MD Safe Access Now!

Are you self-medicating?

2010-08-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

Some people say that all cannabis use is medicinal.

Is that going too far?

What do you think?

Here are some things to consider.

It has always been the case, for all species, and for all time, that the earth provides everything an individual needs to prosper. Whether that be abundant game for African carnivores, daily sunlight for trillions of plants, or fruit bearing trees, seeds and vegetables for our selves.

Why would the earth not provide an ideal medicine for many conditions which are common for humans? It would be illogical to assume that such a thing is unlikely.

Cannabis is effective in many ways. As a pain reliever, and an appetite stimulant, to be sure. But it’s also a bronchodilator (as in it opens up the air passages in the lungs making it easier to breathe) and cannabinoids have frequently been demonstrated to have a curative effect on several different forms of cancer.

This much is widely known,and is the main impetus behind recent attempts to make this herb available to patients in many of the states of the union.

But there are more studies all the time and the known efficacy of this plant continues to expand.

It is demonstratively effective in slowing the progression of several degenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer’s, ALS, and MS to name only a few.

It kills the MRSA superbug.

For thousands of years, cannabis has also been used as a mood elevator, and as a way of relieving the effects of stress.

Almost any other substance used for this purpose, whether it be alcohol or prescription drugs or the recreational variety, is ultimately, toxic in sufficient quantities.

Cannabis is the safer alternative to all of these things.

It is absolutely wrong to continue the prohibition of cannabis. It flys in the face of logic. It runs counter to the recommendations of just about every study of cannabis prohibition that has ever been undertaken.

And it denies suffering people access to something hugely beneficial for their well being.

In its present form, cannabis prohibition manifests itself as a racially biased war on the poor. Its effect on poor communities, and minority populations is absolutely dire. It achieves no worthwhile results. The number of problem drug users in the United States continues to increase despite decades of this expensive and ugly war on freedom.

The present arrangement works to the benefit of a very few at the expense of the great many. It is immoral, and corrupted from top to bottom.

Rise up. It is time to end the war.

Doctor knows best? I don’t think so.

2010-03-27T07:52:00.000-07:00

The house Health and Government Operations committee working group has reported out a bill that appears to be designed for the purpose of preventing patients from accessing medical marijuana in Maryland.

Dr. Morhaim not only prepared the bill he introduced without any input from patient advocacy organizations, but the working group consulted only with law enforcement and with the representatives of the pharmacists.

The revised bill is written in such a way that it would be late in 2011 (at the earliest) before patients could expect to be able to access a safe supply of medicine. The bill no longer includes protection from arrest for patients who are in compliance with the law. The bill no longer allows patients to grow their own medicine. The bill absolutely excludes any patients under the age of 18.

I think this revised bill is totally unacceptable for all of the above reasons, and I am writing to my Delegates and letting them know that.

I recommend you do so as well.

The medical establishment has spent decades preventing patients from having access to this potent and absolutely non-toxic healing herb. This new bill represents the latest attempt to force people to use dangerous expensive narcotics when a perfectly safe alternative can be grown in anyone’s basement.

Project Vallario

2010-03-03T12:44:00.000-08:00

The Public Health Medical Marijuana Bill (HB 712) will not succeed unless the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee allows the bill to come to a vote.

JOSEPH F. VALLARIO, JR.
Democrat, District 27A, Calvert & Prince George's Counties
House Office Building, Room 101
6 Bladen St., Annapolis, MD 21401
(410) 841-3488, (301) 858-3488
1-800-492-7122, ext. 3488 (toll free)
e-mail: joseph.vallario@house.state.md.us

Message to be sent out to Facebook, mailing lists and via phone calls to EVERYONE:

1 Call (or email) the committee chairman, ask him to bring HB 712 to a vote.
2 Call your friends in Vallario’s district (see below) ask them to call (or email) the chairman.

District 27A
ZIP City County
20601 WALDORF CHARLES
20607 ACCOKEEK PRINCE GEORGES
20608 AQUASCO PRINCE GEORGES
20613 BRANDYWINE PRINCE GEORGES
20623 CHELTENHAM PRINCE GEORGES
20689 SUNDERLAND CALVERT
20735 CLINTON PRINCE GEORGES
20744 FORT WASHINGTON PRINCE GEORGES
20754 DUNKIRK CALVERT
20758 FRIENDSHIP ANNE ARUNDEL
20772 UPPER MARLBORO PRINCE GEORGES
20773 UPPER MARLBORO PRINCE GEORGES
20792 UPPER MARLBORO PRINCE GEORGES

Here is a precise District Map and here is the same area on Google Maps

Street Action: Collect signatures and identify activists in district 27A

Team A – Sunday afternoon (March 7) with clipboards, posters and postcards. Followed six days later by Teams A & B the following Saturday (March 13)

Please add your name to the list for either or both events by emailing 2rad4m@gmail.com if you are able to participate

Public event to be scheduled at restaurant in Oxon Hill

The Hearing

2010-02-26T19:13:00.000-08:00

The last week has been a blizzard of activity, culminating in today’s hearing in front of two committees comprising more than a quarter of the entire Maryland House of Delegates. There were more than two dozen witnesses, and many more written testimonies.

It was a huge gathering of energy, marshaled by Dr. Dan Morhaim, Delegate from Baltimore’s 11th district. And the forces behind Medical Marijuana were so rampant, so overwhelming, that the only harms our side suffered were self-inflicted. But let us not dwell on small things – today went very well for us.

