22 Jul 2013

Take Marijuana Out of Drug War

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Americans like wars: the war on poverty — we lost that one when a bigger war came along. In 1971, while losing the war in Vietnam, President Nixon declared a war on drugs. The two wars got mixed together in some unpleasant ways. American soldiers began using drugs in Vietnam as a way of deadening the fear and loathing in fighting a war where civilians were indistinguishable from enemy soldiers.

Back home, a youthful revolution developed: a rejection not just of the war and the draft that was taking so many young men to death or injury but of the humbug that had preceded it. The revolution rejected apple pie, stars-and-stripes morality with its undertones of bigotry and overtones of hypocrisy and embraced the emerging marijuana plant as a principal source of recreational pleasure.

The increased solidarity among young blacks and whites, many of whom had been part of the racial rebelliousness that brought about the civil rights acts of the sixties did not sit comfortably with the older ruling class still, particularly in the South, resisting the civil rights movement.

Exaggerated proclamations regarding the dangers of drugs, marijuana in particular, which did not match youthful experience, opened the generational split further. Birth control pills, newly invented and now widely distributed brought a new sense of sexual freedom to American youth leaving parents aghast. The new youth expressed itself through radically new musical preferences, incomprehensible or appalling to their parents. All this was accompanied by the expansion of marijuana use. The new wave of young men wearing long hair as a signal of alienation from the expectations of the adult world was the last straw.

The Establishment struck back, a counterrevolution against uppity youth, spotting marijuana use as a point of special vulnerability. They had a point. Marijuana is not good for you. Yes, cigarettes are much more likely to kill you. Alcohol is far worse. It can get you in all kinds of trouble as well as shortening your life. Alcohol and cigarettes are both more addictive but if you have been around, you know someone who has spent too much time in a marijuana haze. That cigarettes and alcohol, which are distributed with minor controls, are much worse does not make marijuana healthy.

Still, tens of millions used it, often as a substitute for alcohol, largely without ill effect. Widespread marijuana use was harmful but it also provided the temporary mind-altering sense of good feeling, relaxation and pleasure that alcohol could provide, without equivalent dangerous side effects.

Establishment anger makes for bad policy. Marijuana was scooped up in the reaction to much more dangerous substances, particularly heroin and other opiates. Draconian laws and enforcement policies were soon sending hundreds of thousands of marijuana users to prison. Still, a majority of Americans see marijuana use as relatively harmless. Half of America is making war against the other half with disastrous consequences. After nearly half a century of this failed war, isn’t it time we declared the one on marijuana over — won, lost or a draw?

Of course we can’t just throw in the towel. Drug use is a serious problem. We should continue to use the criminal justice system for narcotics, controlled pharmaceuticals and similar substances. However, we need to ease marijuana out of the criminal code and into medical models of attention.

A petition for an initiative to “legalize” marijuana is being circulated in Alaska, following movements under way in other states, but the issues involved in wrapping up the war on drugs are broad and require thoughtful consideration. The Legislature should take up the issue either directly or through the establishment of a commission with a short turnaround. In the meantime, lives are being ruined or damaged, marriages broken, parental care destroyed, lifetime creative employment capacities are being ruined, not so much by drugs as by the war on drugs. Continuing with the war on marijuana now is like staying in Afghanistan for another decade in the hope that we can declare victory.

This is the first of two columns by John Havelock about the war on drugs. The second, which focuses on the relationship of the drug war to the criminal justice system, will run Tuesday. Havelock is a former Alaska Attorney General and, later, while director of University Legal Studies, directed the state’s criminal code revision project.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/07/21/2983482/john-havelock-part-one-take-marijuana.html#storylink=cpy

Source: Anchorage Daily News (AK)
Author: John Havelock
Published: July 21, 2013
Copyright: 2013 The Anchorage Daily News
Contact: [email protected]

22 Jul 2013

Could Pot Stop This Baby’s Seizures?

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Toronto parents struggling with baby Kaitlyn’s Dravet syndrome call for clinical trials here after miraculous results in Colorado.

Kaitlyn Pogson has lived through more seizures than calendar months.

The 9-month-old’s epilepsy sends her tiny body into convulsions that last up to an hour.  Right now they happen every three days, but as she grows the seizures will become more frequent – potentially topping 300 per week.

That’s one every 34 minutes.

Every time she has a seizure, Kaitlyn’s parents, Barry and Shannon, call 911 and take her to the emergency room, where doctors give her antiseizure drugs that don’t work.  It’s a frighteningly repetitive routine.

Kaitlyn’s condition is so severe they have a special name for it: Dravet syndrome.  Not only does it grow worse over time, it’s notoriously resistant to traditional medication.

But a growing number of doctors and families with Dravet say they’ve stumbled upon a miracle drug: marijuana.

“Kate is on morphine and three other drugs not normally given to children,” and they’re not working, Barry said.  “Rules are already being broken.  So why not this one?”

