ORGANIZATION NEWS:

* Join the OPN at Million Marijuana Marches Across Ohio

* Ken Schweickart’s Campaign for House Seat is Featured in Columbus Alive

* OPN Public Relations Committee Continues Media Campaign

OHIO NEWS:

* Progressive Thought in Ohio?

NATIONAL NEWS:

* Testing Marijuana as a Pain Reliever

* Over One in Five State Nursing Associations Say Medical Cannabis Should Be Legal

* Cannabis Therapeutics Conference May 3-4 in Portland to Help Physicians, Caregivers

* Poll Finds Strong Support For Medical Marijuana in 10 States

* Stop Marijuana Arrests: Sign Online Petitions

* Judge Pointedly Questions Bush Policy on Medical Pot

* Medical Marijuana Impacts 2004 Presidential Race

* Reps. Brad Sherman, Mark Udall and Jim McDermott Join Fight to Stop DEA War on Medical Marijuana

* Law Overturned Barring Marijuana Vote in D.C.

* Maine Lawmakers Quietly Expand Medical Marijuana Law

INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

* Cannabis Ingredient Eases Tourette's Symptoms, Study Says

* Marijuana's Anti-Tumoral Effects to be Studied in Humans

* GW Expands Phase Three Clinical Trials Programme

* Dutch Lawmakers Back Marijuana Bill

The following items are included in every OPNews:

* OPNews Disclaimer

* You Are Invited to OPN Meetings

* How to Get Your Information in OPNews

* How to be Removed from the OPNews List

* How To Contact Your State Representative And Senator

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JOIN THE OPN AT MILLION MARIJUANA MARCHES ACROSS OHIO

On Saturday, May 4, OPN will have representatives at the Million Marijuana March in the cities of Cleveland, Columbus, Kent, Athens, Yellow Springs and Toledo.

OPN members will be handing out flyers and signing up newsletter members at each of the events. "We want to grow our organization and gain new allies," said OPN President John Precup.

Precup, who will be speaking at the march in Cleveland, is enthusiastic: "We will have a table set up, and we’ll have the chance to reach over a thousand people in Cleveland alone."

Now is the time for you to show your support for medical marijuana. Plan to join us at the Million Marijuana March in the city nearest you.

To find the information for a march in your area, just go to: http://millionmarijuanamarch.org/navigator.php

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KEN SCHWEICKART’S CAMPAIGN FOR HOUSE SEAT IS FEATURED IN COLUMBUS ALIVE

OPN Director of Development Ken Schweickart’s bid for Ohio’s 22nd district house seat is featured in a two-part article in Columbus Alive newspaper. The April 25th stories mention the OPN repeatedly.

In the main article, titled "The Outsider: Perennial reformer Kenneth Schweickart runs for an official seat in the Statehouse," author J. Caleb Mozzocco chronicles Schweickart’s campaign efforts. The article, which is available at http://www.columbusalive.com/2002/20020425/042502/04250202.html, highlights Ken’s efforts to win his Democratic primary with grassroots support, as opposed to big money. The article also emphasizes Ken’s pledge to sponsor a medical marijuana bill.

The second story is titled "The outsider’s inside agenda" and is available at http://www.columbusalive.com/2002/20020425/042502/042502021.html. This article articulates Ken Schweickart’s reform agenda.

Regardless of where you live, Ken encourages everyone to "Get informed about your candidates, and then get out and vote." You can learn more about the federal and state candidates in your area by clicking on the "Election 2002" link at http://www.mysocietyonline.com/.

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OPN PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE CONTINUES MEDIA CAMPAIGN

After faxing our media packet to over 120 print media outlets across Ohio, OPN has taken the next step in our media outreach campaign.

"We have now sent our media packet to over 25 network affiliate and independent television stations in the state," said John Precup, Public Relations Committee Co-Chair.

Local affiliates of national news agencies, including AP, UPI, Reuters, NPR and others, have also received our packet.

"The media is a very powerful tool and we want to use it to get the truth out," stated Precup. "We want newsmakers to rely on us as their main source of information about medical marijuana. Only through education and public opinion can we change the attitudes of our state legislators."

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PROGRESSIVE THOUGHT IN OHIO?

