective Garden Uprooted, Patient Protests

At least one patient has stepped forward to publicly protest the destruction of a cannabis garden in Northern California, saying six of the 100 plants were his. Under state guidelines, all counties must allow any qualified medical marijuana patient to cultivate at least six mature plants. Many patients band together to grow their medicine at common locations for better management of the plants.

Agents destroy pot garden; user says drug prescribed
by Ryan Sabalow, Redding Searchlight-Record
Federal agents raided a 100-plant garden on property along Backbone Ridge near here Wednesday, outraging at least one area man who claims the feds destroyed his medicinal marijuana, which is legal under California law.

ILLINOIS: Senator’s Support for Medical Marijuana Lacks Action

When Illinois Senator Richard Durbin, who holds the key leadership position of Assistant Majority Leader, stated his support for legal access to medical marijuana, many patients and advocates took heart. But at least one editorial board wondered why Congress continues to authorize raids on medical marijuana patients and those who care and provide for them.

Medicinal marijuana laws far too hazy
EDITORIAL, Daily Illini
In an interview with the Associated Press last week, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin came out in favor of changing federal law to allow physicians to prescribe medicinal marijuana to their patients. While Durbin reiterated that this is not exactly high on his priority list and that he has no specific plans to bring it up in Washington, one wonders how much the federal government needs to be involved in the first place.

FEDERAL: Why Conservatives Should Defend Medical Marijuana

The Republican Party’s turn toward Federalist principles of state sovereignty and a more limited central government has had effects on many areas of American life. But not all are enthusiastic about defending state laws that protect medical marijuana patients from being jailed for following their doctors’ advice. This commentator notes a curious lack of consistency.

Federalism should extend to marijuana raids
by Radley Balko, Polico.com
If ever there were an issue for which federalism would seem to be an ideal solution, it’s the medical marijuana issue, which touches on crime, medical policy, privacy and individual freedom — all the sorts of values-laden areas of public policy that states are best equipped to deal with on a case-by-case basis, and for which a one-size-fits-all federal policy seems particularly clunky and ill-suited.

RHODE ISLAND: More Patients Served in Law’s Second Year

The scientific consensus about the therapeutic potential of cannabis is compelling, but nothing shows better than the experience of patients the importance of making access to medical marijuana safe and legal, as Rhode Island has done. The patient perspective is conveyed particularly well in this week’s article from the Providence Journal.

For more than 300 Rhode Islanders, marijuana provides legal relief
by Amanda Milkovits, Providence Journal (RI)
Rhode Island's new state law, called the Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act, allows patients with debilitating medical conditions, such as cancer, HIV and multiple sclerosis, to possess up to 12 marijuana plants and 2.5 ounces of marijuana. As of early last month, 302 patients and 316 caregivers were enrolled in the program, according to the state Department of Health. A total of 149 physicians in Rhode Island have referred patients to the program.

Patients Say Marijuana Law a Success
Associated Press
Medical marijuana users say Rhode Island's law leaves gray areas, but they're content nonetheless.

COLORADO: Activist-Patient Lobbies for Support

One of the medical marijuana patients active in the Frontrange chapter of ASA has been pressuring medical organizations to support safe access. The ASA activist has also petitioned the Colorado health department to expand the list of conditions for which cannabis may be legally recommended.

Local man tangles with American Cancer Society, police in his campaign to promote medical marijuana
by J. Adrian Stanley, Colorado Springs Independent
American Cancer Society officials didn't waste any time removing medical marijuana activist Matthew Schnur from their local event in August.

FEDERAL: Lies to Doctor Backfire on DEA

When undercover federal agents were turned away from a California medical marijuana dispensary because they did not have valid doctors’ recommendations, the DEA fabricated identities and medical conditions for them, so they could trick a local cannabis specialist into giving them recommendations the dispensary could verify. When the DEA then raided the dispensary and the doctor discovered that he’d been duped, he filed suit, alleging the government had violated the US Supreme Court’s Conant decision, which protects doctors who recommend cannabis from federal interference.