Dravet syndrome, also known as Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy ( SMEI ), is a catastrophic form of epilepsy that occurs in one in every 30,000 births.  Besides leading to developmental delays, the syndrome is also associated with higher rates of sudden unexplained death.

When Kaitlyn had her first seizure at barely 2 months old, Barry didn’t even know what a seizure looked like.  Now, between hospital visits and work, he’s been researching online and discovered the story of a little girl in Colorado who was able to reduce her seizures by more than 99 per cent.

With a small dose of marijuana extract administered orally three times a day, little Charlotte went from being “flaccid, lying in her mothers arms and unresponsive,” to a walking, talking little girl, said Dr.  Alan Shackelford, who oversaw her treatment.

“The response was instantaneous,” Shackelford told the Star by telephone.  “After the first dose, the seizures stopped =C2=85 and she didn’t suffer a seizure for seven days.”

Charlotte now suffers one seizure every other week, Shackelford says, “a remarkable and heretofore unprecedented change.”

The key is a strain of marijuana that is high in the active substance Cannabidiol ( CBD ) but very low in THC, the chemical that gets you high.

Shackelford says Colorado’s liberal marijuana laws allow doctors like him to perform “valid observational study” and publish their results.  But federal regulations are still formidable barriers for any doctor to undertake formal clinical trials with a Schedule 1 controlled substance like cannabis.

“We need to study this to know what’s going on, what dosages work best and develop treatment for children and adults alike,” said Shackelford.

At New York University, Dr.  Orrin Devinsky has just received FDA approval for a clinical trial to study the safety and tolerability of CBD in children with epilepsy.

“At this point, I think we really lack much data,” said Devinsky, who points to promising results in animals, but says the real push came from the anecdotal evidence provided by parents in Colorado.

“I’ve spoken with these parents, and I think they’re solid, good, loving parents, who’ve had very good experiences.  Whether this will be borne out by scientific studies is uncertain,” he said.

If the trials go perfectly and there are no setbacks, Devinsky estimates that CBD could be approved in the U.S.  in two to three years.

In that case, parents from across the country – whether in pot-friendly Colorado or pot-hostile Texas – would have access to the drug.

But in Canada, despite our relatively liberal medical marijuana laws, there still isn’t a single trial or study taking place on the use of high-CBD marijuana for juvenile epilepsy.

Health Canada rules allow anyone suffering from epileptic seizures to apply for a licence to possess marijuana for medical purposes.  With that licence, you can also apply to grow your own marijuana.

The problem for the Pogsons is that the marijuana available in Canada has far too little CBD and too much THC to treat an infant like Kaitlyn.

“CBD is very difficult to procure.  It’s a freak form of marijuana,” said Barry.  “You can’t import it to Canada.”

The Pogsons have started an online petition calling on Health Canada to allow CBD into the country and to sponsor medical trials to study CBD’s benefits and the appropriate dosages.

“There isn’t really any other solid hope for a treatment out there,” said Barry.  “All the drugs either don’t work, or start out working and then stop.”

In the past few months, the Pogsons moved out of their new house near Oshawa and into a condo downtown, to be closer to the Hospital for Sick Children.  They take shifts watching over Kaitlyn while she sleeps, for fear of a nocturnal seizure.  They’re exhausted, irritable and have very little hope things will improve in the near future if they can’t somehow bring CBD into the country.

“This could be what she needs,” Barry said.

Medical marijuana without the high

Marijuana growers in Colorado have developed a special strain of pot with very little THC – the chemical that gets you high – and very high Cannabidiol ( CBD ), the component believed to reduce seizures.  They’ve dubbed it “Charlotte’s Web” in honour of their first patient.

In a video detailing Charlotte’s turnaround, grower Josh Stanley says the strain, which has only 0.5 per cent THC and 17 per cent CBD, is “the future of medical marijuana.”

A similar strain is being developed in Israel, says Dr.  Alan Shackelford, who hopes to secure funding to conduct clinical trials there.

GW Pharmaceuticals in the UK is developing a CBD medication to treat epilepsy.  The company, which specializes in drugs made from cannabinoids, has a spray that contains a 1:1 ratio of CBD to THC content that’s currently available to multiple sclerosis patients in Canada and holds high hopes for a future CBD-heavy medication.

“There’s been some very promising preclinical work,” said company spokesman Mark Rogerson.  “We think that there is definitely scope for clinical trials for a product like this.”

Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 The Toronto Star
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.thestar.com/
Author: Marco Chown Oved

20 Jul 2013

MJ-Infused Faith Challenges Definition of Religion

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Sixty-four-year old Roger Christie, a resident of Hawaii’s Big Island, although most recently of Cell 104 at Honolulu Federal Detention Center, is a Religious Science practitioner, a minister of the Universal Life Church, ordained in the Church of the Universe (in Canada), an official of the Oklevueha Native American Church of Hilo, Hawaii, and the founder of the Hawai’i Cannabis THC Ministry.

