ORGANIZATION NEWS:

* OPN Kicks Off OMMA 2002: Contact Your Representatives Now

* OPN Speakers Are In Demand

OHIO NEWS:

* Gov. Taft Reluctantly Discovers Drug Law Reform

NATIONAL NEWS:

* DEA Continues Terror Attacks on California Medical Marijuana Patients and Providers

* Clinical Trials for Head Trauma Planned for U.S.

* The Second National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics

INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

* Cannabis Pain-Killer Under Consideration for Britons

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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OPN KICKS OFF OMMA 2002: CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES NOW

By Jean Taddie

(Columbus, OH) OPN’s February 11 Legislative Staff Briefing in Columbus was successful. "Our goals were to introduce the Ohio Medical Marijuana Act 2002, to provide a wealth of evidence about our cause, and to obtain feedback from the people who work in the legislative system," said OPN President John Precup. "We were able to achieve those objectives in one afternoon."

The staff briefing drew a dozen legislative aides representing the offices of six Ohio State Representatives and two Senators. The majority of those attending were from Democratic offices; only one was Republican.

During the briefing, OPN speakers provided compelling testimony in favor of legal access to cannabis for therapeutic purposes. Kenneth Schweickart, OPN’s Director of Development, welcomed the audience and introduced the speakers.

Precup spoke about his experience as a Multiple Sclerosis patient who uses cannabis to increase his appetite and reduce his muscle spasms. He focused on the logical arguments for legalizing the medical use of cannabis, compared the cost and efficacy of cannabis vs. synthetic Marinol, and urged for protection of the doctor-patient relationship.

As OPN President, Precup emphasized, "I speak for thousands of patients - patients who fear losing their health and maybe even their lives. Patients fear the loss of their medical benefits, their health care services, their money, their driver’s license, their freedom. On behalf of Ohio Patients, I ask for your sponsorship and support of the OMMA."

Dee Dee Zoretic, OPN Director of Legislative Affairs, gave an emotional plea on behalf of patients. She told the powerful and moving story of her experience with Reflex Sympathetic Distrophy, which is life threatening and has no cure.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when she illuminated the injustices of a "justice" system that prosecuted her and tried to take her son away, just for using the only medicine that slowed the progression of her condition. Zoretic’s speech built to a powerful conclusion when she cried, "You’ve got to help me. I need this medicine or I will die!"

Joseph Jacobs, Esq. rounded out the speakers by providing expert testimony about his experience defending patients and the legal ramifications of the OMMA 2002. He provided excellent legal insights and answered questions about how the OMMA would interact with current Ohio laws.

In addition to the evidence provided by the speakers, each staff member was given an OPN information packet that included an introduction letter with a brief survey, our Medical Marijuana Facts flyer, the Medical Marijuana World Wide Web Links sheet, and the Ohio Medical Marijuana Act 2002. These documents are available in .pdf format for you to print at http://ohiopatient.net/Get_involved.htm.

OPN Historian Chad Rea created CD-ROM disks for each participant to take with them. Each disk contained video testimony of speeches by Ethan Russo, M.D.; Mary Lynn Mathre, R.N.; and several patients, including two patients who receive their medicine legally from the U.S. Government.

During the question and answer period that followed the speakers, several legislative aides provided advice that will be useful for promoting the OMMA 2002. Realistically, the OMMA faces an uphill battle against a conservative majority in the house and senate and a governor who has stated his opposition publicly.

"Issues begin and end in the media," said one aide. OPN members can promote the issue in the media by sending letters to the editor and contacting radio or TV call-in shows.

The aides also stressed that constituent contact – especially in large volumes – is still the most persuasive way to gain legislators’ attention. Since some legislators are less comfortable with email, letters or phone calls are best.

Help the OPN make a difference. Call or write your legislators now, while you are thinking about it (see HOW TO CONTACT YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATOR below). Tell them, "Ohio patients should have access to marijuana for medical purposes without fear of prosecution. Please sponsor or co-sponsor the Ohio Medical Marijuana Act."

