ORGANIZATION NEWS:

* Medical Marijuana Rally to be Held October 24

* 15 Minute Mission of the Month

* OPN Annual Meeting Was a Productive Success

STATE NEWS:

* Chief Justice Blasts Drug Issue

NATIONAL NEWS:

* Rebuttal to DEA's "Exposing the Myth of Medical Marijuana"

* US Should Concede Defeat in the War on Drugs

* Pot Raid Angers State, Patients

* Feds Expand War on Medical Marijuana to Patients and Small-Scale Growers

* Court Blocks D.C. Vote on Medical Use of Marijuana

* Michigan "Treatment Not Jail" Initiative Knocked Off Ballot

* Legalizing Pot On Nevada Ballot

INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

* It's Time To Fully Legalize Pot, Says Canadian Government

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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MEDICAL MARIJUANA RALLY TO BE HELD OCTOBER 24

By: Ken Schweickart, www.ohiohouse22.com

(Columbus, OH) As the November election approaches, we have a very limited window of opportunity to get medical marijuana and candidates who support the OMMA in the news. A good ole' rally in front of the McKinley Statue at the Statehouse will hopefully get the needed exposure for our medical marijuana cause and 2003 agenda.

So make plans to be in Columbus on Thursday, October 24 at Noon.

E-mail dpeo@earthlink.net for questions, concerns, or ride share information.

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15 MINUTE MISSION OF THE MONTH

By: Deirdre Zoretic

This month our mission will tie into last month's mission. This month, we are looking for candidates at events. Find an event that a candidate will be attending, examples may be: candidate nights, town hall meetings, fairs, conventions, grand openings, etc. They are all out in force this month, so it shouldn't be hard.

Then, just email (Dzoretic@ohiopatient.net) the details about your event along with last month's questions. I will be attempting to attend (or find someone to attend) these events and ask your questions. Next month, I will include a summary of questions and answers that I have accumulated for you.

Thank you so much for giving a few minutes of your time. You may feel like you are doing this for selfish reasons, but you are helping to save my life, too. Thank You!

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OPN ANNUAL MEETING WAS A PRODUCTIVE SUCCESS

By: Jean Taddie

(Lodi, OH) The September 21 OPN annual meeting was highly productive. The 20 members who attended enjoyed a smorgasbord of tasty dishes. In addition to socializing and feasting, attendees received updates about the latest OPN activities, voted on officers, and provided suggestions for future action.

A good talking stick was located and the discussion circle started when everyone introduced themselves. After that, OPN officers and committee leaders overviewed the past year:

*John Precup thanked NorthOhio NORML (http://www.northohionorml.com/) President Cher Neufer for hosting our meeting and helping with arrangements. He provided the numbers of OPN subscribers; at that time we had 60 members on the OPN discussion list and 182 members who only receive the monthly OPNews. Thanks to the help of our web host DrugSense (http://www.drugsense.org/). Of the state-based groups they host, OPN is the biggest and fastest growing!

*Dee Dee Zoretic updated the audience about progress on the Ohio Medical Marijuana Act (http://ohiopatient.net/Ohio_Medical_Marijuana_Act.htm). She overviewed the OPN legislative score card, which tracked our contacts with members of the Ohio House of Representatives. So far, we have bipartisan support from at least 12 Ohio Reps. She also reviewed her efforts to have a medical marijuana resolution introduced in the City of Cleveland.

*Mary Jane Borden overviewed the Treasurer's report and discussed the latest news about OPN's efforts to file as a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization, which means we will be primarily an educational organization. This charitable designation will exempt the OPN from paying taxes on our income and will allow contributors to claim a tax deduction for donations. She also overviewed the OPN activities list and highlighted the legislative conference and poll analysis.

*Paula Mercer summarized the medical information she gained from the NORML conference in Purdue.

*Don Wirtshafter explained the legal process of changing from an unincorporated association (i.e. club) to a non-profit corporation.