As you might guess, it was the last of those spiritual vocations that landed him in prison.

In 2010, Mr. Christie, along with several co-defendants, was indicted on charges including conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana. He does not dispute the facts of the case. He just believes that his operation — “a real ‘street ministry’ serving the needs of our neighbors from all walks of life,” he told me, in an e-mail from prison, “busy six days a week,” employing “three secretaries and a doorman” — was protected by the First Amendment.

On July 29, Mr. Christie’s lawyer will argue in Hawaii federal court that his client should be allowed to present a religious-freedom defense at the eventual criminal trial. He will base his argument on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, passed by Congress in 1993, which requires the government to show a “compelling interest” whenever it “substantially burdens” a religious practice. In 2006, the Supreme Court relied on the act to permit a New Mexico church to use the hallucinogen hoasca, or ayahuasca, for sacramental purposes.

But so far such exceptions have been granted to small religious communities and relatively obscure drugs: for American Indians’ use of peyote, for example, or the New Mexico church with its ayahuasca. But marijuana? That would be far more problematic.

“The difference is that peyote and hoasca have little or no recreational market, and that is not likely to change because they make you sick before they make you high,” Douglas Laycock, who teaches constitutional law at the University of Virginia, wrote in an e-mail in explaining why a court would be unlikely to approve of the church’s practice. “Marijuana has a huge recreational market. Diversion from religious to recreational uses, and false claims of religious use, would be major problems.”

Mr. Christie is hoping that now, as many state marijuana laws are liberalized, federal courts may allow him to argue for the sacramental needs of his ministry, where until his arrest he worked full time. First, he must convince a federal judge that his religion — or one of his religions — is not just a form of personal spirituality concocted to get stoned legally.

According to Mr. Christie’s personal declaration, filed with the court in April, he joined the Religion of Jesus in 1993, was ordained in 2000, then founded as an offshoot the THC Ministry. (THC, tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.) “The THC Ministry,” he wrote, “is a universal religious organization that uses cannabis to exalt consciousness, facilitate harmony and become close to God and nature and each other.”

The Religion of Jesus, Mr. Christie wrote, holds that sacramental marijuana use is “a God-given right, as told to us in the Bible in Genesis 1:29, in which it says, ‘Then God said, I give you every seed-bearing plant …’?” Other tenets of the faith include, “Our religion does not believe in going to war” and, “Our ministers are required to use a hemp-cloth shawl for ceremonies and prayer.”

Mr. Christie’s declaration lacks the somber tone that usually distinguishes “religion.” At his Sunday services, he would “weed out, so to speak,” any visitors who seemed “insincere” about the faith — people without any sense of pot’s spiritual purpose. His faith’s “primary sacred day” is April 20, known to Deadheads, readers of Craigslist and High Times subscribers as “4/20,” slang for marijuana.

The Sunday service sounds like a Judd Apatow movie outtake; it requires a “volcano vaporizer” and “large clear inhalation bag.” In addition, “after services,” Mr. Christie wrote, “members would gather to drink hempseed coffee, eat and talk.” Religion, or late-morning munchies?

But the courts have offered no coherent definition of religion. “What constitutes a religion is one of the hardest questions of all, and except in the most obvious cases, the courts tend to avoid it if they can,” according to Professor Laycock. As religion scholars point out, categories like “legitimate” privilege religions that are old and established — those that have buildings, and other trappings of power.

In a telephone interview, the Rev. James D. Kimmel, who in 1969 founded the Religion of Jesus, Mr. Christie’s church, summed up the church’s beliefs as “God is our father and we’re all sons and daughters of God.” That isn’t the language that Mr. Christie uses, but for Mr. Kimmel, who is 78 and not the talk-show host, who lives in Hawaii and talks a lot about an esoteric text called the Urantia Book, such a discrepancy is no problem at all. “It’s a personal religion,” he said. “We’re not institutional.”

The courts will probably be loath to allow Mr. Christie his humorous, personal, idiosyncratic religion. If we could all have our own religions, the courts would have a lot more defendants claiming their religions require drug use. Besides, he may not be the ideal crusader for religious marijuana. According to the government, the THC Ministry offered a “sanctuary kit” that included a cognac-and-cannabis “tincture” — the recommended donation was $1,000.

And in its brief, the government quotes transcriptions of wiretapped conversations in which Mr. Christie sounds like a drug dealer haggling over prices, not a man of God serving his people’s spiritual needs.

Yet Mr. Christie’s case raises difficult, important questions. If only old or popular religions are protected, what would the First Amendment mean? If almost any belief system were a religion, then what would the word mean?

For its well-meaning efforts to carve out religious protections, government got into the business of deciding which religions count — and, to Mr. Christie’s chagrin, which ones do not.