The legislative aides confirmed what many of us have long suspected. Politicians still perceive that supporting medical marijuana will lead to a "soft on drugs" reputation that will hurt them at the ballot box. Only contact from constituents like you and me will ever change these people’s minds.

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OPN SPEAKERS ARE IN DEMAND

OPN board members have been busy preparing and delivering speeches to build support for the Ohio Medical Marijuana Act of 2002. In addition to the speakers at the February 11 Legislative Staff Briefing, OPN board members were invited to speak at two events this month.

On February 5, OPN Vice President Eleanor Ahrens spoke to a crowd of more than 80 at the Student Center Ballroom of Kent State University. She opened the day’s program with a talk about medical marijuana issues. The speech was entitled "The Horror's of Prohibition - War Against Our Own People."

The OPN was also contacted by the Ohio AIDS Coalition, who asked for a presentation during their February 24 Board of Directors meeting. OPN board members John Precup, Kenneth Schweickart and Mary Jane Borden will represent the OPN during a brief presentation that will open the OAC board meeting.

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GOV. TAFT RELUCTANTLY DISCOVERS DRUG LAW REFORM

Source: Cincinnati City Beat, February 14, 2002. Copyright: 2002 Lightborne Publishing Inc. (http://www.citybeat.com/). This article is archived at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n292/a07.html?1959.

By Pete Shuler

An attempt by a group of citizens to change Ohio's handling of nonviolent drug offenders has forced Gov. Bob Taft to hastily pull out, dust off and fine-tune his long-neglected policies regarding the criminalization of drug users.

As reported last month in CityBeat, the Ohio Committee for New Drug Policies (OCNDP) plans to place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. The initiative would require that certain nonviolent drug offenders receive treatment instead of incarceration.

With polls indicating that many view drug addiction as a disease, not a crime, the OCNDP initiative could succeed in Ohio. In recent ABC News and Columbus Dispatch polls, a majority of the respondents, respectively 69 and 74 percent, favored treatment over prison for drug users.

But the ballot initiative contains several provisions the Taft administration finds objectionable. According to documents obtained by the OCNDP from Taft, his wife and his staffers through a public-records request, the administration's primary concern is the OCNDP's proposed amendment limits judicial authority over drug offenders who fail to complete the treatment program.

These documents indicate that, because the administration recognizes the popularity of the OCNDP's message and don't want the initiative to pass, they might soon address drug policy reform.

During a July 2001 strategy meeting in Washington, D.C., Ohio state agency heads and anti-drug groups discussed the need for Ohio to counteract the OCNDP with policy reforms that the public would embrace.

"We must do drug reform if we want to win," writes Marcie Seidel, Hope Taft's chief of staff, in her meeting notes. "[The] general public does not want to put users in prison -- they want them to have treatment."

The message is also evident in meeting notes taken by Domingo Herraiz, director of Ohio's Office of Criminal Justice Services: "Develop legislation that would counteract the NDP possible amendment ... Let the first offensive strategy be the development of a legislative initiative that will show how progressive Ohio is."

Numerous other bullet points from this meeting demonstrate the emphasis the attendees place on preempting the OCNDP initiative through drug policy reform. "Review and update our drug policies in order to counteract this initiative ... Understand that the public wants reform ... Meet with Criminal Sentencing Commission to adjust several Ohio laws that would be more palatable to the citizenry and weaken the position of the NDP ... Introduce legislation -- on behalf of Ohio -- that will show governor as 'reformer.' "

While Ohio administers a judicial program that provides treatment in lieu of incarceration and maintains the court monitoring favored by Taft, the program is so inadequately funded that it is nearly nonexistent. According to the administration's statistics, fewer than 5 percent of eligible drug offenders have access to Ohio's drug courts, the state's only program offering treatment as an alternative to imprisonment.

