ORGANIZATION NEWS:

1. OPN Now Accepts Credit Card Donations

STATE NEWS:

2. Clash on Medical Marijuana Puts a Grower in U.S. Court

3. "Your Government Is Lying To You (Again) About Marijuana!" NORML Charges In New Report Rebutting Drug Czar

4. Twin study bolsters marijuana 'gateway' theory

5. G.A.O. Finds D.A.R.E. Ineffective

6. Drug Czar's Office Reviewing Request for Campaign Report

7. Drug Reform for Economic Development

NATIONAL NEWS:

4. Survey Suggests Widespread Use of Cannabis for MS Pain and Symptom Relief

5. MPP Continues "War on Drug Czar"

6. GAO Study Says Few Medical Marijuana Users, Little Impact on Law Enforcement

7. RAND Study Says "Gateway Theory" is Bunk

8. Conference Videotapes Now Available

INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

8. GW Sets Up Launch of Cannabis Drugs

9. Canadian Prime Minister Promises Motion on Decriminalization

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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1. OPN NOW ACCEPTS CREDIT CARD DONATIONS

 If you’ve been thinking about helping the OPN financially, then you may appreciate a new enhancement to OPN's Web site.  You can now contribute to OPN using your VISA, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card.  All you need to do is visit the donation page on OPN's Web site:  http://www.ohiopatient.net/Donate.htm.  A click on the credit card image will take you to a screen at PayPal, who processes the transaction for us.  Although donations to OPN are not currently deductible as a charitable gift, we plan to file the appropriate papers that will enable tax-deductible contributions in the future. Stay tuned.

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2. CLASH ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA PUTS A GROWER IN U.S. COURT

Source:  NY Times, January 21, 2003.  Copyright The New York Times Company http://www.nytimes.com/. 

 By DEAN E. MURPHY

(Oakland, CA)  As a marijuana celebrity, Ed Rosenthal has been on a career roll. The author of a dozen cannabis self-help books and a magazine advice column, "Ask Ed," Mr. Rosenthal is the pothead's answer to Ann Landers, Judge Judy, Martha Stewart and the Burpee Garden Wizard all in one....

Mr. Rosenthal's renown has taken him to the Senate, where he testified about marijuana sentencing laws, and to a dozen foreign countries, where he worked as a consultant to hemp and marijuana growers. Throughout it all, he has carried on with impunity.

Until now.

On Tuesday, Mr. Rosenthal goes on trial in federal court in San Francisco on charges of marijuana cultivation and conspiracy. The charges stem from a business he ran growing marijuana to be sold for medicinal uses under the auspices of the City of Oakland's medical marijuana ordinance, one of many such municipal statutes in California.

If convicted on all counts, Mr. Rosenthal, who is 58, faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison; the conspiracy charge carries a possible life sentence.

[snip]

NOTE:  Check out the full article, which is archived at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n095/a03.html.  The story includes an excellent overview of Ed Rosenthal’s case, California’s Proposition 215, and the conflict between California law and the Bush administration’s insensitive enforcement policies.

For more details about the court case, see the following DRCNet articles:

*Ed Rosenthal Medical Marijuana Trial Underway -- Judge Blocks Mention of Prop. 215, Has Trouble Seating Jury (January 17, 2003) http://www.drcnet.org/wol/272.html#edrosenthal.

*Rosenthal Medical Marijuana Trial Underway -- Medical Marijuana Supporters Stage Demos, Start Billboard Campaign (January 24, 2003) http://www.drcnet.org/wol/273.html#battleofcalifornia

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3. "YOUR GOVERNMENT IS LYING TO YOU (AGAIN) ABOUT MARIJUANA!" NORML Charges in New Report Rebutting Drug Czar

Source:  NORML News, January 15, 2003 http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5516.

(Washington, DC)  NORML unveiled a new Internet and media campaign today in response to a recent wave of federal anti-marijuana propaganda from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.  NORML's new "Marijuana Truth" (http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=5513) campaign seeks to counter this rhetoric with fact-based information and scientific reports to stimulate an honest public discussion about the minimal risks presented by marijuana, and the disproportionate harms associated with criminal pot prohibition.

