Next president might be gentler on pot clubs
Ever since California voters became the first in the nation to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, the state has faced unyielding opposition from the federal government, which insists it has the power to prohibit a drug it considers useless and dangerous.

That could all change with the next presidential election.

As the candidates prepare for a May 20 primary in Oregon, one of 12 states with a California-style law, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has become an increasingly firm advocate of ending federal intervention and letting states make their own rules when it comes to medical marijuana.

His Democratic rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, is less explicit, recently softening a pledge she made early in the campaign to halt federal raids in states with medical marijuana laws. But she has expressed none of the hostility that marked the response of her husband’s administration to California’s initiative, Proposition 215.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican nominee-in-waiting, has gone back and forth on the issue - promising a medical marijuana patient at one campaign stop that seriously ill patients would never face arrest under a McCain administration, but ultimately endorsing the Bush administration’s policy of federal raids and prosecutions.

Senator Obama seems to understand that there is legitimate medical use for marijuana, comparing doctor-prescribed morphine to doctor-recommended marijuana.  Senator Clinton seems to have waffled a bit, saying first that the DEA raids in medical marijuana states should end, but later saying instead that DEA raids shouldn’t be a “high priority”, which leaves the possibility open that the DEA raids would be a priority to some lesser extent.  She also seems unaware of marijuana’s proven medicinal benefits, calling for more research despite the dozens of studies that have confirmed marijuana as medicine.  And Senator McCain has flip-flopped numerous times on this issue, telling one patient he’d never be arrested for using medical marijuana, but then stating that he would not end DEA raids in medical marijuana states.

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(MPP) A little-known federal government program that supplies medical marijuana to a handful of patients [marks] its 30th anniversary [tomorrow].

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.”

I’ve had the privilege of meeting two of the remaining patients: Irv Rosenfeld of Florida and Elvy Musikka of Oregon. The marijuana grown for them is harvested at the one legal federal garden at the University of Mississippi. It is some very poor marijuana; the government harvests the whole plant, stems, seeds and all, grinding it up and using it in 300 marijuana joints sent in a big tin once per month. It is not in the government’s interest, after all, to provide well-groomed, well-bred, more potent forms of marijuana; those strains might show even more therapeutic value and thereby undercut the government’s arguments about marijuana’s danger.

Money not well spent: Fraser
Sheila Fraser, the federal Auditor-General, yesterday released her latest report on Ottawa’s management of its programs and spending. As in the past, the Auditor-General found many areas in which government spending was excessive or lacked proper oversight.

The federal government is charging too much for passports, doesn’t know what to charge for medical marijuana and may not be charging enough for some other fees it collects.

Yesterday’s report indicated Ottawa collected $1.9-billion in fees on everything from issuing passports to granting licences to manufacture drugs. The money represents a small fraction of the more than $200-billion collected every year in taxes and duties.

[T]he auditors discovered Health Canada is probably undercharging Canadians who are allowed to buy marijuana for medical purposes. Health Canada charges $5 for a gram of dried marijuana or $20 for a packet of 30 marijuana seeds. Some “compassion” clubs, which try to assist those who need marijuana to ease chronic pain, charge twice as much for similar amounts.

Health Canada plans to recalculate its charge.

There’s just one problem with this analysis: the marijuana being supplied by Health Canada is of very poor quality compared to that which is sold in the compassion clubs.  It is only worth half of what the quality marijuana is worth.

Health Canada maintains a monopoly supply on government medical marijuana.  The herb is grown 500 feet below the earth in an abandoned zinc and copper mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba.  I’ve spoken with Philippe Lucas from the Vancouver Island Compassion Society about this issue, and he tells me that not only is the Flin Flon weed quite schwaggy, but also there are concerns about its safety after being grown where so many harsh mining chemicals had been used.

Health Canada needs to open up the production of marijuana to the many excellent independent growers in Canada.  British Columbia itself could probably manufacture enough high-quality marijuana to supply the whole country.