*Ken Schweickart updated us about his efforts to win Ohio's 22^nd District House seat (see www.ohiohouse22.com). He overviewed his platform and described several of his innovative solutions for education, health, and the environment. He recommended everyone learn more about their candidates by getting the Ohio Trucking Association's reference guide to Ohio candidates.

After the committee updates, officers for the next year were nominated and elected as follows:

*President, John Precup

*Vice President, Jim White

*Treasurer, Mary Jane Borden

*Secretary is open, but is temporarily filled by Jean Taddie

*Director of Development, Ken Schweickart

*Director of Patient Advocacy, Dee Dee Zoretic

*Director of Medical Affairs, Paula Mercer

Once the officers were elected, the floor was open for member suggestions. The following ideas were discussed:

*Holding a fund-raising benefit

*Focusing on educating medical agencies and patient support groups

*Adding a board position in charge of recruiting patients

*Creating a monthly "member meeting" that is separate from the business meetings

A vote was taken and all agreed that the monthly membership meetings will be held the first Thursday of each month, while the rest of the Thursday meetings will be regular business meetings. The first member meeting, via Paltalk, is scheduled for Thursday, November 7.

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CHIEF JUSTICE BLASTS DRUG ISSUE

Source: Columbus Dispatch, September 13, 2002. Copyright: 2002 The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com/. This article is archived at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1718/a01.html?1302

By: Jon Craig

Ohio Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer said a proposed state constitutional amendment should be rejected on Nov. 5 because it would dilute the authority of judges.

"Let us make this very clear. Very few, very few first-time possessors of drugs are sentenced to prison unless they are also guilty of a prior felony . . . or violate a community sanction,'' Moyer told about 200 judges yesterday during his annual State of the Judiciary speech.

<snip>

A half-dozen judges held a news conference to speak out against Issue 1 yesterday.

Among them was Madison County Common Pleas Court Judge Robert Nichols, who called it "the Trojan horse of drug reform.''

Judge Steve Williams, who created the first juvenile drug court in Fairfield County in 1997, called it "bad policy. . . . I believe in effective treatment, accountable treatment.''

And Judge Philip H. Rose of Vinton County Juvenile and Probate Court, said, "It would reverse all of the gains Ohio has made. . . . I have not had one judge tell me they were for the initiative.''

NOTE: You can view the full text of Issue 1 at http://www.ohiodrugreform.org/index.tpl.

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REBUTTAL TO DEA'S "EXPOSING THE MYTH OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA"

Source: Patients Out of Time (http://www.medicalcannabis.com/) September 25, 2002 press release

Patients Out of Time assumes that the current budget of the DEA enables it, if it desired, to have the most relevant and current information available on its official web page (address below). From its very first statement on their document, Exposing the Myth of Medical Marijuana, to its last statement, it has not done so.  Please consider the source of all information provided and the semantics used to describe the federal government's position on therapeutic cannabis.

The 1999 Institute of Medicine's Report, "Marijuana as Medicine: Assessing the Science Base" was commissioned in 1997 at the request of the drug czar. We encourage everyone to read the study or at least the executive summary. Its conclusions, after assessing all known US research, were essentially similar to other major studies conducted in various countries in the past. A list of the major studies is available at www.medicalcannabis.com.

Below are questions about marijuana posed by the DEA on their web page with their "factual" responses. Patients Out of Time finds this DEA document to be misleading and biased, containing half-truths and duplicity. Patients Out of Time offers rebuttals to the statements....

www.usdoj.gov/dea/ongoing/marijuanap.html

Exposing the Myth of Medical Marijuana: The Facts

Q: Does marijuana pose health risks to users?

DEA: Marijuana is an addictive drug(1) with significant health consequences to its users and others. Many harmful short-term and long-term problems have been documented with its use:

The IOM report discussed concerns of dependence and withdrawal:  "A second concern associated with chronic marijuana use is dependence on the psychoactive effects of THC. Although few marijuana users develop dependence, some do.  Risk factors for marijuana dependence are similar to those for other forms of substance abuse" (p. 6). Its conclusion: "A distinctive marijuana withdrawal syndrome has been identified, but it is mild and short-lived.  The syndrome includes restlessness, irritability, mild agitation, insomnia, sleep EEG disturbance, nausea, and cramping" (p.6). In other words, it's not highly addictive.