Doctor's suit progresses: Judge decides First Amendment suit in pot sting has merit
by Ryan Sabalow, Redding Record Searchlight
A federal judge rejected a government move to throw out a First Amendment lawsuit filed by a Redding doctor caught up in a sting against a local medical marijuana dispensary.

Will Snoops Get Stopped?
by Fred Gardner , CounterPunch
U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton has denied the Drug Enforcement Administration's motion to dismiss a civil suit brought by Philip A. Denney, MD. The case will be tried in June 2008 in Sacramento. Denney is seeking to enjoin government agents from infiltrating a medical practice under false pretenses.

CALIFORNIA: Another County Implements ID Cards

In 2003, the California legislature directed county health departments to provide medical marijuana patients who want them with ID cards that both protect them from arrest and allow law enforcement to better identify qualified patients. But there was no deadline for when the ID cards should be made available, so some counties have been slower than others to get with the program.

Monterey County Begins Distribution Of Medical Marijuana Cards
The KSBW Channel
Medical marijuana cards are now available in Monterey County. Monterey County joined the statewide medical marijuana identification card program for those who have a doctor's note to use the drug.

CANADA: Health Officials Try to Limit Doses

Doctors and medical marijuana patients in Canada are under pressure from federal officials to limit the amounts being prescribed and used. One patient notes that officials never asked about her prescriptions for heroin or cocaine they way they are going after her cannabis use.

New dosage limits for medical marijuana: But where's the science?
by Pauline Comeau, Canadian Medical Association Journal
New evidence-based guidelines are urgently needed to help doctors negotiate Canada's hazy medical marijuana landscape, particularly in light of Health Canada's efforts to impose new dose limits, say the nation's leading cannabis researcher and doctors who have been queried about their marijuana authorizations.

MORE ABOUT AMERICANS FOR SAFE ACCESS

Find out more about ASA at AmericansForSafeAccess.org. More medical marijuana news summaries can be seen at AmericansForSafeAccess.org/News.

• FEDERAL: Northern California Raids Spark Protests, Policy Talk
• OREGON: Federal Judge Says Patient Records Off Limits
• NEW MEXICO: State Working to Implement New Program
• WASHINGTON: Officials Seek Input on Medical Marijuana Rules
• COLORADO: Registration Requirement Enforced, But No Jail
• DISPENSARIES: Officials Balancing Community Concerns and Patient Needs
• FEDERAL: Denial of Medical Efficacy Disproven by Patients
• FEDERAL: Patient Collective Cannot Block Future Raids

FEDERAL: Northern California Raids Spark Protests, Policy Talk

The DEA’s latest attempts at interfering with how California is implementing safe access to medical marijuana resulted this week in protests by patients and meetings of local officials. The raids on the San Francisco Bay Area community have created problems for the patients who relied on the three dispensaries. As in Los Angeles, many are challenging local law enforcement over their cooperation with federal agents. San Mateo ASA is launching a campaign to protect dispensaries; they testified at the city council meeting and will be doing the same at the County supervisors hearing next week.

Medical marijuana advocates protest shutdown of three San Mateo clubs
by Michael Manekin, MediaNews
Medical marijuana patients and advocates, upset over the federal raid and closing of three medical cannabis dispensaries in downtown San Mateo last week, are asking city officials for help. "We do not want to see our local tax revenues wasted on paying our local law enforcement to aid in federal raids when there has been no violation of state law," said Brent Saupe, a San Mateo resident and a volunteer with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), an Oakland-based medical marijuana advocacy group.

Officials to shape pot policy
by Dana Yates, San Mateo Daily Journal
Patients affected by the closure and recent raids of three San Mateo medical marijuana dispensaries have officials meeting to form a new countywide pot club policy, San Mateo City Manager Arne Croce told members of the City Council last night.