Such inadequate funding is difficult to understand, given the success rate of drug courts, as consistently shown in dozens of studies from around the country. In Dade County, Fla., only 11 percent of drug-court graduates reenter the judicial system, compared to a 60 percent recidivism rate for incarcerated drug offenders.

In Arizona, 78 percent of drug-court graduates remain drug-free. In Rochester, N.Y., drug courts cut a 70 percent recidivism rate to 11 percent. In Hamilton County, the home of Ohio's first drug court, the program reduced recidivism rates by 26 percent.

Because studies also show that drug courts quickly pay for themselves, Ohio's under-funding of drug courts is wholly unnecessary. In a recent press release, the U.S. Department of Justice, which offers grants for the establishment and operation of drug courts, reported that for every dollar spent on Portland, Ore.'s drug court system the city saved $2.50 in criminal justice expenses and an additional $7.50 on other crime-related costs, such as those related to theft and victimization.

The Arizona study cited above also revealed that its successful drug court program saved taxpayers $2.5 million in its first year of operation by keeping offenders out of expensive prisons.

The Taft administration is aware of the effectiveness and savings potential of drug courts. In a memo to Brian Hicks, Taft's chief of staff, Luceille Fleming, director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, brags about the success of these courts.

"Ohio's drug courts have on average a 64 to 75 percent rate of keeping graduates free from arrest and future drug use," Fleming writes. "That's a phenomenal success story."

In the same memo, Fleming addresses both the fiscal soundness and effectiveness of drug courts.

"Drug courts cost less than prison time and are much more effective in breaking the cycle of addiction and incarceration," she writes.

According to notes taken at anti-OCNDP strategy sessions, the ballot initiative has finally forced the state's executive branch to consider expanding the drug court system.

"Increase drug courts in state ... Identify funding for drug court expansion ... Commit to removing nonviolent drug offenders from Ohio prisons," the notes say.

But even with the OCNDP breathing down its neck and even though they recognize drug courts work, Taft's administration still appears somewhat hesitant to implement these changes.

"[Drug reform] takes us to a place that we normally would not go, such as changing drug laws," say Herraiz's notes from the Washington meeting.

This hesitancy is also apparent in discussions concerning potential strategies for defeating the ballot initiative, strategies that exclude drug policy reform. One such strategy is to show voters the cost of the ballot initiative without showing the savings or social effectiveness.

"Determine what our costs are for the new legislation amendment -- how much will it cost tax payers and sell that to the public -- build off of the anti-tax theme as if this was taxation," the notes say.

Another option is to merely promote the current drug court system: "Attend drug court graduations along with a media representative."

Taft has virtually ignored the state's drug court system and, after three years in office, has yet to develop a comprehensive drug policy. Because of pressure applied by the OCNDP's ballot initiative, it now appears he will endorse, perhaps even reluctantly expand, drug courts.

But even if Taft is forced to finally act in a substantive manner, Ohio deserves more than this reactionary leadership. Ohio deserves a government that intelligently analyzes and evaluates important issues and energetically and voluntarily backs effective, proven and cost-effective strategies.

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DEA CONTINUES TERROR ATTACKS ON CALIFORNIA MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS AND PROVIDERS

SOURCE: NORML E-Zine, Volume 5, Issue 7, February 14, 2002. View this article in its entirety at: http://www.norml.org/news/archives/index2002.shtml.

(Washington, DC) Tuesday's [February 12] DEA raid of a well-respected San Francisco medical marijuana dispensary and several high-profile medical pot providers demonstrates that federal law enforcement authorities are more fixated on busting medical marijuana patients than they are thwarting terrorism, NORML's Executive Director Keith Stroup announced today.

"In any war, you remove the sick and dying from the battlefield; in the 'war on drugs,' this administration appears intent on placing the sick and dying on the front lines," Stroup charged. "The fact that this raid was carried out on the same day our nation's law enforcement personnel were instructed to be on their highest alert to protect Americans against possible terror strikes shows that the federal government's priorities remain fixated on medical marijuana, not combating terrorism."