Source: New York Times (NY)
Author: Mark Oppenheimer
Published: July 19, 2013
Copyright: 2013 The New York Times Company
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/

18 Jul 2013

Rules Change on Olympic Marijuana Testing

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It’s been 15 years since Ross Rebagliati won snowboarding’s first Olympic gold medal at the 1998 Winter Games — and then nearly lost that medal after he tested positive for marijuana.

Since then, the drug has become an integral part of Rebagliati’s life. Next month Rebagliati will open a medicinal marijuana dispensary in Whistler, British Columbia, called “Ross’ Gold.” The Canadian has also become a public face for pot-smoking athletes around the globe.

“Anytime somebody gets in trouble for weed I’m the guy the media calls,” Rebagliati, who lives outside Whistler, told USA TODAY Sports. “I went on NBC to defend (Michael) Phelps for smoking responsibly. I told them, Hey, it’s zero calories, zero fat!’”

Now 42, Rebagliati believes that changing attitudes toward marijuana — it’s now legal for medicinal purposes in Canada and 14 U.S. states — justifies the drug’s removal from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances.

Like cocaine and heroin, cannabis is banned during competition by WADA, which oversees drug testing worldwide in Olympic sports.

WADA recently amended its rules on cannabis, raising the threshold for a positive test from 15 nanograms per milliliter to 150 ng/ml. In 1998 at the Nagano Games, Rebagliati recorded a level of 17.8 ng/ml, and argued the test resulted from second-hand smoke, which he still says. Ben Nichols, a spokesperson for WADA, said the raising of the threshold is meant to catch only athletes who smoke in the days before a competition. The drug isn’t prohibited out of competition.

“Our information suggests that many cases do not involve game or event-day consumption,” Nichols said. “The new threshold level is an attempt to ensure that in-competition use is detected and not use during the days and weeks before competition.”

Raising the threshold level to 150 nanograms per milliliter means that an athlete would have to be a “pretty dedicated cannabis consumer” to test positive, according to Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

Last year four athletes in the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s pool tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the primary ingredient in marijuana. That’s a small percentage of the 2,776 in-competition tests the agency conducted. But one of the athletes, wrestler Stephany Lee, was kept off the Olympic team after testing positive at the Olympic trials.

USOC chief communications officer Patrick Sandusky declined to be interviewed for the story but released a statement that said the USOC is committed to clean competition. “Additionally, we respect WADA’s decision-making expertise and processes – they decide what is banned and what thresholds to apply and we work to ensure that U.S. athletes are appropriately educated,” the statement read.

Although marijuana isn’t viewed to have obvious performance-enhancing qualities, one of the reasons it’s on WADA’s list in the first place is because of the drug’s possible effect during competition. For example, you wouldn’t want a bobsledder driving down an icy track while impaired, said Dr. Matt Fedoruk, USADA’s science director. He adds that the the definition of performance enhancing drugs shouldn’t be limited to “making you stronger and faster and being able to jump higher. It’s how it affects some of the other parameters that are really important like pain or confidence or some of the things that are a bit more difficult to measure or define analytically.”

Athletes sanctioned by the USADA for marijuana generally receive suspensions ranging from three months to a year, depending on the athlete’s case and if there was a past violation and whether the drug was coupled with other banned substances. A three-month suspension can be deferred if an athlete completes an education program.

The International Olympic Committee originally banned drugs like marijuana and cocaine because of their illegality, and because they violate the “spirit of sport.” WADA, created in 1999, follows three criteria in establishing its list of banned substances: performance enhancement, danger to an athlete’s health and violation of the spirit of sport.

Society’s attitudes toward marijuana may have contributed to the timing of WADA’s change, St. Pierre said. He points to Colorado and Washington passing legislation last year to legalize the drug for recreational use.

“So they kind of ask the question … if we really don’t believe overtly that this is causing people to game the system by developing greater athletic skills, shouldn’t we really revisit this,” St. Pierre said.

“It’s kind of hard to imagine that cannabis should be thrown into that mixture (of banned drugs) unless it is still viewed as a moral turpitude,” he added. “Society doesn’t seem to view it anymore as a moral turpitude.”

Attitudes toward the drug vary around the world. “It’s a global prohibited list,” Fedoruk said. “One country doesn’t have the last word per se on inclusion of substances. Globally there’s been some pressure from various stakeholders to address what is the appropriate threshold that you would catch use in competition only of cannabis. I think the change was to try to reflect that more accurately.”

St. Pierre also raised the issue of the anti-inflammatory qualities associated with cannabinoids and whether they could provide some athletes an unfair advantage. Athletes such as former Dallas Cowboys center Mark Stepnoski have said that the drug has helped in recovery after strenuous training. St. Pierre says there’s more scientific research being done that supports those claims.

In the sports that fall under WADA jurisdiction, pot use still accounts for a significant number of violations. According to USADA statistics, of the 147 sanctions since 2008, 28 were from cannabis. Dr. Don Catlin, founder of the UCLA Olympic Analytic Laboratory, said cannabis violations account for a larger number internationally.