City calls for pot shop regulation
by Michael Manekin, San Mateo County Times
The many battles raging in California over medical marijuana are fueled by a basic disagreement between federal law, which prohibits the possession of cannabis altogether, and state law, which has allowed the selective use of medical marijuana for more than a decade.

OREGON: Federal Judge Says Patient Records Off Limits

A serious challenge to patients’ privacy was turned back by a U.S. District judge this week, who denied the federal government’s attempt to obtain patient records from Oregon’s state medical marijuana program. A chief criticism of programs that require patient registration – as most do – is that it leaves patients vulnerable to being target by the DEA and other federal agencies.

Ruling protects pot patients
by Anne Saker, The Oregonian
A federal judge has thrown out sweeping subpoenas for patient records kept by Oregon's medical marijuana program and a private clinic, saying privacy concerns overruled a grand jury's demand for information.

U.S. court won't allow subpoena of Ore. medical marijuana records
Associated Press
A U.S. District Court has decided the medical records of 17 Oregon medical marijuana patients do not have to be released.

NEW MEXICO: State Working to Implement New Program

Governor Bill Richardson personally assured the creation of the new medical marijuana program in his state, but now the real work of ensuring safe access for patients is underway. Already, federal agents have raided a paraplegic man authorized by New Mexico to grow and possess cannabis, causing the governor, who is also a former federal official and now a candidate for President, to vow a full scale battle.

Patient finds temporary relief with medical marijuana
by Sue Vorenberg, Albuquerque Tribune (NM)
There's no lie in her face, no subtlety in her responses - only a resigned acceptance and willingness to fight against her circumstances. At age 62, she has AIDS. She weighs 78 pounds. The side effects of her medications aren't as sickening as they used to be, but she's still constantly nauseated and in pain. What gets her through it all, she says, is marijuana.

Medical marijuana patients face difficult task of finding drug
by Sue Vorenberg, Albuquerque Tribune (NM)
At the center of the labyrinth of issues around medical marijuana is a snarled garden of Catch-22. Certified patients in New Mexico can use it - but they have no way to legally get it.

Commentary: Why fight medical marijuana?
by J. Michael Jones, Albuquerque Tribune (NM)
New Mexico is the most recent state to legalize medical marijuana - not the last. The feds' pursuit of those violating federal laws but not state laws is a waste of time, money and effort. But the tide is turning, and eventually this version of prohibition will come to an end, like the previous one, for much the same reason.

ASA Argues for Return of Patients' Unlawfully Seized Marijuana

Ruling from state appellate court could end years of local law enforcement violations

ASA's Return of Property campaign reached a pivotal point this month. Chief Counsel Joe Elford appeared before a state appeals court to argue that any California patient whose medical marijuana is seized in a law enforcement encounter has a right to get that cannabis back as soon as the patient demonstrates that the marijuana is lawfully possessed underCalifornia law.

State law says any wrongfully seized property must be returned, but some law enforcement agencies have argued that they cannot give back medical marijuana because doing so would violate federal law, even though the state Attorney General has said otherwise. California court rulings have split on the issue, with some judges ordering the return of medical marijuana and some refusing.

The appeals court is considering two cases. The first is that of Felix Kha, a Garden Grove patient who had eight grams of medical marijuana confiscated. A Superior Court judge ordered the return of his medicine, but the city of Garden Grove not only refused, it appealed the order. The second case is that of Jim Spray, a Hunt-ington Beach patient who was denied a court order by a different judge in the same Court that issued Kha's order.

"It is bad enough to have your medicine seized by police,” said Elford. “But to then be denied its rightful return shows a blatant disregard for the law."

Over the past two years, ASA has had success getting law enforcement agencies such as the California Highway Patrol to change their policies and has even helped patients get cash compensation for medicine that was destroyed or lost before it could be returned.

