MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia debates the benefits of marijuana over Marinol, the FDA drug approval process, and how an end to marijuana prohibition could help America on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360. Arguing for the Prohibitionist position is David Evans of the Drug Free America Foundation. This is part of a week-long program on the debate over the future of marijuana policy. 06/16/2009
- Take Action: Urge your state legislators to support a compassionate medical cannabis program!
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MPP's Rob Kampia on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" Tonight
All this week, CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" is doing a series of reports on marijuana and marijuana policy. MPP executive director Rob Kampia is scheduled to appear on tonight's show, possibly debating a prohibitionist. While TV news schedules are always subject to last-minute change, the segment featuring Rob is presently set to air around 10:30 p.m. Eastern time.
Rhode Island to Provide Medical Marijuana Compassion Centers
In a historic first, Rhode Island legislators today made their state the first ever to expand an existing medical marijuana law to allow for state-licensed compassion centers to grow and distribute marijuana to registered patients. Legislators easily overrode the veto issued by Gov. Donald Carcieri with override votes of 67-0 in the House and 35-3 in the Senate.
This marks the second time the Rhode Island Legislature has expanded the medical marijuana law it established in 2006, which indicates the law's successfulness as well as its popularity. It also marks the third time they had to override the governor's veto in order to pass a medical marijuana law.
Are you governors out there paying attention?
"Super Pot" Silly Season
In what may be some sort of modern record for fact-free grandstanding on drug issues, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, a Republican from the suburbs north of Chicago, has introduced a bill to ratchet up penalties for so-called "super pot". Under Kirk's proposal, penalties would be massively increased for those producing or selling marijuana with THC levels 15% or higher -- to the point where a single plant could land someone in jail for 25 years.
Small problem: THC is, for all practical purposes, nontoxic. Higher-THC marijuana is not more dangerous. People simply smoke less, just like they drink less vodka than they do beer. That's not just my opinion. Scientists who have examined the issue have concluded that the evidence simply isn't there to sound alarm bells over so-called "super pot." See, for example, this detailed review from the journal Addiction.
Congressman Kirk, it feels safe to say, has no intention of letting mere facts get in his way.
Barney Frank introduces medical marijuana legislation
Congressman Barney Frank introduced legislation yesterday aimed at making marijuana available through a doctor’s prescription nationwide.
Please help MPP support H.R. 2835, by e-mailing and calling your U.S. Representative. MPP's online resources at mpp.org/federal-action make it quick and easy to ask your legislator to cosponsor this important legislation.
H.R. 2835 makes two important changes to federal law. First, it eliminates federal authority to interfere with patients, caregivers, and collectives operating in accordance with state medical marijuana laws. Second, it moves marijuana from Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act into Schedule II. Schedule II drugs have recognized medical benefits and can be prescribed by doctors to patients in need (for example, morphine is a Schedule II drug).
Congressman Frank’s legislation comes after months of growing debate over marijuana policy reform, but it will still face significant opposition in Congress -- so please visit mpp.org/federal-action and do your part today!
366 days for Charles Lynch
We just got word that Charlie Lynch was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for providing patients with medical marijuana in accordance with state law.
While the judge in Lynch's case did depart from the five-year mandatory minimum sentence, it'll still be an outrage for Charlie to spend even one day behind bars for his acts of compassion - especially given his compliance with state law. This man's life has already been turned upside down thanks to the mean-spirited county sheriff who ignored state law and called in Bush-era DEA thugs, as well as the unjust law that didn't allow Charlie to discuss medical marijuana in front of a jury.
Charlie and his attorneys say they plan to appeal, and we hope they succeed. With federal law enforcement at the Mexican border so overwhelmed that traffickers coming through with up to 500 pounds of marijuana are let go, even one more penny spent persecuting a man who is not a criminal in any rational sense of the word is an outrageous waste of resources.
Fortunately, Charlie has been released on bail pending the outcome of his appeal.
Drug Survey Dynamites Marijuana Myths
[caption id="attachment_955" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Marijuana Use Rates, Age 12 and Up"]
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The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently released its annual state-by-state breakdown of drug use rates from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. And once again, the data (based on the 2006 and 2007 surveys) don't match the official mythology -- namely, that tough anti-marijuana laws reduce marijuana use.
As of the survey dates, 11 states had decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, while 39 retained the threat of arrest and jail for even small-time marijuana possession. And, like previous surveys, use rates in the decriminalized states were statistically indistinguishable from the non-decriminalized states. Some decriminalized states, such as Nebraska and Mississippi, had use rates well below the national average. And some that maintain criminal penalties, such as New Hampshire and the District of Columbia, were well above the national average.