Dr. Morhaim introduced his legislation to the world, and to us, about a month after we sent the legislature our first batch of 600 postcards in support of medical marijuana. The bill, described by Dr. Morhaim as the most restrictive medical marijuana law in the country, was not to our liking for a few reasons, but its absolute prohibition of patient cultivation was simply unacceptable. We did, for a time, consider shelving this objection, but the MMJ patients and activists in Maryland were almost monolithic in their support for the right to grow, and thus we determined to offer only conditional support for Dr. Morhaim’s bill.

When the bill was introduced, with 47 cosponsors in the House, and 10 in the Senate, it is reasonable to assume that part of the reason for the huge number of cosponsors were the 2166 of our postcards (at least one from every single district in the state) which had, by then, been received by the Delegates.

We never met with Delegate Morhaim until yesterday, although our friends at MPP did inform him, and the lead sponsors in the Senate (Sen. Brinkley & Sen. Raskin) that the right to grow was a deal breaker for us. So it cannot have been a surprise to Del. Morhaim that we chose to announce our provisional support, conditional on such an amendment, when we contacted the entire Delegation on Wednesday morning.

Very shortly after receiving this letter, Del. Glenn invited us to a meeting with Del. Morhaim in her office.

Damien called Neill Franklin of LEAP and asked him to come with us. Something about Major Franklin, (Ret). adds a certain gravitas to the crew. Maybe his thirty three years as a police officer in Maryland. Whatever, we introduced ourselves to Dr. Morhaim – he already knew Neill.

The meeting was efficient. Dr. Morhaim told us how he was going to deal with our objection. It was in no way a negotiation – Damien and I barely spoke – and Dr. Morhaim asked us no questions, nor did he even solicit a response – he was perfectly clear - this is what you can have – take it or leave it.

He also said, that removing the prohibition on the right to grow might cost us the bill this year, and if we don’t get a favorable report out of the Judiciary committee, then we will be back in the same position next year. That Judiciary chair Vallario will strangle the bill in committee is a cast-iron certainty, so all we really discovered was that when Morhaim re-introduces the bill next session, the right to grow will be excluded again.

Without the right to grow there is no legal supply of marijuana. Our other objections to this legislation can be dealt with in subsequent years - if we don't start with the right to grow we might never get medical marijuana at all. Such things as protection from arrest, or the inclusion of particular medical conditions can be dealt with in subsequent years, if necessary.

For the rest of the day we made phone calls, collected testimony, and generally prepared for our trip to Annapolis.

We had to deliver 70 copies of the written testimonies by noon. Some of them needed a bit of tidying up when they arrived, but we were in Annapolis at 11:30AM with seven times seventy testimonials, ASA also had a bunch, and there were umpteen witnesses who registered to speak. As the hearing came together in the huge committee room in the Legislative Services building, we were feeling nervously confident.

The TV people interviewed Barry Considine just inside the committee room, and I think there were at least two TV teams, as well as someone from the Gazette newspaper. Lots of the seats were full when Chairman Vallerio asked the bill sponsors -- Delegates Glenn and Morhaim, and Senator Brinkley -- to take their seats at the witness table.

For three hours witness after witness, generally in groups of four, took their allotted three minutes to share their expertise, their suffering, their pleas to the Delegates to please pass this legislation, (frequently saying also with an amendment to allow patients to cultivate). Only two witnesses raised an objection to the bill itself. And both of these based their objection on controversial research suggesting cannabis as a causative agent in schizophrenia. The only cops who spoke, spoke in support.

There were a few Delegates who identified themselves as opponents by their questions – two were openly hostile - they will be getting a few more postcards I expect. Also, I think we might send a newsletter to the rest of the Delegation with respect to the questions that perhaps remain open – and I might look into that schizophrenia thing a bit more. If is true, then Doctors should be made aware of the need to check for a family history of psychosis before recommending cannabis to patients, and if it is junk, then we should point to the research that proves its junk.

In what was one of the most dramatic moments, one of the speakers from LEAP made public a bit of police practice from his past experience. Matthew Fogg explained that his strong objection to the clause excluding felons from jobs in, or ownership of, medical marijuana dispensaries, was due to the fact that narcotics police routinely, and intentionally, made more busts in poorer parts of town, because it was harder for the victims to lawyer up and beat the rap. And because poorer areas are very frequently places with a high concentration of minority groups, this policy was racist then, and to perpetuate it with this exclusion, is racist now. I found this argument persuasive. Delegates who may have benefited more from this revelation seemed otherwise occupied when the point was raised. Perhaps this matter could be further explored in a newsletter to the Delegates.

The committee members will now retire to consider their votes, and to make such amendments to the bill as seem appropriate.

We are aiming to be the victors in the last battle, what has happened so far is just foreplay.

And we keep getting stronger.

Campaign Update

2009-10-09T08:51:00.000-07:00

Maryland ASA was instrumental in the introduction of HB1339 during this year's session of the Maryland Assembly.

This bill was not given a vote in the Judiciary Committee due to an existing agreement with the Governor regarding budget constraints. Basically the bill would have cost a few thousand dollars to set up a commission to study the existing law, and that was a deal-breaker.

The bill, however, did get a hearing, and several of us gave testimony before the Judiciary committee. This was a good result for lots of reasons. From the comments and questions, several Delegates revealed either a sympathetic or a hostile position vis a vis medical cannabis. This, and the meetings we had with delegates in Annapolis, whetted our appetite for future legislative battles in Annapolis, and provided us with valuable contacts and useful information.

Our group has undergone some changes this year. The Prince George's county group started weekly meetings in March, but the Montgomery County group folded about the same time so we were a single group in Maryland for most of the year.

WE continued to meet every week, and attendance swayed between six and three participants as we encountered the usual problems a group of self selected volunteers goes through. But we continued to meet every week and we participated in some events, distributing flyers and gathering signatures in the street.