In 2003, cannabinoids accounted for 13.9% (378 of 2,716) of all adverse analytical findings (samples that found the presence of a banned substance or method), according to WADA statistics. Only anabolic agents such as testosterone and stimulants surpassed cannabinoids as banned substances found in testing. In 2011, WADA reported 445 violations for cannabis or 7.9% of 5,600 adverse test results.

One of the founders of modern day drug testing, Catlin said there was a long-running debate about marijuana during the early years of testing for banned substances.

“Some people felt it wasn’t correct to use a PED test to try and clean up the image of sport,” Catlin said. “In the end the IOC decided you should test for those kinds of drugs.”

Positive marijuana tests can have a serious impact on athletes lives. Last summer American judo athlete Nick Delpopolo was sent home from the London Olympics after testing positive. Delpopolo, who said the test was a result of eating baked goods laced with marijuana, declined comment for this story.

Lee, the wrestler, was banned for one year for her positive test last summer. It was her second doping violation. In a radio interview after her second positive, Lee said she used marijuana for medicinal purposes, but said she had stopped smoking two weeks before competition.

“It’s hard,” Lee said. “I’m home watching the opening ceremonies on TV.”

In 2003, a positive test for cannabis drove downhill mountain biker Gary Houseman out of his sport entirely. A BMX prodigy, Houseman became the first American in four years to win a stop on the UCI World Cup when he won in Grouse Mountain, British Columbia. But when he tested positive for marijuana — and faced a $2000 fine and a year suspension — Houseman retired at age 23.

“I just decided to move on,” Houseman said.

While he can’t speak for WADA’s reasoning for the change, Fedoruk says he thinks the goal is to focus on more “potent ergogenic drugs such as EPO, human growth hormone and testosterone.

“Enhancing our capabilities in doing our job better to being able to detect those is always a goal of the anti-doping movement. To the extent that perhaps resources can be reallocated because countries maybe aren’t spending as much on cannabis, I think it’s a potentially good thing.”

Rebagliati, who retired from snowboard competition in 2000, is open about his feelings on the subject.

“Everybody knew I was a pot smoker after the Olympics,” he said. “I said I smoked and I still smoke but I never denied it.”

Source: USA Today (US)
Author: Frederick Dreier, Special To USA Today
Published: July 17, 2013
Copyright: 2013 USA Today, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.usatoday.com/

17 Jul 2013

MJ Legalization Considered in Maine, DC, Calif.

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Advocates of marijuana legalization have seen an acceleration of their cause in recent years, particularly after residents of Washington state and Colorado voted to legalize recreational cannabis in November’s elections. Now, more jurisdictions are taking up, or at least considering taking up the issue.

In Maine Monday, Portland City Council planned a public hearing to discuss a citizen-proposed measure legalizing possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for those 21 and older. After the meeting, the city council will decide whether to adopt the measure, send a referendum to voters or write an alternative proposal alongside the citizen measure.

Proponents gathered more than twice the 1,500 signatures required to get the proposal, which would prohibit smoking pot in public spaces such as schools or public parks, and allow landlords to prohibit it in their apartments, on this year’s ballot.

Maine law allows medical marijuana, and has already decriminalized its use, but possession of a small amount still carries a maximum fine of $600. A state-wide referendum on legalization is expected in 2014.

In the nation’s capital, a D.C. councilman introduced a bill Wednesday to decriminalize possession in the District.

Councilman Tommy Wells unveiled legislation to drop the penalty for carrying less than an ounce of marijuana to $100, down from $1,000 or a six-month prison stint.

Wells’s legislation also stipulates minors attend a drug awareness program and complete community service.

An American Civil Liberties Union report in June found the District bears the country’s highest arrest rate per capita in the country for marijuana possession-related arrests, at three times the national average. Those are three times more likely to involve an African American than a caucasian.

Moves toward decriminalization and legalization receive broad support in D.C., with 75 percent of residents saying they support decriminalization in small amounts and 63 percent say they’re in favor of legalization, according to an April PPP poll.

And in California, which rejected a 2010 measure for legalization, already has medical marijuana and decriminalization laws on the books.

But the legalization effort is likely to make another ballot appearance in 2016, with the backing of some of the state’s wealthiest citizens. Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs and the billionaires behind some of the world’s most successful tech companies are expected to back the effort.

Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform chairwoman Dale Sky Jones said 2010′s Proposition 19 failed largely because of fundraising shortfalls.

Liberal billionaire George Soros helped back that measure and Prop. 215, the successful 1996 medical marijuana bill, will probably help again, and Progressive insurance chief Peter Lewis are still “engaged” Jones said.

But it’s Silicon Valley that gives her the most optimism.

Bay-area entrepreneurs such as Facebook founders Sean Parker and Dustin Moskovitz, who both put substantial funds into the 2010 effort have “network of friends” to tap into, Jones said. “There’s money to burn in those industries.”