The first salvo in this campaign is the release of NORML's most comprehensive report to date, entitled, "Your Government Is Lying To You (Again) About Marijuana: A Refutation of the Drug Czar's 'Open Letter to America's Prosecutors.'"  This report responds to a recent letter from the Drug Czar's office urging law enforcement officials to "aggressively prosecute" marijuana violators.  The letter further advocates prosecutors "tell the truth" about marijuana, and then lists more than a dozen unsubstantiated, misleading, and fallacious statements regarding cannabis - including the allegation that "no drug matches the threat posed by marijuana," and the claim that marijuana is more addictive than "alcohol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and all other illegal drugs combined."

NORML's report offers a scientific, point-by-point rebuttal to the Drug Czar's claims.  "We invite all who are interested in learning the truth about marijuana to read the Drug Czar's letter, and then read NORML's rebuttal, and decide for yourself who is lying about marijuana and why," NORML Executive Director Keith Stroup said.

He added: "NORML believes there is nothing to be gained by exaggerating marijuana's harmfulness.  On the contrary, by overstating marijuana's potential harm, our policy-makers and law enforcement community undermine their credibility, and their ability to effectively educate the public of the legitimate harms associated with more dangerous drugs.  We cannot any longer remain silent and permit this taxpayer-funded propaganda to occur without a challenge."

[snip]

NOTE:  The Arkansas Alliance for Medical Marijuana has also published a detailed and compelling response to the DEA at http://www.ardpark.org/MMJDebate/DEAMyth_rebuttal.html.

For further information, see also the MPP’s “Target America: The DEA and You” at http://www.mpp.org/TargetAmerica/index.html

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4. TWIN STUDY BOLSTERS MARIJUANA 'GATEWAY' THEORY

Source:  CNN.com, January 22, 2003. http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/01/21/marijuana.study.ap/index.html

(Chicago, IL - AP)  A study of Australian twins and marijuana bolsters the fiercely debated "gateway theory" that pot can lead to harder drugs.

The researchers located 311 sets of same-sex twins in which only one twin had smoked marijuana before age 17. Early marijuana smokers were found to be… about twice as likely to use opiates, which include heroin, and five times more likely to use hallucinogens, which include LSD.

Earlier studies on whether marijuana is a gateway drug reached conflicting conclusions. The impasse has complicated the debate over medical marijuana and decriminalization of pot.

Because this study involved twins, the findings would suggest that genetics play a subordinate role in drug use.

The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association and was funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.

It does not answer how marijuana, or cannabis, might lead to harder drugs.

"It is often implicitly assumed that using cannabis changes your brain or makes you crave other drugs," said lead researcher Michael Lynskey, "but there are a number of other potential mechanisms, including access to drugs, willingness to break the law and likelihood of engaging in risk-taking behavior."

Lynskey is a senior research fellow at Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane and a visiting assistant psychiatry professor at Washington University in St. Louis, where some of the research was done.

Dispute still surrounds the issue Lynskey and colleagues acknowledged the study has several limitations, including relying on participants' reporting of their own experiences.

In an accompanying editorial, Denise Kandel of Columbia University's psychiatry department said the study does not explain "whether or not a true causal link exists" between marijuana and hard drugs.

[snip]

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5. G.A.O. FINDS D.A.R.E. INEFFECTIVE

Source:  United States General Accounting Office, January 15, 2003.  http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03172r.pdf

Subject: “Youth Illicit Drug Use Prevention: DARE Long-Term Evaluations and Federal Efforts to Identify Effective Programs”

Authored by: Marjorie E. Kanof, Director, Health Care - Clinical and Military Health Care Issues

...In fiscal year 2000, the federal government spent over $2.1 billion on illicit drug use prevention activities for youth, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

[snip]

In brief, the six long-term evaluations of the DARE elementary school curriculum that we reviewed found no significant differences in illicit drug use between students who received DARE in the fifth or sixth grade (the intervention group) and students who did not (the control group). Three of the evaluations reported that the control groups of students were provided other drug use prevention education. All of the evaluations suggested that DARE had no statistically significant long-term effect on preventing youth illicit drug use. Of the six evaluations we reviewed, five also reported on students’ attitudes toward illicit drug use and resistance to peer pressure and found no significant differences between the intervention and control groups over the long term. Two of these evaluations found that the DARE students showed stronger negative attitudes about illicit drug use and improved social skills about illicit drug use about 1 year after receiving the program. These positive effects diminished over time.