The following Cincinnati Post and Akron Beacon Journal articles appeared in response to NORML’s recent media campaign:

***U.S. SHOULD LEGALIZE MARIJUANA***

Source: Cincinnati Post (http://www.cincypost.com/), April 15, 2002. Copyright: 2002 The Cincinnati Post. (View the entire article at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n735/a04.html?11302.)

By: Deroy Murdock

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has become the latest leader to gain prominence for having smoked marijuana.  On April 9, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (www.NORML.org) unveiled a $500,000 ad campaign that highlights what Bloomberg said when New York magazine asked him last summer if he ever smoked grass: ''You bet I did.  And I enjoyed it.''

NORML's ads lampoon the War on Marijuana, a big-government debacle that deserves to be laughed into oblivion.  Fittingly enough, many politicians grin at their own marijuana use.

[Snip]

Despite drug warriors' claims, marijuana does not necessarily demolish young people's life prospects.  In fact, Americans evidently can smoke grass, then wind up in governors' mansions, the U.S.  Congress and even the White House….

While politicos chuckle at their own ''youthful experimentation'' with marijuana, it's no laughing matter for many Americans who conduct such ''experiments'' today.  They often suffer, though less from hemp than from handcuffs.

The NYPD's arrests for possession and/or public smoking of marijuana have swelled from 1,362 in 1993 to 50,830 in 2000, equal to 15 percent of that year's total arrests. (NORML correctly advocates citations and fines to apprehension for public smoking.) In 2000, 734,498 Americans were arrested nationwide for breaking marijuana laws, 646,042 of them for mere possession.

Using U.S.  Bureau of Justice Statistics data, the Marijuana Policy Project calculates that 37,500 federal, state and local inmates were imprisoned for cannabis violations in 1998, 15,400 of them for possession alone.  At an average cost of $20,000 each, government spent $750 million to incarcerate these offenders.  The project estimates that the War on Marijuana costs taxpayers $9.2 billion annually.

Every law enforcement asset arrayed against non-violent potheads is one less asset that can be deployed against al-Qaida sleeper cells.

[Snip]

The same government that permits Americans to soften the edges of modern life with Xanax, Tylenol PM, Lotto and Jagermeister immediately should put a match to the entire anti-pot project.  If marijuana amuses the mayor of America's premier city, it should be available to entertain adults in Anytown, USA. 

***HIGH TIME TO DEBATE MEDICINAL USE OF POT***

Source: Arkon Beacon Journal (http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/), April 18, 2002. Copyright: 2002 The Beacon Journal Publishing Co. (View the entire article at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n752/a01.html?11302.)

By: Clarence Page

…[New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg] was involuntarily drawn into [the marijuana debate] by a $500,000 print, broadcast and bus ad campaign by the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Foundation.

[Snip]

While late-night comedians have a high time at Bloomberg's expense, among those who are not laughing so hard are the thousands who have been busted for doing what the mayor and numerous other prominent oldsters can shrug off as a youthful indiscretion.

That's why I thank Mayor Bloomberg for exposing, if involuntarily, how our national hypocrisy over marijuana works.  The same lawmakers who treat their own pot smoking lightly often turn amazingly self- righteous about enforcing pot laws on everyone else.

Even more sinister is the unequal way the laws are enforced.  When the children of the big shots have a drug problem, there's a good chance that they will be sent to a clinic where their problem can be properly treated as the health problem that it is.  When the children of the less fortunate have a drug problem, there's a better chance that they will be sent to jail.

I'm not ready to join NORML in calling for elimination of laws regarding public marijuana smoking.  There are many places where it simply does not belong any more than public drinking or public smoking of tobacco does.  But I am hardly alone among Americans who would like to see the debate opened up so that marijuana might be regulated like other legal drugs are.

Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have enacted laws legalizing possession of marijuana for medicinal purposes.  But the Clinton and Bush administrations have overruled them.

Voters in the District of Columbia overwhelmingly passed a similar local measure, which was overruled by Congress, where the district's ``delegate'' does not have a floor vote.

Polls indicate that most Americans ( 73 percent in a 1999 Gallup Poll ) favor legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes.  But Washington's political leaders insist that their consciences should be our guides.  I wonder what they've been smoking. 

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TESTING MARIJUANA AS A PAIN RELIEVER

Source: The Augusta (GA) Chronicle (http://www.augustachronicle.com/), April 13, 2002. Copyright: 2002 The Augusta Chronicle. (View the entire article at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n724/a06.html.)