DEA officials arrested four individuals in the raid, all of whom had ties to the San Francisco Harm Reduction Clinic, which provides medical marijuana to approximately 200 patients daily. Among those arrested were the club's director Richard Watts and internationally renowned marijuana author Ed Rosenthal. The busts came approximately three months after the DEA raided a pair of cannabis patient cooperatives, including the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center (LACRC) - southern California's largest and most publicly accepted medical marijuana dispensary.

"These arrests are purposely high-profile," Stroup said.  "They are not drug busts. The feds are trying to quash a political movement."

[SNIP]

Stroup said that it is time for California's elected officials, particularly those in Congress, to stand up and defend the rights of sick and dying patients. A pre-written letter calling on Congress to denounce the DEA's recent actions in California appears on NORML's website at: http://capwiz.com/norml2/issues/alert.

NOTE: Breaking news, photos, personal reports and action alerts about this story are being compiled at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02.n238.a08.html.

The Media Awareness Project will continue to update the above link for a while, so check back. The newest items are at the bottom of the webpage.

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CLINICAL TRIALS FOR HEAD TRAUMA PLANNED FOR U.S.
 
SOURCE: NORML E-Zine, Volume 5, Issue 4, January 24, 2002. Text of archived stories is available on NORML's website at: http://www.norml.org/news/archives/index2002.shtml.

(Iselin, NJ)  Phase III human trials on the effectiveness of the synthetic marijuana derivative Dexanabinol for the treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) are pending for
the first time in the U.S., according to a recent press release by the Pharmos Pharmaceutical corporation. 

"The U.S. arm of the study [is] planned to begin in 2002 pending the submission and acceptance of an IND [Investigational New Drug application]," the release states.  "Completion and enrollment is anticipated in 2003." 

Presently, nine nations - Belgium, England, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain - are taking part in the ongoing, worldwide study.

A previous Phase II trial of 67 Israeli patients by Pharmos demonstrated that Dexanabinol reduced mortality and eased intracranial pressure in patients suffering from severe head injuries.  A 1998 U.S. Army rat study also reported that the administration of Dexanabinol five minutes after the onset of nerve gas-induced seizures significantly reduced brain damage.

Similar research conducted by scientists at the National Institutes for Mental Health found that naturally occurring cannabinoids THC and cannabidiol (CBD) are neuroprotective in animals.  A 1999 report by the National Academy of Sciences'
Institute of Medicine (IOM) called cannabis' neuroprotective qualities the "most prominent" of its potential therapeutic applications.

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THE SECOND NATIONAL CLINICAL CONFERENCE ON CANNABIS THERAPEUTICS

"Analgesia and Other Indications"

May 3 & 4, 2002

Holiday Inn at the Convention Center

Portland, OR

This is an accredited conference that is co-sponsored by Patients Out of Time; the Portland Community College Institute of Health Professionals; the Oregon Department of Human Services, Health Services; Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse; and the Oregon Nurses Association.

Patients Out of Time is a national non-profit educational charity that educates United States health care professionals and citizens about therapeutic Cannabis.  This conference is designed to bring current peer review study concerning therapeutic Cannabis to public view and discussion.  The agenda will be presented by a faculty of experienced and highly respected professionals and includes researchers from Israel, the United Kingdom, Holland, Canada and the United States.  Patient presentations will include pain patients who receive their Cannabis medicine from the United States federal government, those receiving support from the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act and others from various states.

Registration information and conference details will be available at www.medicalcannabis.com or (503) 731-6633. Press representatives should contact Patients Out of Time for information at (434) 263-4484 or <al@medicalcannabis.com>.

NOTE: This conference is about increasing the knowledge of doctors, nurses - really the entire medical community. But many will never even hear of it - unless you make efforts to inform and invite them!

Invite your health care providers to check out the direct link to the conference page, which is: http://www.medicalcannabis.com/Portland/.

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CANNABIS PAIN-KILLER UNDER CONSIDERATION FOR BRITONS

Source: ATT Daily News (Reuters) http://dailynews.att.net/ Updated 9:38 AM ET February 18, 2002.