In July we settled on the postcards idea.

We decided that it would be good to have a postcard that people could sign and we could mail to their Delegate. Since people have three Delegates and one Senator in the Maryland Assembly we decided to make four different postcards.

We kicked around ideas for images and slogans, and eventually decided to invite people to submit designs and we would pick the best design, and we would do this four times. We came up with four slogans that defined the themes we wanted to emphasize in our campaign.

We set up a web page. www.MDSafeAccess.org

When we got a bunch of images assembled we put them together with a soundtrack, added a few animations, and another kind of communication became available to us. Check the YouTube video on our site.

We have now extended our contest to include T-Shirts and banners. This way we have maximum participation and stimulate creativity. And we all look cool. Which matters.

We want to mail a few thousand postcards and we aim to cover the whole state.

Because we mail them, we have a record of which member received what mail, and when. This is helpful when setting up meetings with legislators.

Since July we have gathered almost a thousand signed postcards. Our biggest problem at the moment is keeping up with demand. We had a booth at a street festival in Takoma Park (Montgomery County) on Sunday, October 5. We got 500 more signed at that one event.

Some volunteers from elsewhere in the state contacted us through the website, and some people liked the postcards, and some people we met at the various events where we hand out literature and gather signatures. For whatever reason, our little group has blossomed – we regularly have double digit attendance, and this has allowed us to cover more ground.

We have restarted a group in Montgomery County, and there are active volunteers in St. Mary's and Howard Counties who attend our meetings in PG County. WE are confident in continued expansion across the state as we get better at figuring out how to do this.

We have distributed more than 1500 postcards – some volunteers take a stack home with them and enrol their friends in signing the cards. People seem happy to do this. We are confident that we will have a lot of postcards to send to the assembly.

We are now exploring ways that we can use the postcards as a fund-raising tool. It is often the case, that people will chip in a dollar for a postcard if you ask them to do so. We want to expand on this.

We have friendly relations with a whole lot of musicians, and we are hoping to create a fund-raising event/party, and maybe a regular social event for the state. Since each group meets every week, we could all get together once a month and just have a few announcements, maybe a presentation during a meal and a chat.

We plan to meet with lots of Delegates in the upcoming session, and we hope to identify people on the Judiciary Committee who will take up the cause of medical cannabis, and introduce a bill on our behalf. We are working to set up a process whereby this can happen, and we will soon be expanding this process to include other organizations who have an interest in this policy and this legislation.

The present law in Maryland provides very weak protections for patients, and does not even address the issues of safe supply, nor medical research. What it will do, is reduce the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana, if the judge can be convinced of a medical necessity on the part of the patient. It is not much, but given that situation, we think it would be helpful if a lot more doctors and patients were informed about therapeutic cannabis, and the laws pertaining thereto.

We have made it a priority in our campaign to identify health professionals for special attention, whenever they show up, with a view to establishing one or more educational seminars and other resources for medical professionals in the state. We are also setting up an ID program whereby a patient can produce evidence of a doctor's recommendation for therapeutic use of cannabis in the event of an arrest. There is no guarantee, but faced with the possibility of a $100 fine, (and a harassment suit if this is a second arrest) for marijuana possession, we hope most cops would do the smart thing and ignore the cannabis.

Contact one of us.

Prince George's County Damien Nichols nichols.damien@gmail.com

Montgomery County Michael Rigby MDSafeAccess@gmail.com

St Mary's County David Larose larosedavid@yahoo.com

Howard County Dave Terk DaveTerk@gmail.com

If you are in the county listed email that person, anywhere else in Maryland- email Damien.

We keep a calendar on our website of the upcoming events where you can find us handing out literature and gathering supporters. We would be delighted for you to come by and meet us.

White Slacks Day

2009-08-28T08:48:00.000-07:00

I woke up at three o clock this morning. I figured no point in going back to sleep. I was going to be spending the morning in court.

On Facebook a friend sent me a link to The Largest Street Gang in America. I couldn’t watch all of it.

And then I couldn’t get the right outfit, not without waking my housemate for the ironing board, and I eventually settled on a third tier compromise which involved white slacks. And I forgot to take postcards with me, even though I had about three hours to pack. And my hair was sticking up.

The phone rang at eight and I jumped into Bill’s car. The traffic was light, and we arrived fifteen minutes before anything could possibly happen. And then we did a sort of double mission to Starbucks.

I chatted with the lovely Pamela, while Bill’s lawyer, Stephen, interviewed Caren with respect to her testifying on Bill’s behalf. At ten fifteen we assembled in the courtroom.

Stephen asked us if we could accept a request to reconvene at 11:30, and we four ASA representatives left in search of second breakfast.

The atmosphere was far from tense, though I think Bill was considering the possibility of an adverse outcome. For myself I had seen enough of the proceedings to be confident in both the fairness of Judge B. and the quality of the case for medical marijuana use, as a mitigating factor in the sentence for marijuana possession. The freshness of the prosecuting attorney was another factor in our favor, as it happened, but I didn’t think of that while I was sticking a plastic fork into my scrambled eggs.

Tony showed up with a couple of huge yellow buttons that said “FIX MARYLAND’S MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW”, and I stuck one on the front of my blue shirt, before the four of us sat down, on the front row, for the proceedings.

Caren was first up to testify as to her knowledge of Bill, and she slipped in some good stuff about Bill being an activist and everything. And then, the prosecuting attorney gets to cross examine, and Caren had her for lunch. For real. The best the attorney could do was, “Are you a doctor?”, which was pretty lame. Score like five for the good guys.