DEA: The short term effects of marijuana use include: memory loss, distorted perception, trouble with thinking and problem solving, loss of motor skills, decrease in muscle strength, increased heart rate, and anxiety(2).

The IOM report stated, "...except for the harms associated with smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range of effects tolerated for other medications." Since the side effects of Marinol (R), a single synthetic compound called THC, are very similar to whole cannabis, it is duplicitous of the DEA to refer to Marinol as a safe effective medicine (schedule 3) and cannabis as useless therapeutically.

<snip>

DEA's footnotes:

(1)Herbert Kleber, Mitchell Rosenthal, "Drug Myths from Abroad: Leniency is Dangerous, not Compassionate" Foreign Affairs Magazine, September/October 1998. Drug Watch International "NIDA Director cites Studies that Marijuana is Addictive." "Research Finds Marijuana is Addictive," Washington Times, July 24, 1995.

(2)National Institute of Drug Abuse, Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Pharmacology Review....

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US SHOULD CONCEDE DEFEAT IN THE WAR ON DRUGS

Source: The Plain Dealer (http://www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/), September 24, 2002. [NOTE: This column appeared in a variety of newspapers around the country. You can find the entire article archived at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1803/a12.html]

By: Tom Brazaitis, Senior Editor in the Washington bureau of the Cleveland Plain Dealer

One War At A Time Is Enough, Don't You Think?

With President George W. Bush hell-bent on waging war against terrorism, isn't it about time he surrendered gracefully in the war on drugs? It isn't his war to begin with. President Nixon declared war on drugs 30 years ago. It proved useful politically in his landslide re-election over Democrat George McGovern, but it has been a losing battle ever since.

The federal budget for the war in 1972 was roughly $101 million.  In that same year, the average monthly Social Security check was $177.

Now, the federal government is spending almost $20 billion a year on the drug war.  To put the increase in context, if Social Security had grown at the same rate the average monthly check today would be more than $35,000.

And what are we getting for our money?

Foreign production of illegal drugs has increased, not decreased, despite billions spent on trying to cut off the flow at the source.

<snip>

The National Academy of Sciences concluded that the drug war has been a flop.  But Bush never has paid much attention to science....

A sign of just how far out of control the drug war has wandered came last week in Santa Cruz, Calif., where the mayor, a half-dozen city council members and three former mayors joined an estimated 1,000 citizens to defy the Drug Enforcement Administration by distributing cannabis products in the courtyard of City Hall.

California voters have twice voted to make marijuana legal for use in alleviating the symptoms of serious illnesses.  Again, the National Academy of Sciences supports the idea that marijuana works to lessen nausea and other side effects in cancer patients and others.

The open display of defiance by Santa Cruz officials came two weeks after the DEA raided the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, destroyed the group's 2002 marijuana crop and arrested the operators.

I happened to be in California last week, 75 miles from where the insurrection occurred, and I spoke with Joe McNamara, a former police chief who has campaigned against the drug war since retiring from active police duty.

McNamara, who served with the New York City Police Department and as police chief in Kansas City, Mo., and San Jose, Calif., now is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he writes and lectures on the damage caused by criminalizing drugs.

The drug war has been far more harmful to America than the drugs themselves ever were or could be, McNamara says. In fact, he says, the political leadership's obsession with combating drugs may have been a factor in our vulnerability to terrorists on Sept. 11. "In budget requests made four months prior to the Sept. 11 attacks, the FBI asked for only eight additional agents to combat terrorism - a meager increase that follows the agency's paltry 2 percent manpower growth over the past two years," McNamara wrote in the Winter 2001 edition of the trade journal Regulation.

"The Drug Enforcement Agency, on the other hand, has enjoyed a 26 percent increase in personnel. It is worth pondering whether the Sept. 11 attacks would have occurred if Congress had increased FBI anti-terrorism resources by 26 percent instead of DEA resources."