But here is where the prohibition rub comes in.  Because there is a lucrative black market both in Canada and the US for high-quality marijuana, the price of marijuana is artificially inflated by prohibition risk.  BC growers want to divert their strains to the top dollar buyers, not to some government that will fix the price and create many bureaucratic headaches.

And the government must either grow poor quality weed that can remain low cost and out of competition with “BC Bud”, or raise quality and prices to match the black market.  Government can’t charge less for good medicine, else people will purchase it and resell it on the black market for the margin.

Come on now.  $5, $10, $15 for a gram for a weed?  $20 to $50 for a packet of seeds?  Can you name any other consumer agricultural product that demands such exorbitant pricing (yes: tobacco, due to high taxes and saffron, which grows in few places during a short season and must be harvested by hand by picking the individual stigma off the flower)?  What do you think marijuana would cost if it were completely legal and farmers could grow acres of it outdoors?

Willamette Week | Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
Conservative ballot-measure supremo Kevin Mannix just told WWire he and his cohorts are dropping a proposed ballot initiative to kill the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program.

“That petition’s going to stop this week,” Mannix says. There was not enough time or money to gather the 82,769 valid signatures needed, he says.

“That’s the best news I’ve had all day,” says Paul Stanford, head of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation, a Portland-based national chain of medical marijuana clinics.

Mannix says the decision to drop the petition drive had nothing to do with lack of public support, but rather lack of resources. But Stanford says he believes Mannix ran into trouble because the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, approved by voters in 1998, is still supported by a clear majority.

Stanford says it’s good news for medical-marijuana advocates that the petition has been dropped.

“We don’t have to waste our resources encouraging people not to sign that petition,” Stanford says. “We don’t have to mount a campaign against them in the fall. It just saves us a lot of time and effort.”

The so-called Oregon Crimefighting Act would have done three things:

•Given repeat “major felony” sex offenders a minimum 25-year sentence.

•Made third-strike DUII convictions a felony.

•Replaced medical marijuana with prescription THC pills.

Stanford has called the initiative a cynical effort to tear down medical marijuana by tagging it onto slam-drunk issues like opposing drunk drivers and sex predators. He says many marijuana patients oppose the change because THC pills are too expensive and not as effective.

Mannix told WWire that the ballot initiative, which he drafted, had financial support from the Florida-based nonprofit Save Our Society From Drugs. He says backers may return with another effort to gut medical marijuana in the 2010 election.

How about Save Our Society From Ignorance? This was the most shameful attempt to repeal medical marijuana in the second state to enact such protection for serious ill and disabled people. Mannix is a well-known conservative troublemaker in this state. He’s the man behind our ill-fated Measure 11, a state-level get-tough-on-crime mandatory minimum sentencing scheme that has helped overcrowd Oregon’s prisons and led us to spending more money on prisons than colleges. He’s lost a couple attempts to become governor and is now eyeing the federal Congressional seat of the retiring Representative Darlene Hooley.

New York Benefit to Celebrate Recent Medical Marijuana Successes : NewsLI.com - Long Island News, News Long Island

(Long Island, N.Y.) On Wednesday, May 14, 2008 the Marijuana Policy Project (www.MPP.org) will host a spring soiree, a night of comedy and music to benefit MPP’s efforts to protect seriously ill New Yorkers from arrest and jail if they use medical marijuana with their doctor’s recommendation. Patient advocate Joel Peacock will be honored and Sony/BMG recording artist Nicole Atkins & The Sea and other special guests will perform. All funds raised will be used to pass a bill to make New York the 13th medical marijuana state in the country.

The Host Committee for the event and those attending include: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’s Lewis Black, Political Pundit Tucker Carlson, Tony Award Winner Savion Glover, MTV News’ Kurt Loder, Musician Michelle Phillips, ABC’s John Stossel from 20/20, Talk Show Host Montel Williams and more.