For further information, refer to:
Felix Kha's return of property case, including a description and legal briefs
The City of Garden Grove's appeal
ASA's opposition to Garden Grove's appeal
The California Attorney General's amicus brief in support of Kha
The California Police Chiefs Association amicus brief in support of Garden Grove
Examples of return of property court orders issued by Superior Court judges in California

Program for Seniors Considers Medical Marijuana

Poll Shows Nearly All Viewers Support Safe Access

Medical marijuana was the subject this month of a news magazine program on the country's largest television network devoted to retired Americans. The "Viewpoint" program on Retirement Living Television (RLTV), a cable channel that boasts 29 million viewers, included interviews with patients, medical researchers, dispensary operators, and federal officials.

Among those featured in the program were Florida medical marijuana patient Irv Rosenfeld, who receives his medicine free from the federal government; Dr. Bertha Madras, the Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; and Dr. John Benson, one of the co-investigators for the 1999 Institute of Medicine report, which concluded that there are medical uses for marijuana. ASA's Director of Government Affairs, Caren Woodson, was part of an RLTV promotional program that aired the day before.

The focus of the RLTV programs was "the relationship between seniors living with chronic pain and their choice to use medical marijuana to alleviate their constant discomfort," according to RLTV, which offers additional information at www.rl.tv.

A poll of RLTV viewers found that only one person did not support access to medical marijuana with a physician's recommendation. This is consistent with a December 2004 poll conducted by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), which found that 72% of their membership "agree that adults should be allowed to legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it." Nearly one-third said that they smoked marijuana.

Many of the ailments commonly associated with aging - such as arthritis, cancer, glaucoma, and chronic pain - can be effectively treated with cannabis, as outlined in the ASA booklet on medical marijuana and aging.

Fore more info, see:
RLTV Viewpoint promotional segment
AARP 2004 Report
ASA Chapter Focus

Front Range ASA, Colorado Springs, Colorado

• FEDERAL: New Mexico Paraplegic Raided
• FEDERAL: DEA Raids Northern California Dispensaries
• DISPENSARIES: Misinformation Leads to Bad Policy
• CALIFORNIA: Court Orders City to Pay for Patient’s Suffering
• COLORADO: Patient Case to Test Registration Requirement

FEDERAL: New Mexico Paraplegic Raided

New Mexico Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate Bill Richardson is outraged over a federal raid on a paraplegic who is registered with the state to legally use medical marijuana. The patient was attempting to grow six plants, as he is entitled to, but most had died. Agents seized them regardless. The Governor has said he will use every available means to curtail federal interference with his state’s medical marijuana program. See ASA’s press release on the federal escalation to undermine medical marijuana state laws.

Would it surprise you to learn that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is refusing to allow medical marijuana research to move forward — despite a clear recommendation from its own administrative law judge to let such research happen?

If you’re like me, this will be just the latest outrage from the same agency that insists on terrorizing and arresting medical marijuana patients and providers who are complying with state law and their doctors’ advice.

Would you please take one minute to ask your U.S. House member to direct the DEA to permit medical marijuana research to move forward? MPP’s online action center has done all the work for you; just click a few buttons and your letter will be sent.

(Congress provides the DEA with 100% of its funding — all of it taxpayer money — so the DEA is more likely to listen to members of Congress than just about anyone else.)

In February of this year, DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Bittner recommended that Professor Lyle Craker and the University of Massachusetts be granted a license to grow research-grade marijuana that would be used in FDA- and DEA-approved clinical studies into marijuana’s therapeutic uses, noting that it would be “in the public interest” to do so. But the DEA has ignored her recommendation and continued to block the research.

And earlier this month, during a hearing before the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, DEA official Joseph Rannazzisi refused to commit to a timeline for ruling on the University of Massachusetts’ application ... even implying that the DEA might just wait until after a new presidential administration takes power in January 2009!

This is the height of hypocrisy. The DEA continually cites insufficient research as a reason for keeping medical marijuana illegal — while simultaneously blocking the very research that’s needed to persuade the FDA to approve marijuana as a prescription medicine.

How can the DEA hide behind the FDA in arguing against medical marijuana access, and then block any attempt to move marijuana through the FDA approval process?