Source: United Press International (Wire)
Author: Gabrielle Levy, UPI.com
Published: July 15, 2013
Copyright 2013 United Press International
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.upi.com/

17 Jul 2013

MJ Legalization Considered in Maine, DC, Calif.

posted in: Cannabis News | 0

Advocates of marijuana legalization have seen an acceleration of their cause in recent years, particularly after residents of Washington state and Colorado voted to legalize recreational cannabis in November’s elections. Now, more jurisdictions are taking up, or at least considering taking up the issue.

In Maine Monday, Portland City Council planned a public hearing to discuss a citizen-proposed measure legalizing possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for those 21 and older. After the meeting, the city council will decide whether to adopt the measure, send a referendum to voters or write an alternative proposal alongside the citizen measure.

Proponents gathered more than twice the 1,500 signatures required to get the proposal, which would prohibit smoking pot in public spaces such as schools or public parks, and allow landlords to prohibit it in their apartments, on this year’s ballot.

Maine law allows medical marijuana, and has already decriminalized its use, but possession of a small amount still carries a maximum fine of $600. A state-wide referendum on legalization is expected in 2014.

In the nation’s capital, a D.C. councilman introduced a bill Wednesday to decriminalize possession in the District.

Councilman Tommy Wells unveiled legislation to drop the penalty for carrying less than an ounce of marijuana to $100, down from $1,000 or a six-month prison stint.

Wells’s legislation also stipulates minors attend a drug awareness program and complete community service.

An American Civil Liberties Union report in June found the District bears the country’s highest arrest rate per capita in the country for marijuana possession-related arrests, at three times the national average. Those are three times more likely to involve an African American than a caucasian.

Moves toward decriminalization and legalization receive broad support in D.C., with 75 percent of residents saying they support decriminalization in small amounts and 63 percent say they’re in favor of legalization, according to an April PPP poll.

And in California, which rejected a 2010 measure for legalization, already has medical marijuana and decriminalization laws on the books.

But the legalization effort is likely to make another ballot appearance in 2016, with the backing of some of the state’s wealthiest citizens. Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs and the billionaires behind some of the world’s most successful tech companies are expected to back the effort.

Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform chairwoman Dale Sky Jones said 2010′s Proposition 19 failed largely because of fundraising shortfalls.

Liberal billionaire George Soros helped back that measure and Prop. 215, the successful 1996 medical marijuana bill, will probably help again, and Progressive insurance chief Peter Lewis are still “engaged” Jones said.

But it’s Silicon Valley that gives her the most optimism.

Bay-area entrepreneurs such as Facebook founders Sean Parker and Dustin Moskovitz, who both put substantial funds into the 2010 effort have “network of friends” to tap into, Jones said. “There’s money to burn in those industries.”

Source: United Press International (Wire)
Author: Gabrielle Levy, UPI.com
Published: July 15, 2013
Copyright 2013 United Press International
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.upi.com/

17 Jul 2013

MJ Legalization Considered in Maine, DC, Calif.

posted in: Cannabis News | 0

Advocates of marijuana legalization have seen an acceleration of their cause in recent years, particularly after residents of Washington state and Colorado voted to legalize recreational cannabis in November’s elections. Now, more jurisdictions are taking up, or at least considering taking up the issue.

In Maine Monday, Portland City Council planned a public hearing to discuss a citizen-proposed measure legalizing possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for those 21 and older. After the meeting, the city council will decide whether to adopt the measure, send a referendum to voters or write an alternative proposal alongside the citizen measure.

Proponents gathered more than twice the 1,500 signatures required to get the proposal, which would prohibit smoking pot in public spaces such as schools or public parks, and allow landlords to prohibit it in their apartments, on this year’s ballot.

Maine law allows medical marijuana, and has already decriminalized its use, but possession of a small amount still carries a maximum fine of $600. A state-wide referendum on legalization is expected in 2014.

In the nation’s capital, a D.C. councilman introduced a bill Wednesday to decriminalize possession in the District.

Councilman Tommy Wells unveiled legislation to drop the penalty for carrying less than an ounce of marijuana to $100, down from $1,000 or a six-month prison stint.

Wells’s legislation also stipulates minors attend a drug awareness program and complete community service.

An American Civil Liberties Union report in June found the District bears the country’s highest arrest rate per capita in the country for marijuana possession-related arrests, at three times the national average. Those are three times more likely to involve an African American than a caucasian.

Moves toward decriminalization and legalization receive broad support in D.C., with 75 percent of residents saying they support decriminalization in small amounts and 63 percent say they’re in favor of legalization, according to an April PPP poll.

And in California, which rejected a 2010 measure for legalization, already has medical marijuana and decriminalization laws on the books.

But the legalization effort is likely to make another ballot appearance in 2016, with the backing of some of the state’s wealthiest citizens. Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs and the billionaires behind some of the world’s most successful tech companies are expected to back the effort.

Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform chairwoman Dale Sky Jones said 2010′s Proposition 19 failed largely because of fundraising shortfalls.