Last year - - for the first time ever - - the New York Assembly passed a medical marijuana bill - by a 95-52 vote, sending the bill over to the Senate.

Before his resignation, Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) expressed his openness to signing medical marijuana legislation, and the new Gov. Paterson seems likely to be a supporter as well, so all eyes are now focused on the Republican-controlled Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno is supportive of allowing medical marijuana, but has not brought the issue to a vote.

With the Republicans facing a tough election this November, when they could very well lose control of the Senate, we’re hoping they’ll pay attention to the public opinion polling that indicates 76% of New York voters -and even 55% of Conservative Party voters in the state –support legal protection for medical marijuana patients.

The MPP benefit will take place at the Highline Ballroom, 431 W 16th Street between 9th and 10th Aves. (212) 414-5994. Tickets for $250 in advance- $300 at the door (most of your contribution is tax-deductible) are available at (202) 462-5747 Ext. 104 or www.mpp.org/highline

Medical marijuana user dies without transplant | KOMO-TV - Seattle, Washington | News
SEATTLE (AP) - A musician who was denied a liver transplant because he used marijuana with medical approval under Washington state law to ease the symptoms of advanced hepatitis C died Thursday.

The death of Timothy Garon, 56, at Bailey-Boushay House, an intensive care nursing center was confirmed to The Associated Press by his lawyer, Douglas Hiatt, and Alisha Mark, a spokeswoman for Virginia Mason Medical Center, which operates Bailey-Boushay.

Dr. Brad Roter, the physician who authorized Garon to smoke pot to alleviate for nausea and abdominal pain and to stimulate his appetite, said he did not know it would be such a hurdle if Garon were to need a transplant.

The case has highlighted a new ethical consideration for those allocating organs for transplant, especially in the dozen states that have medical marijuana laws: When dying patients need a transplant, should it be held against them if they’ve used pot with a doctor’s blessing?

Garon died a week after his doctor told him a University of Washington Medical Center committee had again denied him a spot on the liver transplant list because of his use of marijuana, although it was authorized under Washington state law.

“He said I’m going to die with such conviction,” Garon told an AP reporter at the time. “I’m not angry, I’m not mad, I’m just confused.”

Garon believes he contracted hepatitis C by sharing needles with “speed freaks” as a teenager. In recent years, he said, pot has been the only drug he’s used. In December, he was arrested for growing marijuana.

He had been in the hospice for two months and previously was rejected for a transplant at Swedish Medical Center for the same reason he later got from the university hospital.

Swedish said he would be considered if he avoided pot for six months and the university hospital offered to reconsider if he enrolled in a 60-day drug treatment program, but doctors said his liver disease was too advanced for him to last that long. The university hospital committee agreed to reconsider anyway, then denied him again.

The idea of keeping drug addicts off of transplant lists is not necessarily a bad idea.  There are precious few organs to go around, and one should not be given to a person who is just likely to destroy the new organ because of their addictions.  But this is clearly not the case with medical marijuana patients.

The grim irony here is that Garon could have used other drugs to treat his hepatitis symptoms, but those pharmaceuticals are toxic to the very liver he needed to be transplanted.  He used medical marijuana because of its lack of liver toxicity.  Perhaps it is what kept him alive as long as he was; perhaps the other drugs would have killed him more quickly.

Doctors in charge of the transplant division at UWMC were unsure that after the transplant, Garon wouldn’t resume using medical marijuana.  Most of their quotes revealed an astonishing lack of understanding about cannabis, with worries about Garon being unable to control a so-called addiction to cannabis, that, had he continued smoking cannabis, his immune system, suppressed for the transplant, would be unable to fight off any infections or molds he might pick up from smoking.

A man is dead today because of ignorance about medical marijuana, stereotypes against responsible cannabis users, and the cruel federal prohibition of the most helpful plant known to mankind.