Sometimes decriminalized states had lower marijuana use rates than neighboring states that still jail marijuana users. Mississippi, for example, was lower than Louisiana; Nebraska was lower than Kansas.
This trend has been consistent in the nearly a decade that SAMHSA has been doing these state breakdowns, yet it didn't stop decriminalization opponents in Massachusetts from claiming last year that decriminalization would somehow turn their state into a sea of potheads.
The other persistent myth is that medical marijuana laws increase teen marijuana use by "sending the wrong message to kids." Again, the real-world trend doesn't quite match the myth. Year-to-year changes in past-month marijuana use for 12-to-17-year-olds were almost all statistically insignificant. A few medical marijuana states showed increases while others showed drops, but none of the changes were large enough to be proof of a real trend. And state-based surveys, which have much larger samples within each state and thus are far more reliable, have consistently shown teen marijuana use decreasing in medical marijuana states since the laws took effect.
Wouldn't it be nice if legislators everywhere could be persuaded to base laws on facts instead of myths?
California lawmaker calls for new federal medical marijuana policy
State Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) introduced Senate Joint Resolution 14 yesterday, calling on Congress and the president to enact national policies allowing patients and their caregivers safe access to medical marijuana. The resolution urges an immediate end to DEA raids on medical marijuana facilities in accordance with statements made by Attorney General Eric Holder that such activities are no longer consistent with Department of Justice priorities.
Similar to another resolution also introduced by Mr. Leno and approved by the legislature in 2003, S.J.R. 14 calls for the federal government to permit individuals with charged with medical marijuana-related offenses to use an affirmative defense in federal court. It declares the legislature's support for advancing clinical research trials on the therapeutic use of marijuana and enacting a federal policy that ensures “safe and legal access to any patient who would benefit from it.”
The resolution will be heard in Senate committees later this month and will hopefully be approved by the full state legislature before the end of the year. If you are from California and want to help ensure the passage of this compassionate resolution, visit mpp.org/subscribe and make sure you're signed up for MPP's state e-mail alerts.
Congress urging DOJ to clarify medical marijuana policy
The House committee that oversees the Department of Justice (DOJ) passed an amendment today that adds language to the committee's report urging the DOJ to clarify its position on state-legal medical marijuana. The provision is a non-binding recommendation, but carries weight given the committee’s role in funding the department.
The need for a clearly articulated policy was highlighted in March when DEA agents raided Emmalyn’s California Cannabis Clinic. The raid, seemingly in conflict with Attorney General Eric Holder’s stated policy on medical marijuana, came just weeks after Holder vowed to end the raids on state-legal collectives. DEA press releases claimed that the raid on Emmalyn’s was not in conflict with Holder’s statements.
Following these events, MPP’s Aaron Houston testified before the House committee charged with overseeing the DOJ. In his testimony, he laid out the need for a clearly articulated policy. Today, the committee adopted portions of the language he recommended.
The language, sponsored by Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), states, "There have been conflicting public reports about the Department's [DOJ] enforcement of medical marijuana policies. Within 60 days of enactment, the Department shall provide to the Committee clarification of the Department's policy regarding enforcement of federal laws and use of federal resources against individuals involved in medical marijuana activities."
Can Marijuana Help You Kick a Drug Habit?
It is conventional wisdom that any substance use during drug treatment leads to lower rates of success. But a new study in the American Journal on Addictions suggests that's not always so.
The study looked at patients in treatment for opiate dependence using a drug called naltrexone – a treatment whose effectiveness, the researchers write, "has been severely limited by poor adherence." As part of a study designed to test two different support protocols intended to help patients stay on naltrexone treatment, researchers also looked at use of other substances by means of regular urine tests conducted during clinic visits.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, patients with "intermittent" marijuana use (defined as between 1% and 79% of urine tests coming back positive) stayed on treatment for nearly four times as long as those who abstained completely. Treatment adherence by "consistent" marijuana users (80% or more positive urine tests) was almost identical to that of the abstainers.
The researchers note that the beneficial effect was most apparent early in treatment, that marijuana use was not only associated with staying in treatment longer but also with more consistent pill-taking, and that during the study the patients tended to maintain or even increase their marijuana use. This, they write, is "consistent with a process of self-medication. These findings are of interest because they suggest the hypothesis that moderate cannabis use may be exerting a beneficial pharmacological effect improving the tolerability of naltrexone in the early weeks after induction."