And then Stephen challenged a whole bunch of the stuff the state was using for evidence and, as a result the Judge agreed that a whole bunch of stuff be redacted. (The jury said the cops were “testilying”).. And then a bunch of Bill’s property was returned to him.

And then Bill made a statement and took questions from both attorneys. Oh gosh, she made a half a hit with “Do you smoke cigarettes?” which Bill parried with, “I have, on occasion, yes”. Leaving her nowhere to go.

The judge was eloquent in his summation. Before delivering the all but inevitable finding for “medical necessity”, and thus a $100 fine, no probation, the Judge opined that the use of smoked marijuana, in preference to pills, when treating nausea, amounted to common sense.

With this case, Maryland struggles one tiny step closer to justice, sanity and basic human decency. That people with chronic medical conditions are subjected to being beaten up by the police, having that reported as “resisting arrest”, and then have to deal with the expense, and potentially adverse consequences of a jury trial, merely for treating themselves with a God-given healing herb, in the privacy of their own homes is an offense against everything a free person stands for.

We had a late lunch in a very nice Thai restaurant, and everybody was really happy and charged up for whatever.

I noticed, as we left the restaurant, that my white slacks had a sort of yellow coating down one side – looked like pollen, maybe. Something like that. Could have been there all day. (Thank heavens the Washington Post doesn’t have pictures).

There remains the possibility of an appeal. During the case the judge ruled medical marijuana defense inadmissible, except as a mitigating factor at sentencing. This ruling may be vulnerable on appeal, opening the door for patients in Maryland to present the case for medical marijuana to a jury. Having seen some of the relevant documents I dare say this particular ruling is very vulnerable. There are also other precedents that could be established.

Anybody got five thousand bucks?

The Money

2009-06-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

The Money

My friend is funneling money into the marijuana machine.

His documented, serious medical condition, his two doctors recommendations for medical marijuana, and his California patient's ID card notwithstanding, his brutal arrest & theft of his property, are defended by the operatives of “law and order” in Maryland, to the continuing enrichment of the courts, the lawyers, the police force, the prison guards, and all who profit from these institutions.

Eight hundred and thirty thousand marijuana arrests is a lot of jobs for the boys.

And who pays for this? Well, no problems there, its just evil marijuana smoking scum.

This massive transfer of resources from the aforementioned scum (ie people like me) to the cartel which spans law enforcement, criminal justice and the prison industrial complex, is further enhanced by bribes from other cartels who directly benefit from prohibition – the drug companies, both legal and illegal, the facilities treating marijuana “addiction”, the shallow politicians, moralists and sanctimonious busybodies, and that sinister group who just like to see a lot of poor people in prison.

This is the reason that medical cannabis users are pursued by the state apparatus with such vigor.

Six hundred swat team deployments in PG County alone last year. And how many of those were simple marijuana possession? This is just a training program. Got to keep the teams occupied and their skills up to scratch, who knows what kind of crimes people might be getting up to in the privacy of their own homes. People treating serious medical conditions with a God given healing herb are only one type of evil scum. What about bloggers, or people who owe money to credit card companies?

All people of good heart must join their brothers in resisting this tyranny.

Postcards

2009-06-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

POSTCARDS

Our PG County group meets every week, and the following project evolved over the course of a few weeks.

We decided that it would be good to have a postcard that people could sign and we could mail to their Delegate. Since people have three Delegates and one Senator in the Maryland Assembly we decided to make four different postcards.

We kicked around ideas for images and slogans, and eventually decided to invite people to submit designs and we would pick the best design, and we would do this four times. We came up with four slogans that defined the themes we wanted to emphasize in our campaign.

We set up a web page. www.MDSafeAccess.org

When we got a bunch of images assembled we put them together with a soundtrack, added a few animations, and another kind of communication became available to us. YouTube is bound to be an important component of the campaign.

We have now extended our contest to include T-Shirts and banners. This way we have maximum participation and stimulate creativity. And we all look cool. Which matters.

We want to mail a thousand postcards and we aim to cover the whole state. Because we mail them, we have a record of which member received what mail, and when. This is helpful when setting up meetings with legislators.

Our campaign is starting to buzz.

Hearings get some Press

2009-03-25T15:18:00.000-07:00

Looks like medical marijuana law in Maryland is starting to attract some press.

The Baltimore Sun and Delmarva dot com have both published a story from AP.

No such thing as bad press.

Americans for Safe Access on WPFW Radio Today at 3pm

2009-03-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

Today at from 3:05pm to 3:30pm, Americans for Safe Access will be on WPFW 89.3FM, DC's Station for Jazz and Justice.

We will discuss Medical Marijuana in Maryland with ASA staff and Maryland patients, as well as HB 1339 - the bill to establish a task force to study medical marijuana laws in MD.

Tune in at 89.3 FM on your radio, or by logging on to http://www.wpfw.org/.

Press Release: Judiciary Committee Schedules Hearing on Medical Marijuana

2009-03-09T12:24:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE
Americans for Safe Access
For Immediate Release: March 6, 2009

Contacts:
Caren Woodson - Montgomery County chapter 510-388-0546
Damien Nichols – Prince George’s County chapter 410-507-9379

Judiciary Committee Schedules Hearing on Medical Marijuana
Patients, advocates prepare to change inadequate Maryland law

Annapolis, MD – On Tuesday, March 24 the House of Delegate Standing Committee on the Judiciary will conduct a legislative hearing to consider HB1339, a bill to study Maryland’s medical marijuana law. Earlier this week, the bill was approved by the Rules Committee prior to being assigned a hearing date by Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph Vallario (D-Prince George’s County).