Liberal billionaire George Soros helped back that measure and Prop. 215, the successful 1996 medical marijuana bill, will probably help again, and Progressive insurance chief Peter Lewis are still “engaged” Jones said.

But it’s Silicon Valley that gives her the most optimism.

Bay-area entrepreneurs such as Facebook founders Sean Parker and Dustin Moskovitz, who both put substantial funds into the 2010 effort have “network of friends” to tap into, Jones said. “There’s money to burn in those industries.”

Source: United Press International (Wire)
Author: Gabrielle Levy, UPI.com
Published: July 15, 2013
Copyright 2013 United Press International
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.upi.com/

17 Jul 2013

MJ Legalization Considered in Maine, DC, Calif.

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Advocates of marijuana legalization have seen an acceleration of their cause in recent years, particularly after residents of Washington state and Colorado voted to legalize recreational cannabis in November’s elections. Now, more jurisdictions are taking up, or at least considering taking up the issue.

In Maine Monday, Portland City Council planned a public hearing to discuss a citizen-proposed measure legalizing possession of up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana for those 21 and older. After the meeting, the city council will decide whether to adopt the measure, send a referendum to voters or write an alternative proposal alongside the citizen measure.

Proponents gathered more than twice the 1,500 signatures required to get the proposal, which would prohibit smoking pot in public spaces such as schools or public parks, and allow landlords to prohibit it in their apartments, on this year’s ballot.

Maine law allows medical marijuana, and has already decriminalized its use, but possession of a small amount still carries a maximum fine of $600. A state-wide referendum on legalization is expected in 2014.

In the nation’s capital, a D.C. councilman introduced a bill Wednesday to decriminalize possession in the District.

Councilman Tommy Wells unveiled legislation to drop the penalty for carrying less than an ounce of marijuana to $100, down from $1,000 or a six-month prison stint.

Wells’s legislation also stipulates minors attend a drug awareness program and complete community service.

An American Civil Liberties Union report in June found the District bears the country’s highest arrest rate per capita in the country for marijuana possession-related arrests, at three times the national average. Those are three times more likely to involve an African American than a caucasian.

Moves toward decriminalization and legalization receive broad support in D.C., with 75 percent of residents saying they support decriminalization in small amounts and 63 percent say they’re in favor of legalization, according to an April PPP poll.

And in California, which rejected a 2010 measure for legalization, already has medical marijuana and decriminalization laws on the books.

But the legalization effort is likely to make another ballot appearance in 2016, with the backing of some of the state’s wealthiest citizens. Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurs and the billionaires behind some of the world’s most successful tech companies are expected to back the effort.

Coalition for Cannabis Policy Reform chairwoman Dale Sky Jones said 2010′s Proposition 19 failed largely because of fundraising shortfalls.

Liberal billionaire George Soros helped back that measure and Prop. 215, the successful 1996 medical marijuana bill, will probably help again, and Progressive insurance chief Peter Lewis are still “engaged” Jones said.

But it’s Silicon Valley that gives her the most optimism.

Bay-area entrepreneurs such as Facebook founders Sean Parker and Dustin Moskovitz, who both put substantial funds into the 2010 effort have “network of friends” to tap into, Jones said. “There’s money to burn in those industries.”

Source: United Press International (Wire)
Author: Gabrielle Levy, UPI.com
Published: July 15, 2013
Copyright 2013 United Press International
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.upi.com/

16 Jul 2013

Feds Should Stop Fighting Medical Marijuana

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To all appearances, Connecticut is well on the way to making medical marijuana available to people who are suffering from certain serious illnesses. Regulations have been drafted and will be voted on by a legislative committee next month. Physicians have thus far certified 660 patients as eligible for the palliative substance. Proposals for production facilities have surfaced in Watertown and Middletown, with others on the way.

But there remains one nagging, unresolved issue: It is still a federal crime to use, cultivate, dispense or possess marijuana. Indeed, since 2009 the Justice Department has conducted more than 170 aggressive raids in inie medical marijuana states, according to the advocacy group Americans for Safe Access.

Connecticut officials think they have crafted a strict, tightly regulated law that will not draw the attention of federal authorities. We hope they are right. The better option is to end the disconnect between state and federal laws, so people with cancer, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and other ailments can, if they choose, use marijuana to gain some measure of relief.

Obama

In 2008 candidate Barack Obama said that medical marijuana would not be a priority target of Justice Department resources. Well, not so fast. The department’s policy on the subject was outlined in a couple of memos, most recently the 2011 “Cole Memo,” from Deputy U.S. Attorney General James M. Cole to U.S. attorneys around the country.

Mr. Cole said it is “likely not an efficient use of federal resources” to focus enforcement on sick people or their caregivers, but reminded the federal prosecutors that persons “who are in the business of cultivating, selling or distributing marijuana, and those who knowingly facilitate such activities, are in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, regardless of state law … such persons are subject to federal enforcement action, including potential prosecution.”