(San Francisco, CA) Robert has taken a lot of prescription drugs over the past 15 years. One made him vomit without warning. Another tasted like motor oil. One drove his cholesterol to heart-attack levels. Still another caused a hot, tingling pain in his hands and feet.

Late last month, Robert checked into San Francisco General Hospital to test a drug to quiet the nerve pain. This one left him temporarily giggling and bewildered.

As someone who's been sick from HIV for most of his adult life, Robert found the side effects of this test drug gentle. "It is really mild compared to everything else," he said.

Another important difference between the test drug and other medications he's taken is that the test drug is illegal: It's marijuana.

Under the circumstances, Robert is breaking ground, not breaking the law. He is the first participant in the first study to be encouraged and paid for by the state of California on the therapeutic effects of Cannabis sativa - better known as pot.

The study, led by Dr. Donald Abrams at the University of California-San Francisco, is under the aegis of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research. Unique in the country, the agency was established by a 1999 state law that provides $3 million a year for three years to research marijuana's potential as medicine.

[Snip]

Abrams, a 51-year-old physician, and staff member at San Francisco General, …knew what a medical cannabis study entails.

In 1998, they undertook the first-ever study to be done on the use of smoked marijuana in people with HIV. The project followed a tenacious fight by Abrams for approval from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, keeper of the country's only legal source of research marijuana.

Twice, his study proposals were rejected. On the third attempt, Abrams rephrased the research question, playing up the drug's possible faults: Might marijuana interfere with the medications used to counteract AIDS?

Abrams won nearly $1 million in funding and a supply of marijuana to answer the question.

He found that marijuana didn't worsen AIDS virus levels. In fact, it helped patients eat more and gain weight.

Abrams' new, three-year, $956,000 state-funded study focuses on the potential of cannabis to relieve AIDS-related peripheral nerve pain - a debilitating pain in hands and feet that may occur as a result of the disease itself, or as a side effect of drugs taken for AIDS.

[Snip]

The study is starting as a pilot with 16 volunteers, most of whom still are being lined up. Each will stay in the hospital for nine days, smoking marijuana on seven of those days. Those who stick with the study for the full duration - a commitment of about a month or so per person, including keeping a pain diary for a week before and a week after the hospital stay - are reimbursed $600 apiece.

If all goes well with the pilot, a bigger study involving up to 100 subjects will follow. That study will use placebos - marijuana cigarettes missing the chief active ingredient, THC - and be double-blinded, meaning neither subjects nor researchers in contact with the subjects will know who gets the placebo and who gets the real thing.

[Snip]

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OVER ONE IN FIVE STATE NURSING ASSOCIATIONS SAY MEDICAL CANNABIS SHOULD BE LEGAL

Source: NORML E-Zine, Volume 5, Issue 14, April 4, 2002. http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5106

(Atlantic City, NJ) The New Jersey State Nurses Association (NJSNA) unanimously passed a resolution last week urging the state legislature to move expeditiously to legalize the medical use of marijuana.  The NJSNA is the eleventh state nursing association to formally endorse the legalization of medicinal pot for qualified patients.

The NJSNA resolution "recognizes the therapeutic value and safety of medically recommended marijuana," and "supports legal access to medically recommended marijuana for patients in New Jersey who are under the care of a licensed health care provider."  The NJSNA represents the interests of the state's 110,000 registered nurses.

Similar resolutions have been passed by the state nursing associations of Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Virginia and Wisconsin. 

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CANNABIS THERAPEUTICS CONFERENCE MAY 3-4 IN PORTLAND TO HELP PHYSICIANS, CAREGIVERS

Source: The Marijuana Report, Friday, April 5, 2002. Published by Voter Power (www.voterpower.org).

The second National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics, "Analgesia and Other Indications," is scheduled for Friday-Saturday, May 3-4, 2002, in the Holiday Inn at the Convention Center in Portland, Oregon.

An accredited conference for health-care professionals, the gathering is co-sponsored by Patients Out of Time, the Portland Community College Institute of Health Professionals, the Oregon Health Division, Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse, and the Oregon Nurses Association.

NOTE: For further details, including a complete schedule of presenters, see the entire article at: http://www.voterpower.org/news/020405news.html#ctc.