(London) - Britons suffering from multiple sclerosis and other forms of severe pain could legally be prescribed cannabis-based drugs within two years, health chiefs said on Monday.

Sufferers from diseases such as MS, which attacks the central nervous system, have been calling for a pain-relieving cannabis medicine for years and many have broken the law by buying the drug from street dealers.

The government is studying its use as a painkiller, a move likely to reignite debate over relaxing Britain's drug laws.

Canada became the first country to legalize the use of marijuana as a treatment for chronic illnesses last year.

Trials have been set up in Britain to assess the use of cannabis in multiple sclerosis and post-operative pain, Health Minister Lord Hunt said.

Britain's government-funded Medical Research Council is testing cannabis-based tablets on hundreds of MS sufferers.

The results of those tests, expected at the end of 2002, will be forwarded to NICE, Britain's medical watchdog, which will decide whether the cannabis tablets should be offered on prescription through the National Health Service.

``A decision whether one or more of these products will be licensed for official medical use is likely in 2004/5,'' the Department of Health said in a statement.

Hunt warned against linking the medicinal use of cannabis to its recreational use. Britain has relaxed its stance on marijuana, saying users caught with small quantities of the drug for personal use will escape with a police caution rather than a fine or jail term.

Cannabis is favored by many MS or cancer sufferers, who say it kills pain and stimulates appetite without the corrosive side effects of many prescription alternatives.

A British company, GW Pharmaceuticals, is developing cannabis-based prescription medicines. It recently said it would expand clinical trials into dealing with cancer pain. Dr. Geoffrey Guy, executive chairman of GW, said: ``This is a positive move by the government.''

The Multiple Sclerosis Society, the United Kingdom's largest charity for the 85,000 British people affected by the crippling disorder, said it welcomed any new, safe treatments.

``Anecdotal evidence tells us that existing drugs are not effective in dealing with their symptoms and they do get benefit from using cannabis,'' said a spokesman for the society. Cannabis was outlawed in Britain in 1928 and possession and supply remain illegal.

NOTE: View GW Pharmaceuticals’ February 18 press release, which is titled "GW Welcomes Possible NHS Provision of Cannabis Based Medicines," at http://www.gwpharm.com/news_pres_18_feb_02.html.

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The following items are included in every OPNews:

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OPNews DISCLAIMER

OPNews, a publication of Ohio Patient Network (OPN), provides medical cannabis news that affects Ohio patients, caregivers, and health professionals. Articles are intended for information purposes and do not reflect an official position by OPN or the OPN Board of Directors.

For more information, contact Jean Taddie, Editor (editor@ohiopatient.net).

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YOU ARE INVITED TO OPN MEETINGS

The OPN Board of Directors invites you to participate in the OPN planning meetings. Electronic voice/text meetings are held at the OPN chatroom in PalTalk.

To receive PalTalk and meeting room instructions, as well as date and time information, contact info@ohiopatient.net.

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HOW TO GET YOUR INFORMATION IN OPNews

OPNews is published monthly. To have your information considered for publication, submit your story to editor@ohiopatient.net.

PLEASE DO NOT SEND ATTACHMENTS. Please do not boldface or italicize text. Include a contact name with a phone number and/or e-mail address with submissions.

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HOW TO BE REMOVED FROM THE OPNews LIST

You may sign off this list at any time by using the webform at www.ohiopatient.net.

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HOW TO CONTACT YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATOR 

Find your Representative in the Ohio House at http://www.house.state.oh.us/jsps/Representatives.jsp

Find your Ohio Senator at http://www.senate.state.oh.us/senators/

Write to your officials care of their district office, or send your letter to their Columbus office at:

The Honorable (name)

Ohio House of Representatives

77 South High Street

Columbus, Ohio 43266-0603

-or-

The Honorable (name)

Ohio Senate Building

Columbus, Ohio 43215

Telephone calls and emails are also persuasive, especially when the constituent contacts the district office.