KAALtv.com - Medical Marijuana Bill Moves Forward
(KAAL) — Within the next week, a bill legalizing medical marijuana in Minnesota could be even closer to becoming law.

The Senate has already approved the bill, and it’s expected to hit the House floor in about a week.

Ads are already hitting the airwaves asking the governor not to veto the bill like he’s promised.

Like the governor, the Minnesota Sheriffs Association and the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association are against medical marijuana.

“They can say they’ve got a prescription but if we call the doctor, they’re not going to release if they have a prescription. It becomes a HIPAA issue,” says Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi.

First of all, Sheriff, people don’t get prescriptions for medical marijuana, as that would violate federal law and cause the DEA to revoke a doctor’s license to prescribe scheduled drugs. But doctors are free to recommend medical marijuana, as adjudicated in the case Conant v. Walters.

As for the so-called HIPAA issue, there is no HIPAA issue (though it is nice to see law enforcement concerned about patient’s right to privacy). Obviously, the sheriff has not read the text of the Minnesota bill, which states:

A qualifying patient who possesses a registry identification card shall not be subject to arrest, prosecution, or penalty in any manner…

“Registry identification card” means a document issued by the commissioner that identifies a person as a qualifying patient or primary caregiver…

The commissioner shall maintain a confidential list of the persons to whom the department has issued registry identification cards. Individual names and other identifying information on the list shall be confidential, exempt from the Minnesota Freedom of Information Act, and not subject to disclosure, except to authorized employees of the department as necessary to perform official duties of the department.

The commissioner shall verify to law enforcement personnel whether a registry identification card is valid solely by confirming the random registry identification number.

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.

A comprehensive list of the amendments made at the request of law enforcement representatives can be viewed online.

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.

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.”

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

It always seems odd when I hear about how law enforcement is involved in creating medical marijuana law.  I can’t remember the last time anyone asked a panel of doctors how we should build our next prison.

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Minnesota continues to debate the medical marijuana legislation in the statehouse. Naturally, law enforcement is against the bill; it makes their jobs too difficult when they aren’t allowed to just arrest every toker and rip up every cannabis plant they find. So they have been trotting out the same tired old drug war lies:

1. Marijuana has no medical value
2. Medical marijuana lacks support from the medical community
3. Marinol is marijuana
4. Twelve marijuana plants produce far more marijuana than patients would be allowed to have under the law
5. The safeguards in the medical marijuana law will be unenforceable due to a “tremendous trade in phony scripts”
6. A medical marijuana law will increase youth access and use of marijuana
7. Medical marijuana laws cause “nothing but problems”
8. Every single prosecutor in every single medical marijuana state is opposed to medical marijuana
9. Illegal marijuana use has increased 50% in California since 1996
10. The 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) study discounted smoked marijuana for medicine
11. The potency of marijuana has increased 10 to 30 times since the 1960’s and 1970’s
12. The federal government is vigorously investigating medical marijuana
13. Medical marijuana use will lead to patients using more dangerous and addictive drugs
14. Medical marijuana harms, rather than helps, patients
15. You can overdose on marijuana

So the good folks at Minnesota Cares have put together an excellent white paper debunking all of these myths point by point. Even if you’re not in Minnesota, this paper makes an excellent guide for rebutting our oppenents.

The activists at the Illinois Compassion Action Network have put together a website full of Patient Videos to help lawmakers there understand the need for a medical marijuana law in Illinois.  When you hear the stories from these patients about how marijuana has made their lives bearable, it really shows this is an issue about compassion, not drugs.

You can also view some of my interviews with medical marijuana patients in Oregon at the Oregon NORML YouTube Channel.

New Scientist Short Sharp Science Blog: Dope without the high
It’s a stoner’s worst nightmare: pot without the high. But a drug that offers the pain-killing and appetite boost associated with marijuana without the forgetfulness, giggles and general dopiness might appeal to cancer patients and others who would otherwise turn to medical marijuana.