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POLL FINDS STRONG SUPPORT FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN 10 STATES

Source: Marijuana Policy Project news release, March 20, 2002. (View the entire news release at: http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr032002.html.)

(Washington, DC) A new 10-state poll shows strong, bipartisan support for laws that protect medical marijuana users from arrest.

Last month, the Lucas Organization surveyed more than 1,000 voters in each of 10 western and midwestern states to determine the relative levels of support for medical marijuana. Four of those states -- Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon -- have medical marijuana laws on the books. The six remaining states -- Arizona, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming -- do not have such laws.

Among the four states with existing medical marijuana laws, support for those laws ranges from 74.3 percent support in Alaska up to 78.6 percent support in Nevada. Among the other six states, support for passing a medical marijuana law ranges from 63.3 percent in North Dakota up to 72.3 percent in Arizona. A medical marijuana initiative is expected to be on the Arizona ballot this November.

"This poll shows that the voters in the four states with medical marijuana laws are pleased with these laws," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., which commissioned the 10-state poll. "Indeed, the four existing laws are receiving higher levels of support than these measures originally received on Election Day." The Alaska and Oregon measures were passed in 1998, and the Colorado and Nevada measures were passed in 2000.

"The poll in the six states without medical marijuana laws shows that the voters would easily pass such ballot measures in all six states," said Kampia. "In fact, we are looking at running medical marijuana initiatives in Montana and North Dakota this year, and we'll
hit the remaining four states in 2004."

The 10-state poll included five questions relating to medical marijuana. The first asked the voters about their level of support for a basic medical marijuana law that allows seriously ill patients to "use and grow their own medical marijuana with the approval of their physicians." For details and answers to the remaining four questions, please see http://www.mpp.org/10statepoll .

[Snip]

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STOP MARIJUANA ARRESTS: SIGN ONLINE PETITIONS

If you feel it’s wrong to arrest and incarcerate people for possession of marijuana, then unite with thousands from around the country and sign the following online petitions:

*The "Stop Arresting Marijuana Users" petition is hosted by PetitionOnline.com, the free online petition service, at: http://www.PetitionOnline.com/samu2002/. This extensive petition outlines the injustices of the war against nonviolent marijuana users.

*The "NoJailForPot" petition was launched by Libertarian Party member Lawrence Goldberg and can be reached at www.NoJailForPot.com. The petition demands that by December 25, 2004, the government stop arresting or jailing anyone for any non-violent activity related to the use, possession, cultivation, transportation, or sale of marijuana. The website is dedicated to LP member and author Peter McWilliams, who died on June 14, 2000 after a court refused him access to medical marijuana.

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JUDGE POINTEDLY QUESTIONS BUSH POLICY ON MEDICAL POT:

Why Is Federal Government Into This, He Asks

Source: San Francisco Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/), April 09, 2002. Copyright: 2002 Hearst Communications Inc. (The entire article is archived at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n699/a13.html?11413.)

By: Bob Egelko

(San Francisco, CA) A federal appeals court was openly skeptical yesterday about the federal government's attempt to punish California doctors who recommend marijuana to their patients.

"Why is the federal government getting into this?" asked Judge Alex Kozinski, historically the most conservative of the three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals panel. "Why on earth does an administration that's committed to the concept of federalism… want to go to this length to put doctors in jail for doing something that's perfectly legal under state law?"

The Bush administration is trying to revive sanctions proposed in 1996 under President Bill Clinton after California voters approved Proposition 215, which legalized marijuana for patients whose doctors recommended the drug for medical purposes. Noting that marijuana remains illegal under federal law, Clinton's chief drug warrior said doctors who recommended it faced loss of their federal licenses to prescribe controlled substances -- vital to many medical practices -- and could face criminal prosecution.

The federal proposal was quickly blocked by a court order and permanently barred in September 2000 by U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco, who said punishing doctors for giving medical advice violates freedom of speech. Yesterday, a Justice Department lawyer asked the court to overrule Alsup.

Attorney Mark Stern said the government should be allowed to investigate a doctor whose advice "will make it easier to obtain marijuana" -- just as it would investigate a doctor who recommended heroin.

Stern said the government "is not interested in suppressing the content of doctor-patient dialogue" and would allow physicians to discuss the risks and benefits of marijuana as long as they didn't recommend it. But his attempt to define the difference failed to satisfy either Kozinski or liberal Judge Betty Fletcher, who said it sounded too vague.