The plain meaning is that federal law enforcement officers can — and in an increasing number of cases have — gone after medical marijuana growers.

Scale

Justice Department spokeswoman Allison Price said via email last week that the department’s focus is “on making sure that people aren’t using the pretext of medical marijuana to do large-scale interstate drug dealing.”

She suggests the feds are looking at larger operations that aren’t well monitored. This should work in Connecticut’s favor. The state’s statute, passed last year, envisions a small, tightly controlled system. There will be no more than 10 secure production facilities (Colorado has more than 1,000 farms), and a limited but as yet undetermined number of dispensaries, each run by a licensed pharmacist. Marijuana will be treated like other controlled pharmaceuticals.

“Connecticut has done everything it can to insulate itself from federal intervention,” said Consumer Protection Commissioner William M. Rubenstein, whose department administers the program. He said in drafting the regulations, his people studied the experience in some (lightly regulated) Western states, and opted for a closely controlled system that would prevent theft and diversion and focus on sick people.

But for the federal law, major pharmaceutical companies, who know how to make safe drugs at competitive prices, might be in the game.

However …

In the vast and complex world of law there are many situations where state and federal laws disagree. The state and federal minimum wages are different, for example. We can live with most of these discrepancies, but not the disconnect on medical marijuana; it causes too many problems.

For example, the Colorado Court of Appeals in April upheld the firing of a quadriplegic man, Brandon Coates, for off-the-job medical-marijuana use, concluding that, because marijuana is illegal under federal law, employees have no protection to use it. Mr. Coates uses marijuana to control muscle spasms.

At present, 19 states and the District of Columbia have chosen to help people such as Mr. Coates. We urge Congress and the president to let them, by passing a law like Connecticut’s.

Source: Hartford Courant (CT)
Published: July 15, 2013
Copyright: 2013 The Hartford Courant
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.courant.com/

13 Jul 2013

Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations

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( Editor’s note: The following opinion piece was submitted by Leona Aglukkaq, federal minister of health )

While the courts have said Canadians must have reasonable access to a legal source of marijuana for medical purposes, the Government of Canada believes this must be done in a controlled fashion in order to protect public safety.

On June 10, the Government of Canada announced the new Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations ( MMPR ). These regulations are intended to provide reasonable access for those Canadians who need marijuana for medical purposes while protecting public safety.

When the Marijuana Medical Access Program was introduced in 2001 in response to the court decision, the number of people authorized to use marijuana for medical purposes stood at less than 500.

Over the years that number has grown to more than 30,000. As a result, costs to taxpayers have continued to climb as Health Canada heavily subsidizes the production and distribution of marijuana for medical purposes.

As well, under the current program, Canadians can apply to grow marijuana for medical purposes in private homes or buy from Health Canada. The ability for individuals to produce marijuana in private homes has added to public health, safety and security risks as criminal elements have abused the system.

The government’s goal is to treat dried marijuana as much as possible like other narcotics used for medical purposes under the MMPR by creating conditions for a new, commercial industry that will be responsible for its production and distribution. Health Canada will return to its traditional role as a regulator.

Licensed producers will provide access to quality-controlled marijuana for medical purposes, produced under secure and sanitary conditions, to those Canadians who need it, while strengthening the safety of Canadian communities. In line with other controlled substances, personal and designated production will be phased out. This will reduce the health and safety risks, such as fire and toxic mould hazards, to individuals and to the Canadian public, while allowing for a quality-controlled and more secure product for medical use.

Under the new regulations, licensed producers will have to meet extensive security and quality control requirements including requesting security clearance for certain key positions, and meeting physical security requirements ( such as a security system that detects intruders ). Licensed producers will also be subject to compliance and enforcement measures, and dried marijuana will only be shipped through a secure delivery service directly to the address the client has specified.

Taken together, these measures will reduce the risks of diversion of marijuana to illicit markets.

Under the MMPR, the fundamental role of health providers does not change. The responsibility to assess a patient and decide on appropriate treatment continues to rest with health care practitioners. The MMPR have created a streamlined process for those needing access to marijuana for medical purposes, eliminating the need for individuals to share health information with Health Canada.

To help support health care practitioners in making decisions about whether marijuana is an appropriate treatment option, an Expert Advisory Committee was created to assist in providing health care practitioners with comprehensive, accurate and up-todate information on the known uses of marijuana for medical purposes. More information is available on the Health Canada website.

The government understands the need to continue to provide reasonable access to a legal source of marijuana for medical purposes and the new regime does so in a manner that is consistent with the way access is provided for other narcotics used for medical purposes. This more appropriately balances the needs of patients with the health, safety and security of all Canadians.

Source: Annapolis County Spectator; The (CN NS)
Copyright: 2013 Transcontinental Nova Scotia Media Group inc.
Contact: [email protected]
Website: http://www.annapoliscountyspectator.ca/
Author: Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health Ottawa

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