[snip]

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6. DRUG CZAR'S OFFICE REVIEWING REQUEST FOR CAMPAIGN REPORT

Official: It Would Be 'Silly' for Walters to Comply with Nevada Law

Source:  Las Vegas Review-Journal; January 17, 2003.  This article is archived at http://www.mpp.org/states/site/quicknews.cgi?key=2998.

by Ed Vogel, Review-Journal Capital Bureau

(Carson City, NV)  A spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy said Thursday it would be "silly" for Drug Czar John Walters to file campaign expenditure reports for speaking out against marijuana legalization in Nevada.

"Part of the job of the drug czar is to talk about the problem of drug abuse in America, which he feels would be worse with drug legalization," spokesman Tom Riley said. "He doesn't file a campaign statement in each state he goes to. That would be silly."

Riley said Walters has received a letter from Secretary of State Dean Heller in which he was asked to explain why he should not comply with the state's campaign contributions and expenditures law.

That law requires every person who advocates or opposes a ballot question in Nevada to submit reports detailing his contributions and expenditures.

Walters visited Nevada three times in the fall to speak out against Question 9, which would have allowed adults to possess as much as 3 ounces of marijuana in their homes. The ballot question failed by a 61 percent to 39 percent vote in the November election.

His office also ran many television commercials warning residents of the dangers of marijuana use.

Riley said staff lawyers are reviewing the Heller letter, and he does not know whether they will respond. Heller asked for a response by Jan. 27.

[snip]

NOTE:  For more information, see the article “Drug Czar Asked for Explanation” at http://www.mpp.org/states/site/quicknews.cgi?key=2978 and MPP’s “War on Drug Czar” at http://www.mpp.org/WarOnDrugCzar/index.html.

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7. DRUG REFORM FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Pete Guither created an excellent report (http://war.thelivingcanvas.com/EconomicReport.html) focusing on the economic costs and opportunities related to drug incarceration, medical marijuana, and industrial hemp in the State of Illinois.  The report was presented to the new Governor and a wide range of political and economic leaders in Illinois.

Considering the budget crisis in most states, economic considerations are potentially a good approach to promoting drug reform at both the federal and state levels.

NOTE:  Pete’s report was so impressive, the OPN is investigating a similar report for Ohio.

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8. CONFERENCE VIDEOTAPES NOW AVAILABLE

Tapes from the sessions of the Second National Clinical Conference on Cannabis Therapeutics, held last May in Portland, OR, are now available for purchase at $8 each plus $2 shipping. For information or to order, contact Patients Out of Time, 1472 Fish Pond Rd., Howardsville, VA 24562, (434) 263-4484 or Al@medicalcannabis.com.

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8. GW SETS UP LAUNCH OF CANNABIS DRUGS

Source: Daily Telegraph (UK), January 16, 2003.  Copyright: 2003 Telegraph Group Limited http://www.telegraph.co.uk/.  This article is archived at http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03.n074.a10.html

By: Rosie Murray-West

(UK)  GW Pharmaceuticals, which has a Home Office licence to produce cannabis-derived medicines said yesterday that it was on track to launch the first of its products before the end of the year.

Geoffrey Guy, executive chairman, said the company hoped to follow up UK approval with similar licences in Continental countries in the near future, but it could be several years before the product is available in the US.

"The US likes to go back to first principles," he said. "They want more work and more cost." He said that GW has had discussions with the US drugs regulator, the FDA, and that he was "happy with the way discussions have gone".

However, he said the company would need a development partner if it was to launch in the US. "I am not content to allocate GW balance sheet resources to US development," he said.

GW's first launch in the UK is likely to be an under-the-tongue spray for treating sufferers from multiple sclerosis and neuropathic pain.