State Delegate Henry Heller (D-Montgomery County) introduced HB 1339 last month, legislation that creates a task force to study the issues related to medical marijuana throughout the state of Maryland. If the bill passes, the State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene would be required to staff a Governor-appointed task force to evaluate whether the current state law is effective, fair, and equally enforced across all state jurisdictions in addition to other issues concerning the limited, therapeutic use of cannabis.

In 2002, shortly after a Federal Court of Appeal held that physicians have a Constitutional First Amendment right to recommend the use of marijuana to their patients, the Maryland state legislature passed the Darrell Putman Compassionate Use Act (CUA). The CUA requires state and local courts to consider a patient's use of medical marijuana in accordance with a physician's recommendation to be a "mitigating factor" in marijuana-related state prosecutions. The law permits an affirmative defense in state court, yet still may penalize qualified patients by fining them a maximum of $100.

However, according to medical marijuana advocates, individuals in Maryland who possess a physician’s recommendation to use marijuana for therapeutic purposes are still arrested, prosecuted, and, in some cases, fined more than the statutory $100 limit. Worse still, legitimate patients in Maryland are forced to break the law; unnecessarily, and sometimes harmfully, involving themselves in the illicit market in order to gain access to their physician-recommended marijuana. "In short, Maryland’s medical marijuana law is broken," said Tony Bowles, a spokesperson with the Montgomery County Chapter of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy organization. "Ironically, and tragically, people suffering from serious or chronic conditions are vulnerable to arrest and prosecution, and are left without a safe, secure way to access physician-recommended medical marijuana."

Steven Fowler, Montgomery County resident and patient, adds "as patients, all we are asking is that the government look into the current program to determine if it is the safest option for patients in need: Data, not doctrine should determine policy on health care issues."

Excluding Maryland, thirteen states, representing more than 72 million people, have passed laws authorizing patients living with a serious or chronic condition to use physician-recommended marijuana free from criminal prosecution. The Maryland chapters of Americans For Safe Access (MD-ASA), together with patients and their supporters, have been working to bring the same protections and progressive health policies to the State of Maryland. "Every year, Maryland wastes precious law enforcement resources to conduct investigations, and to arrest and prosecute scores of people who legitimately use medical cannabis to control symptoms of a serious or chronic illness," said Bowles. "We applaud Delegate Heller's proposal and hope this task force will put science above politics, paving the way for much needed changes to a flawed medical marijuana law."

Further information:
Full text of HB1339: http://www.mlis.state.md.us/2009rs/bills/hb/hb1339f.pdf
Facts on Maryland's medical marijuana law: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=2050
Maryland Chapters of Americans for Safe Access: http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/article.php?id=280
Prince George’s County ASA Campaign website:
http://www.MDSafeAccess.org
Maryland Gazette Article, March 4, 2009:
http://www.gazette.net/stories/03042009/montnew220431_32489.shtml

# # #

With over 30,000 active members in more than 40 states, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA works to overcome political and legal barriers by creating policies that improve access to medical cannabis for patients and researchers through legislation, education, litigation, grassroots actions, advocacy and services for patients and the caregivers.

White House to End DEA Medical Cannabis Raids

2009-02-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

PRESS RELEASE
Americans for Safe Access
For Immediate Release: February 5, 2009

Washington, DC -- White House Spokesman Nick Shapiro reacted to new Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raids at medical cannabis collectives in California, saying he expects President Obama to end that policy when a new DEA Administrator is seated. “The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind," Shapiro said.

The statement puts the Department of Justice and the DEA on notice of a change in federal policy, and indicates that continued raids may not be tolerated. "Americans for Safe Access acknowledges President Obama's continued pledge to end federal interference with state medical marijuana laws," commented Caren Woodson, Director of Government Affairs. “We look forward to working with the President and his Administration to enact long-term policies that support safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research." Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the nation’s largest medical cannabis advocacy organization, sent policy recommendations aimed at harmonizing federal and state law and encouraging research to President Obama and Congress earlier this year.

Shapiro’s statement followed a groundswell of public opposition and critical media following a DEA raid in South Lake Tahoe on January 22 and four simultaneous raids in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday. ASA members and other medical cannabis advocates responded with thousands of phone calls to the White House and an Internet campaign on the President’s web site, Change.gov, asking the President to fulfill his repeated campaign pledges to not use federal resources to interfere with state medical marijuana laws.

Medical cannabis raids intensified under former President George W. Bush, with more than one hundred paramilitary style raids, new indictments, and letters threatening property owners who rent to medical cannabis facilities with prosecution and civil asset forfeiture. "More than 72 million people live in a state that has enacted laws that authorize the limited use and distribution of cannabis for therapeutic use," Woodson said. "The White House's comments have provided patients and their loved ones a sense of relief, and we hope the President and our Attorney General will keep this pledge in mind when considering appointments to the DEA and Office of National Drug Control Policy."

For interviews with medical cannabis patients impacted by federal raids, defendants facing prosecution or sentencing, doctors, and researchers, contact Media Specialist Kris Hermes at (510) 681-6361 or Director of Government Affairs Caren Woodson at (202) 857-5350.

Comments by Obama on ending medical marijuana raids: http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080323/NEWS/803230336

ASA medical marijuana recommendations for President Obama: http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/PresidentialRecommendations

# # #

With over 30,000 active members in more than 40 states, Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA works to overcome political and legal barriers by creating policies that improve access to medical cannabis for patients and researchers through legislation, education, litigation, grassroots actions, advocacy and services for patients and the caregivers.

Medical Marijuana Week: show your love in February

2009-02-02T09:20:00.001-08:00

For the 7th year in a row activists across the nation will be organizing in support of Medical Marijuana Week.