Kozinski said a doctor's recommendation that a patient use marijuana would have no effect on the enforcement of federal law.

The ruling, not expected for several months, would also affect medical marijuana laws in Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, also governed by the San Francisco appeals court. Colorado and Maine, which have similar laws, are in other judicial circuits.

The San Francisco court rebuffed the federal campaign against Propostion 215 in an earlier case, ruling in 2000 that an Oakland cooperative would not risk federal prosecution if it distributed marijuana to seriously ill patients who had a medical need for the drug and no legal alternative. But the Supreme Court disagreed last year and said the federal drug law did not contain a "medical necessity" exemption.

[Snip]

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MEDICAL MARIJUANA IMPACTS 2004 PRESIDENTIAL RACE:

70% of New Hampshire Democrats "More Likely" to Vote for Vermont Gov. Howard Dean for President if He Signs Medical Marijuana Bill

Source: Marijuana Policy Project press release, April 15, 2002. (View the news release in its entirety at: http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr041502.html.)

(Washington, DC) Vermont Gov. Howard Dean can jump-start his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination by signing medical marijuana legislation this year, according to a poll of New Hampshire voters conducted last month by the Lucas Organization.

The poll, commissioned by the Marijuana Policy Project, shows that 70.4 percent of New Hampshire Democrats say they would be "more likely ... to vote for Gov. Howard Dean for president in 2004 if he signs the Vermont medical marijuana bill this year." New Hampshire will hold the first presidential primary on January 27, 2004, and has been an historic launching pad for dark-horse presidential contenders. Polls taken in 14 states since the beginning of this year have shown consistently strong voter support for medical marijuana legislation.

[Snip]

The poll found that 73.1 percent of registered voters in New Hampshire "support changing the law to allow people with cancer, AIDS, and other serious illnesses to use and grow their own marijuana for medical purposes, if they have the approval of their physicians." The telephone poll of 1,015 randomly selected, registered New Hampshire voters was conducted March 19-24, 2002, and has a margin of error of ±3 percentage points. Complete results of the survey are available here.

A similar poll conducted by the Lucas Organization in Vermont on February 9-10 showed that 75.7 percent of Vermonters supported legal protection for medical marijuana users.

[Snip]

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REPS. BRAD SHERMAN, MARK UDALL AND JIM MCDERMOTT JOIN FIGHT TO STOP DEA WAR ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Source: Marijuana Policy Project press release, April 12, 2002. (View this press release in its entirety at: http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr041202.html.)

(Washington, DC) The battle to protect patients from the Justice Department's ongoing war against medical marijuana gained momentum this week as Reps. Brad Sherman (D-CA), Mark Udall (D-CO), and James A. "Jim" McDermott, M.D. (D-WA) signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 2592, the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act.

McDermott becomes the second physician in the House of Representative to cosponsor H.R. 2592. The other is Rep. Ron Paul, M.D. (R-TX). The measure, sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), would allow states to determine their own medical marijuana policies without federal interference.

[Snip]

"During the 2000 presidential campaign, George W. Bush said that he thought the medical marijuana issue was one that states should be able to decide ‘as they so choose’," said Steve Fox, director of government relations for the Marijuana Policy Project. "He has gone back on that promise, wasting law-enforcement resources trying to keep sick people from getting their medicine. And now he wants the government to interfere in doctor-patient relationships."

[Snip]

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LAW OVERTURNED BARRING MARIJUANA VOTE IN D.C.

Source: Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/), March 29, 2002, Page B01. Copyright: 2002 The Washington Post Company. (This article is archived at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n598/a13.html?11343.)

By: Arthur Santana, Washington Post Staff Writer

(Washington, DC) A federal judge in Washington yesterday overturned a law prohibiting D.C. residents from circulating or voting on a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, clearing the way for the measure to be put on the ballot, possibly as early as November.

Proponents of the medical use of marijuana went to court in December seeking an injunction barring enforcement of the federal law, which effectively blocked D.C. residents from putting the issue before voters. The ban was enacted by Congress in 1998 after an identical legalization initiative was placed on the ballot and set off a home rule confrontation with federal lawmakers.