Mr Guy said that licensing the cannabis-derived medicine would not require a change in the law, merely to secondary legislation. "Our medicine will need to be scheduled under the Misuse of Drugs Act, like opiates are," he said.

At the same time as the drug is being approved by the Medicines Control Agency, it will be looked at by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to see if it should be provided on the National Health Service.

[snip]

NOTE:  For more information, view the following GW Pharmaceuticals press releases:

* Preliminary Results for the Year Ended 30 September 2002 (1/15/03) http://www.gwpharm.com/news_pres_15_jan_03.html

* GW to Develop New Cannabinoid Opportunities with Professor Raphael Mechoulam (1/22/03) http://www.gwpharm.com/news_pres_22_jan_03.html

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9. CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER PROMISES MOTION ON DECRIMINALIZATION AS COURTS CONTINUE TO CHIP AWAY AT MARIJUANA LAWS

 Source:  The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue #272, 1/17/03 http://www.drcnet.org/wol/272.html#canada

The unraveling of Canada's marijuana laws continued apace last week, with an Ontario court throwing out the government's medical marijuana regulations and Prime Minister Jean Chretien reversing his earlier demurral on marijuana decriminalization. Within the two weeks prior, Canadian judges had overturned the law barring possession of small amounts of marijuana (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/271.html#canadaconundrum) and thrown out a case alleging marijuana-impaired driving (http://www.drcnet.org/wol/271.html#nodwi).

In the medical marijuana case, the Ontario Court of Appeals had in 2000 ruled Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act unconstitutional on the grounds that it did not provide an exemption for the medical use of marijuana and gave the federal government one year to replace the law or it would become invalid. Instead, the government developed a set of Marijuana Medicinal Access Regulations, but held up the promised distribution of medical marijuana and wrapped the entire application process in cumbersome red tape. Medical marijuana users and the Toronto Compassion Center, which had supplied medical marijuana to 1,500 patients until it was raided last year, challenged the legality of the regulatory scheme -- and won.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Sidney Lederman ruled on January 9 that a law that allows sick people to smoke marijuana, but forces them to buy it on the street, is no law worth having. "Laws which put seriously ill, vulnerable people in a position where they have to deal with the criminal underworld to obtain medicine they have been authorized to take violate the constitutional right to security of the person," Lederman wrote in a 40-page ruling. "I have grave reservations about a regime which... grants legal access by relying on drug dealers to supply and distribute the required medicine."

The federal government has six months to fix the regulations, ruled Lederman, after which time they will be "of no force and effect."

For Alan Young, one of the attorneys on the case, the ruling could mark the end of the marijuana law. "It's another nail in the coffin, and this is a big nail," Young told reporters after hearing the decision. "We feel it will be appealed, but it's the light at the end of the tunnel... I can't really see the law maintaining any operation after this year. It's sitting on a really precarious foundation."

"We're very gratified by the decision," said Joseph Neuberger, another attorney on the case. "It addresses the concerns that we highlighted and puts real pressure on the government to now put into place a regime that does provide them with access to [a] safe supply of medicinal marijuana. If they don't comply, then possession is lawful and they're no longer subject to criminal law."

"This is the strongest decision we have to date about the climate of the day with regard to decriminalization," said attorney Leora Shemesh. "Lederman is saying the Marijuana Medicinal Access Regulations are ineffective, and that's probably the best signal we've received so far from a higher court about possibly decriminalizing the entire regime."

Even Prime Minister Jean Chretien may finally be ready for that. While at Christmas time, Chretien threw cold water on comments by Justice Minister Martin Cauchon that the government was ready to move on decriminalization, by last weekend Chretien had changed his tune -- although his spokesman insisted it really was the same tune. "The PM is strong on this," said a spokesman on January 10, referring to decriminalization legislation. "The government is determined to address this issue."

[snip]

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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.

All articles are intended for educational purposes and do not reflect an official position, either positive or negative, by the OPN or its Board of Directors.

Ohio Patient Network does not endorse any candidates running for office. The reports of campaign-related activities are for educational purposes only.

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.