Now, researchers in California (one of the first US states to legalise medical marijuana) have identified a family of chemicals that comes close to mimicking weed, but without the high.

Their approach hinges on tinkering with our body’s own natural stash of marijuana-like chemicals, endocannabinoids. Marijuana’s active ingredient delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) tickles the same brain cell receptors as two endocannabinoids: one that makes you high (2-AG), while another that kills the pain (andamide).

A team led by John Casida, a toxicologist at the University of California in Berkeley, discovered that a pesticide related to the nerve gas sarin causes some of the same effects as marijuana in mice, including the painkilling and the behavioural changes.

But the drug works nothing like pot. Instead of turning on the brain’s THC receptors, the insecticide gets mice high by blocking their brains from breaking down both 2-AG and andamide.

The next step will be to find a drug that stymies the breakdown of andamide, not 2-AG. But scientist will need to be careful before they mellow this high. “If your start with something derived form a pesticide you have to be particularly careful,” says Casida.

Now that the medical effects or marijuana are indisputable to anyone who looks at the issue honestly, the next tactic in the drug warriors’ strategy is to pharmaceuticalize marijuana.  The idea being that OK, relief from nausea, pain, and spasticity is all good, but we must eliminate the pesky “high”.

What is so wrong with getting high?  If you’re facing a depressing bout of chemotherapy, what’s wrong with a little giggling and euphoria?  I believe the reduction in stress and the happy warm feelings triggered by marijuana’s high are just another medical benefit.  We are so easily dismissive of the mental health aspect of health care in this country.

To this end, researchers are now looking to replace a non-toxic, well-tolerated, effective naturopathic remedy with a synthesis of a nerve-gas-like pesticide, all just to eliminate the high.  Meanwhile, thousands of medical marijuana patients in 12 states have already figured out how they can smoke, vaporize, or eat marijuana in just the right amounts to ease their symptoms without getting too high.

Medical marijuana patients face transplant hurdles | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle
SEATTLE — Timothy Garon’s face and arms are hauntingly skeletal, but the fluid building up in his abdomen makes the 56-year-old musician look eight months pregnant.

His liver, ravaged by hepatitis C, is failing. Without a new one, his doctors tell him, he will be dead in days.

But Garon’s been refused a spot on the transplant list, largely because he has used marijuana, even though it was legally approved for medical reasons.

With the scarcity of donated organs, transplant committees like the one at the University of Washington Medical Center use tough standards, including whether the candidate has other serious health problems or is likely to drink or do drugs.

And with cases like Garon’s, they also have to consider — as a dozen states now have medical marijuana laws — if using cannabis with a doctor’s blessing should be held against a dying patient in need of a transplant.

The Virginia-based United Network for Organ Sharing, which oversees the nation’s transplant system, leaves it to individual hospitals to develop criteria for transplant candidates.

At some, people who use “illicit substances” — including medical marijuana, even in states that allow it — are automatically rejected. At others, such as the UCLA Medical Center, patients are given a chance to reapply if they stay clean for six months. Marijuana is illegal under federal law.

This continued discrimination against medical users of marijuana has got to stop.  It’s beyond irony that someone in need of a liver transplant is punished for using the medicine that doesn’t harm the liver; it’s cruel.

Some hospitals told Garon he could be eligible if he would only complete a 60-day rehab or six months of abstinence.  Two-to-six months without treatment with marijuana means 60 to 180 days of using other drugs that are fatally toxic to the man’s liver.  So it’s really a crapshoot: use marijuana to feel better and face certain death from liver failure or don’t use marijuana and feel awful and take drugs that accelerate certain death from liver failure.

The Beach Reporter -
A unanimous decision by the Planning Commission to officially ban medical marijuana dispensaries in Redondo Beach will next be recommended for the City Council’s consideration.