If 16,000 valid signatures are collected and certified by July 5, the medical marijuana initiative could be on the November ballot -- although the timeline is tight. If D.C. voters support it as they have in the past, the nation's capital would become the ninth U.S. jurisdiction to abolish criminal sanctions for those who use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The measure would legalize the cultivation, possession, use and distribution of marijuana for seriously ill patients whose physicians recommend its use.

The prohibition against letting D.C. voters consider legalizing marijuana was known as the Barr Amendment. It was named after its sponsor, Rep. Robert L. Barr Jr. (R-Ga.), who attached an annual rider to the District's appropriation bill that prevented public funds from being used to put the issue on any city ballot.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan called the ban unconstitutional, saying it attempted to permanently prohibit legalization advocates, organized as the Marijuana Policy Project, from circulating a petition to get the measure on the ballot.

"There can be no doubt that the Barr Amendment restricts plaintiff's First Amendment right to engage in political speech," Sullivan wrote.

Initiative 59, the 1998 ballot measure, was approved by 69 percent of the D.C. electorate, although proponents had to go to court before election officials were allowed to count the vote nearly a year later. The measure passed in every precinct of the city's eight wards.

Barr issued a statement yesterday vowing to continue his fight against legalizing the drug in the District.

"Clearly, the court today has ignored the constitutional right and responsibility of Congress to pass laws protecting citizens from dangerous and addictive narcotics," he said. "This initiative was about opening the door to drug legalization, and whether federal taxpayer dollars should be used to support a drug legalization agenda."

A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice said government lawyers have not decided whether they will appeal Sullivan's decision.

Robert Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project and a plaintiff in the case, said the ruling "means that we will be placing a question on the ballot this November to remove criminal penalties for seriously ill people who use and grow their own medical marijuana in our nation's capital." He said advocacy groups hope to begin the signature-gathering process among registered voters by the end of April.

But Wayne Turner, who led the effort to get Initiative 59 on the ballot, said the measure might not make the November ballot, because the D.C. Board of Elections must hold a series of hearings on any proposed initiative and settle on its exact language. He said the board, which meets once a month, might not get the petition forms ready until July.

[Snip]

The elections board ruled in December that Barr's amendment prohibited the panel from doing preliminary work toward putting another marijuana initiative on this year's ballot. That decision prompted the lawsuit, which named the U.S. and D.C. governments as defendants.

NOTE: For more information, see MPP’s announcement at: http://www.mpp.org/lawsuit/announcement.html

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MAINE LAWMAKERS QUIETLY EXPAND MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW

Source: Portland Press Herald, Thursday, April 4, 2002. Copyright 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. (View the entire article at: http://www.portland.com/news/statehouse/020404marijuana.shtml.)

By Joshua L. Weinstein, Portland Press Herald Writer

Just a few years ago, it would have been controversial. But now, medical marijuana is so routine, a law doubling the amount of the drug that patients may legally possess in Maine passed with hardly a notice.

Gov. Angus King, who initially opposed medical marijuana, quietly signed it on Monday.

[Snip]

Under the new law, patients with certain medical conditions can possess 2.5 ounces, rather than 1.25 ounces, of marijuana. However, they still are limited to six plants, three of which can be mature. The bill was so ordinary, senators passed it by a voice vote, rather than a roll call. Yet it is groundbreaking. By passing the law, legislators in Maine became the first in the country to expand a medical marijuana law.

[Snip]

The amount of marijuana patients may have varies by state. In Washington, patients may legally possess or cultivate up to a "60-day supply." In Colorado, they may have up to 2 ounces of marijuana and grow six plants. In Oregon, they may have up to 3 ounces of usable marijuana and grow up to seven plants -- three mature.

NOTE: For further details, view the Marijuana Policy Project news release, "Medical Marijuana Protection Extended in Maine," at http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr040102.html.

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CANNABIS INGREDIENT EASES TOURETTE'S SYMPTOMS, STUDY SAYS

Source: NORML E-Zine, Volume 5, Issue 14, April 4, 2002. http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5107

(Hannover, Germany)  Tourette-Syndrome (TS) patients administered a single oral dose of THC experience a significant reduction in symptoms compared to placebo, according to the findings of a study in this month's issue of Pharmacopsychiatry.