Hosted annually during the week of February 15th, Medical Marijuana Week is an empowering week of events and activities organized to raise awareness about the growing support for safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research throughout the nation.

The Maryland chapters of Americans for Safe Access welcome your attendance at the following events:

Mon. Feb. 16th, 5pm -- Candlelight Vigil on the steps of The Maryland State House, located at State Circle in Annapolis, Maryland

Wed. Feb. 18th, 7pm -- Medical Cannabis 101. Panel of experts will discuss medical, legal, and political aspects of medical marijuana. U of MD College Park Campus, Room 3215 in the Art-Soc building

Thurs. Feb. 19th, 7pm -- MMJ Week Wrap Party. Featuring local live entertainment, featured speakers, light snacks and drinks, $5 suggested donation, 2640 St. Paul St. Baltimore

For more info contact: Tony (415) 283-7404 or md4safeaccess@gmail.com

Americans for Safe Access is the nation’s largest organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.

www.americansforsafeaccess.org/maryland

The Potholes Ahead: Obama's Call to Action

2009-01-19T14:04:00.001-08:00

So much energy is buzzing about the DC Metropolitan area this week in preparation for Barack Obama's Inauguration. Thousands upon thousands of people are descending upon the Capitol with hopes and dreams for a better future. President-Elect Obama has captured the true essence of America and is urging every citizen to respond to his call-to-action for public service.

This year, so many medical patients in Maryland will need help being heard in the media, in the courtrooms, and on the legislative floor. What research we currently do have indicates that cannabis has healing properties for patients dealing with cancer, muscular dystrophy, and HIV/AIDS, and is often more effective than prescribed medications currently available in states that have unfriendly medical marijuana laws. Medical treatment is a private issue that should be between a patient and his or her medical physician.

Log on now to Change.Gov to speak out about this important drug policy issue.

Some patients have doctors recommending medical marijuana, but they have what may come as a surprising diagnosis: PTSD. In the Fall of 2007, Esquire Magazine published an article discussing treatments for Iraqi Veterans returning home from war with torturous dreams, memories, and other incomprehensible trauma symptoms. If medical marijuana has been shown to help soldiers in their recovery process, we are really emerging into a new understanding of the Marijuana plant, and its crucial role for humanity at so many levels.

Its an encouraging time to pursue this issue with full force. Obama himself spoke out in 2004 for Marijuana Decriminalization in this YouTube Video.

Cancer patients, HIV patients, and Iraqi Veterans alike all need your help this year. Make Americans for Safe Access one way you reach out to answer Obama's call for public service. Doctors, nurses, patients, lawmakers and soldiers who support Medical Marijuana need your help to create a stronger voice in this world. In 2009, join us in calling for better research, better laws, and greater protection for Medical Marijuana patients.

In Service,
Bethany Moore, and the whole MD-ASA campaign team

Call To Action: Pardon Me!

2009-01-13T06:45:00.000-08:00

Meet us tomorrow, January 14th, 2009, Washington DC!

PARDON ME! A Campaign For Medical Marijuana Amnesty.

Join us in Demanding Equal Justice for Guilty Republicans And Pardons for Medical Marijuana Patients and Providers.

Meet 12:00noon in Freedom Plaza to mobilize for a day of action at various locations in Washington DC.

For more information call 202-286-5586 or visit http://www.smoke-in.org

Sponsored By Cures not Wars & The Fourth Of July Hemp Coalition

Why Marinol Cannot Substitute for Marijuana

2009-01-08T07:26:00.000-08:00

It is often said that there is no reason to permit the use of natural marijuana by patients because they can instead use Marinol. The argument goes that Marinol is marijuana in pill form. It is not. Marinol is a synthetic copy of the delta9-THC molecule. Natural marijuana contains a number of active ingredients, or cannabinoids, not just THC. One of the major cannabinoids that marijuana contains, but Marinol does not, is cannabidiol, or CBD.

Cannabidiol, or CBD, is a non-psychoactive ingredient of marijuana. On the Counterpunch website Weekend Edition of December 22/23, 2007, Fred Gardner’s review of studies on CBD credited it with being an anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsant, anti-psychotic, anti-oxidant and an immune system modulator with neuro-protective properties. In Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, vol. 30 no.3 Sao Paulo, Sept. 2008 (English translation) Antonio Waldo Zuardi of the Dept. of Neurology at Universidade de Sao Paulo reviewed many studies and concluded that CBD has a beneficial effect on several conditions. He listed Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, other inflammatory diseases, nausea and cancer. Since Marinol does not contain CBD, or any cannabinoids other than THC, there is no reason to believe it will be helpful to a patient suffering from any of these disorders. Natural marijuana will be helpful for these ailments, as many patients have discovered.

Oral administration of Marinol creates two problems. When taken orally, Marinol is transformed into several metabolites. One is 11-hydroxy-THC, which is considered to be much more psychoactive than delta9-THC. It is produced in far greater amounts when taken orally than when marijuana is smoked or vaporized and inhaled. Furthermore, the synthetic THC in Marinol is absorbed unevenly in the gastro-intestinal tract. Given the uneven absorption rate and the increased psychoactivity of 11-hydroxy-THC, a patient may find a dosage that is perfectly adequate on one day will, on another day, leave him or her dysfunctional due to an unpleasantly powerful high that lasts for hours. On a third day, that very same dose may prove to be inadequate, having little effect at all. By contrast, smoked or vaporized marijuana can be inhaled one small hit at a time only until the desired effect is achieved.

Marinol is also more expensive than marijuana. A likely monthly cost for most marijuana patients is between $75.00 and $300.00. Marinol often costs a patient between $200.00 and $800.00 monthly, with many reports of patients spending over $1,000.00 per month.