Would you please take one minute to ask your U.S. House member to stop letting politics interfere with research into the medicinal value of marijuana?

Thank you,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

• ASA ACTION: Defending Patient’s Property Rights
• FEDERAL: Doctor-Lawyer Couple Convicted for Medical Growing
• LOS ANGELES: Continued Blowback from DEA Raids on Dispensaries
• CAMPAIGN ’08: Democrats All Say DEA Raids Should Stop
• WASHINGTON: State Studying Better Implementation and Access
• KANSAS: Former AG Fighting For Safe Access
• NEW MEXICO: Plans for State Marijuana Production and Distribution
• OHIO: Medical Marijuana Initiative May Go Before Voters
• DISPENSARIES: Patients and Local Officials Grapple with Needs
• CALIFORNIA: Medical Marijuana Opposition Group Milks Federal Funds
• GERMANY: First Medical Marijuana Patient Approved

ASA ACTION: Defending Patient’s Property Rights

What happens when qualified medical marijuana patients have encounters with law enforcement? Too often, their state-legal medicine is confiscated and not returned, even once it is determined that they are operating within the limits of the law. For more than two years, ASA has been leading a campaign to correct that injustice, helping patients get court orders for the return of their medical marijuana and even getting a fundamental change of policy from the California Highway Patrol, who was once one of the worst offenders. ASA has now taken that fight to the state court of appeals, arguing that patients who have committed no crime are always entitled to return of their property.

[Courtesy of MPP]

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) just became the last of the eight Democratic presidential candidates to pledge to end the DEA’s raids on medical marijuana patients and providers who act legally under state law.

This means that all eight Democratic presidential candidates — including U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) — have now taken public positions in support of protecting patients in the 12 states with medical marijuana laws.

In regard to Sen. Obama, it took MPP’s campaign in New Hampshire, Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana (GSMM), five separate encounters over the last few months — and two back-to-back encounters earlier this week — but on Tuesday in Nashua, Sen. Obama told a GSMM volunteer, “I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users. It's not a good use of our resources." You can watch the encounter here and read some news coverage of this coup here.

MPP/GSMM has had one full-time staffer — Stuart Cooper — working in New Hampshire since March, and I’m thrilled that our persistence has paid off. Stuart and his cadre of volunteers and patients have been dogging the Democratic and Republican candidates at almost every appearance in the state, urging them to take strong, public, positive positions on medical marijuana in advance of the New Hampshire primary — currently the first in the nation — on January 22.

In addition to the eight Democratic candidates, two Republican candidates — U.S. Reps. Ron Paul (Texas) and Tom Tancredo (Colo.) — have also vowed to end the medical marijuana raids as well. In fact, these two members of Congress recently voted for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment on the House floor ... for the fifth year in a row.

You can see or hear the good guys in their own words here.

Can you imagine if all the presidential candidates publicly supported protecting patients? Please make a donation so we can keep up the pressure on the six Republicans who still haven’t taken positive positions.

The 10 good candidates are to be commended for their common sense and compassion, especially as federal intrusion into medical marijuana states has been on the rise this summer, with DEA raids taking place in several counties in California and Oregon. Recently, the DEA also began threatening landlords who lease space to medical marijuana dispensaries — activity that’s legal under state law — with forfeiture of their property, a move condemned in a Los Angeles Times editorial as "a deplorable new bullying tactic."

And last week, presidential candidate and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), who signed legislation in April making his the 12th medical marijuana state, wrote to President Bush asking him to end the federal raids in medical marijuana states: "Respected physicians and government officials should not fear going to jail for acting compassionately and caring for our most vulnerable citizens. Nor should those most vulnerable of citizens fear their government because they take the medicine they need."

We still have work to do in New Hampshire: Will you consider making a donation today to ensure that in January 2009 we inaugurate a president who is committed to ending federal interference in the states that have medical marijuana laws? Thank you for your support.