"The effects were clear," lead researcher Kirsten Mueller-Vahl of the Medical School of Hannover told Reuters Health. "What was also interesting was that some patients experienced far greater effects than others, ... but generally the level of tic activity was reduced as were the compulsions, such as [the urge] to shout, spit or swear." Twelve patients participated in the study.  None of the volunteers reported any serious adverse reactions to THC, which is one of the primary compounds in marijuana.

Tourette-Syndrome is a complex neurological disorder characterized by sudden spasms - so-called "tics" - that occur especially in the facial muscles, neck, shoulders and extremities.  A previous study of 12 volunteers by Meuller-Vahl's team found that THC significantly reduced tics and obsessive-compulsive behavior in TS patients.  A follow-up, placebo-controlled crossover study of 24 patients yielded similar results.

"There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that the consumption of marijuana clearly and continuously benefits Tourette patients," Mueller-Vahl said.  "There is also a strong suggestion that the plant cannabis is more effective than synthetic THC, and that patients taking [a combination of the two] experience fewer unpleasant side effects."

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MARIJUANA'S ANTI-TUMORAL EFFECTS TO BE STUDIED IN HUMANS

Source: NORML E-Zine, Volume 5, Issue 14, April 4, 2002. http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5108

(Tenerife, Spain) A Spanish research team has announced that they will commence the first human study examining THC's potential to protect patients against the development of certain types of cancerous tumors. 

Five volunteers suffering from malignant brain tumors - known as gliomas - will participate in the three-year patient trial. Researchers said they do not expect THC to cure the condition - for which there is currently no effective treatment - but do hope to extend the patients' survival.  Volunteers will be administered THC intracranially.

Animal studies indicate that marijuana may stave certain types of tumors.  A previous Spanish study published in Nature Medicine found that injections of synthetic THC eradicated malignant brain tumors in one-third of treated rats, and prolonged life in another third by up to six weeks.  In addition, a two-year federal study by the U.S. National Toxicology Program found that mice and rats administered high doses of THC had greater protection against malignancies than untreated controls.

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GW EXPANDS PHASE THREE CLINICAL TRIALS PROGRAMME

SOURCE: GW Pharmaceuticals press release. April 11, 2002. http://www.gwpharm.com/news_pres_11_apr_02.html

(England) GW Pharmaceuticals plc, the company developing a portfolio of non-smoked, cannabis-based prescription medicines, announces the commencement of Phase Three clinical trials in four new indications. These four new Phase Three trials bring the total number of Phase Three trials being conducted by GW to seven. In total, these trials will involve approximately 600 patients.

These latest four Phase Three trials will examine the effectiveness of cannabis based medicines in the following medical conditions:

-Pain in Spinal Cord Injury

-Pain & Sleep in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Spinal Cord Injury

-Neuropathic pain in MS

-General neuropathic pain (as evidenced by allodynia*)

The trials are double-blind and placebo controlled, and are taking place at a number of centres around the UK. The cannabis-based medicine is being administered by means of a sublingual (under-the-tongue) spray.

GW now has a broad Phase Three trials programme simultaneously examining a range of different symptoms and medical conditions. This programme is designed to generate safety and efficacy data to allow GW to seek regulatory approval for its cannabis-based medicines in a range of medical conditions. Results from the first few trials to complete are intended to form the basis of GW's first regulatory submission to the Medicines Control Agency, scheduled for 2003.

The four new trials announced today supplement the three Phase Three trials already in progress, all of which continue to recruit well. These trials are:

-Multiple Sclerosis (Multiple symptoms)

-Cancer pain

-Brachial plexus injury (a severe form of nerve-damage pain)

[Snip]

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DUTCH LAWMAKERS BACK MARIJUANA BILL

Source: Newsday (http://www.newsday.com/), April 08, 2002. Copyright: 2002 Newsday Inc. (View this entire article at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n699/a12.html?11415.)

(The Hague, Netherlands – Associated Press) A large majority of legislators in the Dutch parliament's lower chamber said Monday that they will support a government-backed bill to legalize marijuana prescriptions for severely ill patients.

The lower house is expected to vote next week on the proposal to let doctors prescribe marijuana produced by government-regulated growers for medicinal purposes.

The bill also needs approval by the Senate, expected later this year, before it can take effect. If it is passed, two growers selected by the Dutch government will become the first legal marijuana producers in Europe.

[Snip]

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