Marijuana is cheaper, more consistent and dependable in its effects on the user. Most importantly, unlike Marinol, it contains all the cannabinoids that are helpful for a much larger number of conditions than Marinol is. Natural marijuana really is necessary for many patients and Marinol should not be passed off as an acceptable substitute.

-- contributed by ASA guest blogger T. Dubb

Thanks T. Dubb for the critical insight! This is just one piece of the puzzle out of many, which our friends, neighbors, and LEGISLATORS need to be educated on so that Maryland can move forward in protecting medical patients...

Thoughtfully Yours,

The Maryland Chapter of Americans for Safe Access

ASA in 2009!

2009-01-06T11:14:00.000-08:00

On behalf of the Maryland chapter of Americans for Safe Access, Happy New Year! In 2009, we look forward to stepping up our activism in the community even more! Recently, we attended a high school activism fair in Bethesda and received tremendous support from everyone we spoke to. One thing we are most pleased by is the knowledge that many students already have about medical marijuana and drug policy, which is so energizing and inspiring to us! To kick off the New Year with a busy calendar, here are some of the events we are looking forward to in the month of January:

This Thursday, January 8th, we will be attending a public forum being held by The Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Advisory Council of Montgomery County (AODAAC). We are currently coordinating with patients that use medical cannabis to testify about their fears, concerns, and experiences. The forum is being held from 7:00pm – 9:00pm in MC Council Office Building (COB) at 100 Maryland Ave, Rockville, MD 20850. This is a perfect venue to show that there is strong constituent support for Medical Cannabis, and a golden opportunity to speak directly to the Montgomery County Government. The council holds this annual forum to hear the public’s suggestions and concerns regarding the county government’s efforts. This forum is open to the public and the Advisory Council welcomes visitors. Members of MOCO-ASA will provide talking points and facilitate speaker preparation. Please contact md4safeaccess@gmail.com or 415-283-7404 to register to speak and to request any special accommodations. We need the Council to hear patients' suggestions and concerns regarding their therapeutic use of cannabis, so join us now and help shape Maryland medical cannabis law!

Also, we invite you to come speak with us at the Volunteer Fair at the Montgomery County Volunteer Center on Monday, January 19th from 1:00pm to 3:30pm. The Volunteer Fair is where individuals can learn about ongoing volunteer opportunities in Montgomery County. Service projects will include making Valentine’s Day cards for the Orphans Foundation, decorating bookmarks and cards for children with cancer and other terminal illnesses, packing snow day baskets for county-wide Meals on Wheels programs, learning how to register as a bone marrow donor, and attending sessions by the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County. The event is easily accessed by White Flint Metro at 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda (corner of Rockville Pike and Marinelli Rd, across from the Metro).

Thank you for your continued support of ASA’s mission in the New Year. Let this be the year that real ‘change’ rings loud and clear!

Watchfully Yours,

Bethany Moore and the MD ASA Team

ASA attends Walter Johnson High School Activism Fair!

2008-12-24T17:21:00.000-08:00

Seasons Greetings,

MOCO-ASA was recently invited to attend the 3rd Annual Walter Johnson High School Activism Fair. The activism fair is an annual Walter Johnson tradition that brings together over 30 activist organizations and clubs from across the political spectrum to inform students and help get them involved.

Our chapter was one of many tabling in the cafeteria while classes of students came down to talk to us and find out how to get involved. During the course of the day, almost all of the school's 2,000 students visited the fair. This was an excellent opportunity to get in touch with the youth and engage them in our cause.

It was a very special day watching these young students being engaged and asking many questions themselves. Being able to answer questions and provide informational material to these students made the Holiday Season seem a little more magical.

We look forward to helping all the residents of Maryland have the most enjoyable advocate experience. So let us know the next time your interested in attending a meeting or event or volunteering with us sometime; because we need you. You are what make any cause worthwhile and effective. We'll create something special together every opportunity we have to take action on behalf of medical marijuana patients.

Happy Holidays to All

Tony Bowles, Outreach Coordinator, MOCO-ASA

www.americansforsafeaccess.org/maryland

Press Release: ASA at Walter Johnson HS Activism Fair

2008-12-22T14:38:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 22, 2008

Americans for Safe Access attends the 3rd annual Walter Johnson High School Activism Fair
On December 23rd, 2008, from 7:10am until 2:10pm, students from Walter Johnson High School will be visiting exhibit tables from over 30 activist organizations and clubs from across the political spectrum to inform students and help get them involved. Americans for Safe Access and other organizations have been invited to bring materials to pass out to students as they visit the tables and ask questions about getting involved.

Americans for Safe Access invites students, parents, and teachers to visit the ASA booth to learn how ASA chapters and affiliates are making tremendous strides to educate the public and improve medical cannabis laws across the country. Although Maryland passed a medical cannabis law in 2003, the state still criminalizes individuals who use or obtain cannabis as recommended by a licensed physician. Every year, Maryland wastes precious law enforcement resources arresting and prosecuting scores of individuals who legitimately use medical cannabis to control symptoms of a serious or chronic illness.

Some of the most exciting growth of ASA chapters and leaders is taking place in Maryland, right outside our nation's Capitol. Under the direction of Tony Bowles (Montgomery Co.), Jay Hartman (Prince George's Co.), and Tom Adkins (Eastern Shore), Maryland now has three active ASA chapters organizing citizens to fix the state's flawed medical cannabis law. All three chapters are focused on building their membership base. They regularly send volunteers out to communities throughout the state to canvass and petition, meeting hundreds of medical cannabis patients and supporters who are ready for change.