The Planning Commission held a public hearing in nearly empty chambers April 17, and with zero members of the public offering input, made quick work of staff’s recommendation to transform a two-year moratorium on the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries within the city to a permanent prohibition via an amended zoning code.

“This is an issue all South Bay cities have been dealing with,” said Planning Director Randy Berler. “The action was against a dispensary that came in without the city’s approval … at a time when dispensaries were popping up all over. We were one of many cities to impose moratoriums.”

With a looming expiration date, Berler and city staff recommended to the Planning Commission an outright ban of medical marijuana dispensaries and an amendment to the zoning ordinance that specifically reflects that ban. Staff did offer the commission a second option during last Thursday’s meeting, one that would permit but stringently regulate dispensaries within the city, but that alternative was quickly dismissed.

In a 100-plus-page staff report, Berler cited many articles and studies that indicated that where medical marijuana dispensaries were established, the quality of public health, safety and welfare had been compromised.

“There were communities that allowed the dispensaries and were sympathetic to their users, but there were unintended, unforeseen consequences,” Berler said Friday, mentioning for example an increase of crime and outright public use of marijuana within close proximity to the dispensary.

Berler also explained that a prohibition of medical marijuana dispensaries in Redondo was the most “legally defensible” position for the city to take, an opinion shared by City Attorney Mike Webb.

“It’s a difficult situation for a city to be in when you are stuck between federal law and state law,” said Webb.

This is one of those stories that highlights the need for you to get involved in changing our marijuana laws.  There were zero members of the public who showed up to testify in favor of a South Bay-area dispensary.  When we don’t show up, the prohibitionists always win.

We can do something to help fight this at the federal level.  Call Congress at 202-224-3121 and tell them to support Ron Paul’s HR5842, the medical marijuana patients protection bill.  This would tell the federal government “hands-off” the twelve medical marijuana states.  Maybe then the city attorneys in California won’t be so nervous about allowing dispensaries.

Call your Congress today and tell your representative to support our two pro-marijuana bills in the House:

Washington, DC: US Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced legislation in Congress Friday to strip the federal government of its authority to arrest responsible adult cannabis consumers. The measure, H.R. 5843, known as an “Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults,” is the first federal decriminalization legislation introduced in 24 years. Frank’s pending bill, co-sponsored by presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), seeks to eliminate all federal penalties prohibiting the personal use and possession of up to 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) of marijuana. Under this measure, adults who consume cannabis would no longer face arrest, prison, or even the threat of a civil fine. The bill also eliminates all penalties for the not-for-profit transfers of up to one ounce of pot. All are encouraged to write their representatives in support of this important legislation via NORML’s online advocacy system.

Washington, DC: Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced H.R. 5842, the “Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act,” earlier today. This bill would make federal authorities respect states’ current laws on medicinal cannabis and end DEA raids on facilities distributing medical marijuana legally under state law. Representative Paul, whose presidential campaign prominently featured the ending of the drug war as a platform plank, was joined by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) in sponsoring this bill. All NORML supporters are strongly encouraged to write their Representatives in favor of this important bill via NORML’s online advocacy system.

Congressman Frank’s official press release on the marijuana bills he’s submitted:

FRANK INTRODUCES LEGISLATION TO REMOVE FEDERAL PENALTIES ON PERSONAL MARIJUANA USE

Congressman Also Files Bill Permitting Medical Use of Marijuana in States that Choose to Allow it with Doctor’s Recommendation

Congressman Barney Frank today introduced bi-partisan legislation aimed at removing federal restrictions on the individual use of marijuana (HR 5843). One bill would remove federal penalties for the personal use of marijuana, and the other (HR 5842) – versions of which Frank has filed in several preceding sessions of Congress – would allow the medical use of marijuana in states that have chosen to make its use for medical purposes legal with a doctor’s recommendation. Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) joined Frank as a cosponsor of the federal penalties bill. The cosponsors of the medical marijuana bill are Rep. Paul, along with Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and Sam Farr (D-CA).