Isn't it about time we pursued an honorable peace in this dishonorable war?

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POT RAID ANGERS STATE, PATIENTS

Source: USA TODAY, September 17, 2002. Copyright: 2002 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nfront.htm). This article is archived in its entirety at http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-09-16-raid-usat_x.htm.

By John Ritter

(Santa Cruz, CA) Suzanne Pfeil understands why federal agents burst in just after dawn with guns drawn and handcuffed her. That's routine in drug busts. What she can't understand is why agents kept ordering her to stand up after they saw her crutches and leg braces next to the bed.

Then when her blood pressure spiked and she felt chest pains, the agents refused to call an ambulance, says Pfeil, 42, disabled by polio. That she can't forgive. "Totally unprofessional," she says. "They were brutalizing us."

<snip>

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer condemned the bust as a waste of law enforcement resources, a cruel step against a group that presents slight danger to the public and a slap at the state's voters. The Santa Cruz County sheriff, whose deputies have worked closely with co-op managers to ensure that the operation is law-abiding, said he was "disappointed" by the raid.

<snip>

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FEDS EXPAND WAR ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA TO PATIENTS AND SMALL-SCALE GROWERS

More Arrests for Medical Marijuana than Terrorism in California

Source: August 31, 2002 California NORML (http://canorml.org/) press release.

(San Francisco, CA) The U.S. Justice Department has begun to escalate its war on medical marijuana by pursuing small-scale providers and personal use growers in California.

Recent raids contradict prior claims by DEA chief Asa Hutchinson that the DEA is not interested in minor medical marijuana cases. Speaking at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, Hutchinson claimed, "I don't know of any instance in which there's been a federal targeting of any user; that's not within the federal priority system. We have gone after traffickers. If you have 500 marijuana plants, that is of concern."

In recent weeks, however the federal government has attacked patients with much smaller, personal use gardens with no connection to trafficking.

<snip>

Recent actions belie prior DEA claims that medical marijuana is not a major enforcement priority. A survey of current federal cases by California NORML shows that there have been more arrests for medical marijuana than terrorism in California since Sept. 11th.

In Washington state, which also has a medical marijuana law, U.S. attorneys in the western district have announced that they will no longer adhere to Clinton guidelines of not prosecuting cases of fewer than 100 plants. Seattle defense attorney Jeffrey Steinborn says that prosecutors told him they are under orders from Attorney General Ashcroft to target medical marijuana providers.

So far, over a half dozen medical marijuana growers have been sent to federal prison this year for activities they had reason to believe were legal under state law. The latest is Brian Epis, convicted for growing marijuana for a Chico patients' group, who faces sentencing in Sacramento on Sept. 23. Under federal law, cultivation of 100 plants or more is punishable by a mandatory of 5 years in prison - a quantity within the personal use needs of some severely ill patients.

In California, medical marijuana accounts for 50% of all federal marijuana cases filed in the U.S. district court in San Francisco this year. By way of contrast, only about 1% of California's 3 million marijuana users are medical patients, according to a recent survey by California NORML at http://canorml.org/prop/cbcsurvey.html (Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, Vol. 3#1, 2003).

See http://canorml.org/news/fedmmjcases.html for a complete listing of federal medical marijuana cases since Sept. 11. Included are 21 cases involving some 37 defendants. Only one arrest for terrorism is known to have been reported in California in this time. Half the medical marijuana cases involve fewer than 300 plants; only two or three more than 1,000.

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COURT BLOCKS D.C. VOTE ON MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA

Source: Washington Post; September 20, 2002. The article is archived at http://www.mpp.org/states/site/quicknews.cgi?key=1569

by Arthur Santana, Washington Post Staff Writer

Efforts to legalize marijuana for medical purposes in the District were blocked yesterday when a federal appeals court overturned, without explanation, an earlier court ruling that had cleared the way for the issue to be put before D.C. voters.

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed a ruling by the U.S. District Court, which in March declared unconstitutional a congressional amendment that prevented the city from spending money to put a medical marijuana initiative on the ballot.