The chapters worked with the Drug Policy Alliance to promote the Maryland Patients for Access campaign, designed to build grassroots support and identify potential leadership for upcoming reform efforts. In addition to public awareness sessions, the ASA chapters host spokesperson and media trainings, making Marylanders better informed about the challenges that patients face and helping patients navigate law enforcement encounters.

The chapters are educating both state and federal lawmakers by getting everyday citizens to stand up for medical cannabis. They are recruiting constituents for meetings with state legislators, providing them with information, prepping them for the meeting, and organizing carpools to get there.

The Maryland ASA chapters are successful examples of how activists can work together to start new chapters in their region, build strong lists by gathering contacts and letting the public know they exist, and coordinate campaigns with each other and ASA's national offices.

The activism fair, located at 6400 Rock Spring Dr., Bethesda, MD 20814, is an annual Walter Johnson tradition where almost all of the school's 2,000 students will visit the fair during the course of the day. ASA looks forward to this excellent opportunity to get in touch with the youth and engage them in a pressing issue that affects local law in Maryland, as well as national concerns over federal health policy.

For more information on Maryland ASA, contact Tony Bowles md4safeaccess@gmail.com or Jay Hartman bluejaybird@gmail.com.

###

Ancient Medicine: this debate is getting old

2008-12-02T16:05:00.000-08:00

There is something to be said for medicines that have been used for thousands of years and survive the test of time. Although cannabis is not a widely-accepted treatment in the United States today by law, it has become synonymous in some senses with herbal folk medicines to supplement other health practices. This article from The Star via The Canadian Press sheds new light on this ancient medicine.

While research in the US is still severely restricted due to unsympathetic policies and aggressive DEA agendas, a new study by American neurologist Dr. Ethan B. Russo as published in the Journal of Experimental Botany was inspired by a discovery of a 2,700 year old tomb in China. The tomb of this 45-year-old shaman contained not only the usual gifts for use in the afterlife, such as a bow and arrow, a harp instrument, and a wooden bowl, but also the oldest ever discovered stash of marijuana was gifted in the holy man's tomb.

The finding indicates “that cannabis has been used by man for a variety of purposes for thousands of years.” Marijuana was likely being administered to tribe members by the shamans themselves, says Russo. This finding is not such a big surprise to many of us, including Dr. Russo, a full-time consultant with GW Pharmaceuticals, the producers of a cannabis-based medicine called Sativex, which is approved in Canada for multiple sclerosis and cancer-related pain.

What has changed over three thousand years? Not much, except for more damaging policies made by governments despite medical professionals and scientists speaking out for the research. According to the International Herald Tribune, the United Kingdom's House of Lords recently moved to toughen laws on marijuana by reclassifying the substance as more dangerous, and raising jail sentences from 2 to 5 years.

Even when we look back in time, governments seem to be simply going backward in their policies toward cannabis, not forward.

Watchfully yours,
Bethany Moore and the whole campaign team

YES WE CAN reform medical marijuana policies!

2008-11-25T10:15:00.000-08:00

What does Gov. Sarah Palin and citizens of Alaska have that Maryland citizens do not?
Foreign policy experience? No.
Three feet of snow and ice? Well, yes, but no.

The answer here is that Gov. Sarah Palin and all other Alaskans have enjoyed safe access to marijuana for many years now. According to an article in Reason Magazine on September 17th, 2008, "smoking marijuana in the privacy of one's home is just as legal in Alaska today as it was when Palin did it." While she has tried to fight this legislation many times, the Alaska Supreme Court continues to stand up for safe access to marijuana, allowing citizens the privacy to choose to consume in their own homes.

The article in Reason Magazine concludes with these hard-hitting paragraphs:

In other words, Palin got to smoke pot without worrying about legal consequences and now wants to deny that assurance to fellow Alaskans doing exactly the same thing. "Palin doesn't support legalizing marijuana," the Anchorage Daily News reported in 2006, because she worries about "the message it would send to her four kids."

It's Palin's job to teach her children that certain pleasures are reserved for grownups. The government should not continue to arrest adults who are harming no one simply because her children are easily confused.

-- Reason Online (http://reason.com/news/show/128824.html)

Gov. Palin is no longer in the running for the second-highest office of our Nation after Barack Obama's election victory on November 4th. Her views into medical marijuana and other drug policy issues were lacking real scientific research and evidence. Barack Obama, on the other hand, is listed with many others in this article from The Agitator, which highlights the "successful pot smokers" in our nation, thus combatting the misconception that those who use marijuana are somehow defunct members of society.

Its no secret that the Federal Government currently does not fund medical marijuana research, but doctors and scientists around the world have time and time again found that chemicals in cannabinoids offer more benefit than harm. Slate Magazine recently published a fine article discussing the research that has taken place in European countries which knocked preconceptions of the substance out of the ballpark when it proved that "molecules in marijuana can slay the superbug methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus." MRSA, a dangerous and deadly, and increasingly common, bacterial infection that is normally treated with special antibiotics, now has another strong adversary in the world of medicine.

Gov. Palin can't deny research like this, and we suspect that President-elect Barack Obama will in the very least give this research the credence it deserves. The health and future of so many Americans depends on it.

Dedicatedly Yours, Bethany Moore and the whole campaign team.

Sounding off on Marylanders' Demand for Compassionate Medical Cannabis Legislation in 2009!

2008-11-13T12:45:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the official blog for the 2009 Maryland Medical Cannabis Legislation Campaign!

Here we will be offering information regarding: campaign updates, upcoming events, patient stories, medical research, and much more!

So please join us in our mission to make Maryland the 14th state to provide a safe, legal channel for medical patients to access their medicine!

Sincerely,
Damien Nichols and the whole campaign team!