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Federal Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced by Rep. Ron Paul - NORML
Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) introduced H.R. 5842, the “Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act,” earlier today. This bill would make federal authorities respect states’ current laws on medicinal cannabis and end DEA raids on facilities distributing medical marijuana legally under state law.

Representative Paul, whose presidential campaign prominently featured the ending of the drug war as a platform plank, was joined by Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) in sponsoring this bill.

“I think marijuana is a helpful medical treatment for the people who have intractable nausea,” Paul said in a 2004 House debate regarding a similar measure. “I would like to point out this is not something strange that we are suggesting here. For the first 163 years of our history in this country, the federal government had total hands off, they never interfered with what the states were doing.”

Twelve states have approved the use of medical marijuana, beginning with California in 1996 with the passage of Proposition 215. The DEA continues to raid and harass medicinal cannabis dispensaries operating within these states’ laws. Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have both indicated they would end such raids should they be elected.

Michigan will vote on an initiative to adopt medical cannabis legislation this November. Minnesota and Rhode Island’s respective legislatures are also considering pro-reform legislation this year.

DAVIS, CALIFORNIA — A clinical trial conducted at the University of California at Davis and just published online by the Journal of Pain has demonstrated significant relief of neuropathic pain (pain caused by damage to nerves) stemming from a variety of causes. This is the second study in just over a year to show that marijuana relieves neuropathic pain, which is notoriously resistant to treatment with conventional pain drugs, including opioid narcotics. A UC San Francisco study published last year showed relief of HIV/AIDS-related neuropathy.

In the new study, 38 patients experiencing neuropathic pain from diabetes, spinal injury, multiple sclerosis and other causes were given marijuana cigarettes of three different strengths: Zero percent THC (placebo), 3.5 percent THC or 7 percent THC. In each session, patients took the same number of puffs, following a standardized procedure to ensure uniformity of the dose received at each strength.

Both doses of marijuana reduced pain significantly, producing marked declines in pain intensity that lasted over five hours. Researchers Barth Wilsey and colleagues wrote that side effects “were relatively inconsequential,” and “psychoactive effects were minimal and well-tolerated.” Although the scientists did express caution about the neurocognitive effects of the higher dose — reflected in lower scores on some tests of memory and problem solving, the study was not designed to examine the potential for marijuana to allow reduced doses of narcotic painkillers that also cause cognitive impairment, a benefit widely reported by patients.

What? Didn’t these guys get the memo from the DEA that marijuana has no medicinal value? That it is “Cheech and Chong medicine”? That all the hundreds of thousands of medical marijuana patients in twelve US states are all faking it so they can get high legally? That the science just isn’t there to prove marijuana is a medicine? Gee, why do we keep letting scientists and doctors do research on cannabis and report the truthful results, when our politicians and law enforcement settled this debate already?

Editorial: Medical marijuana merits state support
At a time when researchers are plunging into the rainforest in search of new medicines, there’s growing consensus that a humble herb easily cultivated here may help patients struggling with cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other painful, difficult-to-manage conditions.

The herb, whose slim, multi-pronged leaf makes it instantly recognizable, is marijuana. The Minnesota Senate has already approved a measure that would make Minnesota the 13th state to legalize its medical use. The House will likely vote this spring. Lawmakers, as well as the governor, should give the bill careful yet open-minded consideration and make it a reality.

There’s solid and growing data on the medical benefits of marijuana and its active compound for treating neuropathy (which causes extremity pain), multiple sclerosis, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and chemotherapy-induced nausea and appetite loss. While other treatments are available, there are situations in which marijuana may work best. Doctors should be able to make this call.

The New England Journal of Medicine has editorialized in favor of marijuana’s medical use. In January, the nation’s second-largest group of physicians, the American College of Physicians, weighed in, also in favor.