<snip>

For more information, view the MPP's news release: http://www.mpp.org/releases/nr091902.html and the Washington Times article: http://www.mpp.org/states/site/quicknews.cgi?key=1570

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MICHIGAN "TREATMENT NOT JAIL" INITIATIVE KNOCKED OFF BALLOT

Source: The Week Online with DRCNet, Issue #254 -- September 13, 2002. A Publication of the Drug Reform Coordination Network (http://drcnet.org/). View the entire article at: http://www.drcnet.org/wol/254.html#nomichigan

The Michigan drug reform initiative went down in flames this week when the Michigan Supreme Court declined to reverse decisions by the Michigan Board of Canvassers and a lower court to keep the drug reform amendment off the ballot.  The initiative was brought down after foes discovered and exploited a technical problem in the initiative's language. The Michigan Campaign for New Drug Policies' amendment called for the creation of a new section to an article of the state constitution. Opponents charged and the board and courts found that such a section would conflict with a section already in the constitution, and hence did not comply with Michigan law.

The ruling is a severe blow to the Michigan Campaign and a setback to its parent group, the Campaign for New Drug Policies (http://www.drugreform.org), which had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars during the petition-gathering phase of the campaign. 

<snip>

2002 is proving to be a tough year for drug reform initiative efforts. A similar CNDP initiative planned for Florida this year was knocked out by questionable rulings or delaying tactics in the state courts, as was a local medical marijuana initiative in Detroit. As noted elsewhere in this issue, the Seattle marijuana initiative also appears unlikely to make it onto the ballot.  The CNDP "treatment not jail" initiative in Ohio remains on track, as do the pair of independent South Dakota initiatives, one on industrial hemp and one on whether defendants will be allowed to argue the merits and applicability of the law in criminal cases.  Nevada's marijuana reform initiative is also a go, as is a highly cautious treatment not jail initiative in Washington, DC and a decrim measure in Arizona.  The DC medical marijuana initiative awaits a ruling on a challenge brought by the Marijuana Policy Project to the improper rejection by the Board of Elections of thousands of valid signatures.

But Michigan and Florida, as well as the failed local initiatives, make clear that drug reform foes are scared and are resorting to any tactics they can to prevent voters from having a chance to change the drug laws.  Ain't nothin' fair about that kind of political hardball, and the drug reform movement should respond accordingly.

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LEGALIZING POT ON NEVADA BALLOT

Residents Equally Divided Over Issue

Source: Arizona Republic, September 22, 2002. Copyright: 2002 The Arizona Republic (http://www.arizonarepublic.com/) For more information, see: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1795/a09.html

By: Brendan Riley (Associated Press)

(Carson City, NV) In Nevada, they love gambling and tolerate prostitution.  Now they are talking about legalizing pot.

A measure on the ballot Nov. 5 would make Nevada the first state to allow adults to possess marijuana: up to 3 ounces, which is enough for perhaps 100 joints.

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IT'S TIME TO FULLY LEGALIZE POT, SAYS CANADIAN GOVERNMENT

Report Finds Pot To Be Less Harmful Than Alcohol Or Tobacco

Source: Haleakala Times (HI), September 18, 2002. Copyright: 2002 Haleakala Times (http://www.mauisfreepress.com/). This article is archived at: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1805/a04.html.

Members of a special Senate committee unanimously urged Parliament to amend federal law to allow for the regulated use, possession and distribution of marijuana for recreational and medicinal purposes, in a 600-page report released yesterday by the Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs.

"Scientific evidence overwhelmingly indicates that cannabis is substantially less harmful than alcohol and should be treated not as a criminal issue but as a social and public health issue," said Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, who oversaw the Committee's two-year inquiry.

"Whether or not an individual uses marijuana should be a personal choice that is not subject to criminal penalties. [Therefore,] we have come to the conclusion that, as a drug, it should be regulated by the state much as we do for wine and beer, hence our preference for legalization over decriminalization."

<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.