Minnesota’s [medical marijuana law] is nine pages, and written more tightly [than California’s law] to limit abuse. Unlike California, it requires qualifying patients to register and carry an ID card. Patients, who must have a health professional’s approval to qualify, are also not allowed to grow their own; they’d buy marijuana from a registered nonprofit. There’s still potential for abuse. But as Oxycontin illustrates, that can happen with any prescription drug.

Most western states and a handful in the northeast protect patients whose doctors have decided marijuana is the best treatment option. For the most part, the laws have worked well, without the worst-case scenarios feared by law enforcement. It’s time for Minnesota to ensure that its sickest patients have all the treatment options they need.

The people are way ahead of the politicians on this issue.  Kudos to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune for seeing through the reefer madness and endorsing such a sensible piece of legislation… though I have my reservations about patients not being allowed to grow their own medicine.  Why not allow people who are suffering to treat themselves independently?

Medical marijuana initiative officially qualifies for Michigan’s 2008 ballot!
When the Michigan Board of Canvassers officially certified the signatures MPP’s campaign committee, the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care (MCCC), submitted last month, the Michigan Legislature had 40 days to act - by either passing the initiative into law itself or sending the question to the voters to decide.

And those 40 days were officially up on Friday, April 11. With the legislature taking no action, the medical marijuana initiative will automatically go onto the November ballot!

The fact that voters will have the opportunity to make Michigan the 13th medical marijuana state is great news for Michigan’s patients. Support for a compassionate law is wide and deep across the state: The most recent polling shows 67% of voters favor medical marijuana access, and five Michigan cities - Ann Arbor, Detroit, Ferndale, Flint, and Traverse City - have already passed local medical marijuana initiatives.

And last year, MCCC activists collected nearly half a million signatures from Michiganders, verified by the Board of Canvassers at a whopping 80.2% validity rate, to get the initiative on the ballot - further evidence of this broad, statewide support.

The Canadian Press: Health Canada looking for firm to grow its medical marijuana
OTTAWA — Health Canada is looking for someone to grow its weed.

The department served notice Monday it will soon invite firms to bid on a contract to cultivate and distribute medical marijuana, which is now being done in Flin Flon, Man., by Prairie Plant Systems Inc.

The winning firm will be expected to deliver a steady stream of government-approved dope to certified medical, users starting in the fall.

Dope? Why is the media allowed to get away with such flagrant anti-medical marijuana bias? If the story were about a government seeking a contract with an oxycodone supplier, would they talk about a “steady stream of government-approved hillbilly heroin”?

Ottawa has been a reluctant supplier of pot since a series of court rulings forced it into the medical marijuana business.

The marijuana program licenses certified medical users to grow their own pot, to have someone grow it for them or to buy it straight from Health Canada.

The department has paid Prairie Plant Systems more than $10 million to cultivate government-certified dope in a mine shaft in Flin Flon, Man.

There’s the “dope” again. And it should be noted that this mine shaft in Flin Flon is one of the most environmentally-polluted areas in all of Canada.

Ron Marzel, a Toronto lawyer who recently brought the matter before the Federal Court on behalf of a group of medical users, says he’s concerned about any monopoly on legal production and supply of the drug.

“The government’s just had such a horrible track record in terms of supplying medication to patients,” he said.

“There are many different strains of cannabis out there and the government’s position to date has been, ‘Well, we’re growing one strain and we’ve got one supplier and that’s it. Live with it.’

“The pharmacological evidence is that different ailments require, and different symptomology require, treatment with different strains. And the government hasn’t paid heed to that at all.”

Nope. To the government, a weed is a weed is a weed. They aren’t too thrilled about growing “dope”, much less worried about which particular strain of “dope” it is (and based on reports from my Canadian friends, it’s a pretty schwaggy strain). It’s as ridiculous and cruel as refusing to stock morphine, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen in the hospital, because you’ve got plenty of aspirin.