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Justice Department Files Civil Asset Forfeiture Actions Against Harborside California State's Largest Medical Cannabis
Dispensary |
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Attorney General Denies Reality of Raids Oakland, CA: Federal prosecutors have targeted
Harborside
Health Center (HHC) in Oakland, as well as its sister facility in San
Jose, for closure and civil asset forfeiture. In court papers filed last week
by the US Attorney for the northern district of California, Melinda Haag, the
federal government alleges that Harborside is operating in violation of
federal law by providing cannabis to state-qualified patients. In recent months, federal officials have forced the
closure of several of the state's most prominent, longstanding, and
well-respected medical cannabis operations -- including the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana (1996-2011), Berkeley Patients Group (2000-2012), and El Camino Wellness (2008-2012). The closures contradict
recent statements made by US Attorney Eric Holder to Congress in June when he
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Massachusetts:
Measure To Legalize State-Sanctioned Distribution Of Medical Cannabis
Approved For November Ballot
Boston,
MA: A statewide proposal that
seeks to allow for the possession and state-licensed distribution of cannabis
for therapeutic purposes will appear on the November electoral ballot. <continued
on page 6 > _______________________________ Study:
Cannabis Use Has "No Lasting Residual Effects On Neurocognitive
Performance"
Orlando,
FL: The use of cannabis is not associated with
"enduring negative effects" on the cognitive skills in moderate to
heavy marijuana consumers, according to a
meta-analysis to be published in the journal Experimental and
Clinical Psychopharmacology. A pair of researchers from the University
of Central Florida, Department of Psychology reviewed various, peer-reviewed
studies <continued
on page 7 > |
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* Volume 9, Issue 7 * July * 2012
* www.MercyCenters.org *
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* The MERCY News * |
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_____________________ The MERCY News Report is an
all-volunteer, not-for-profit project to record and broadcast news,
announcements and information about medical cannabis in Oregon, across
America and around the World. For more information about the MERCY News, contact us. Via
Snail Mail: The MERCY
News 1745 Capital
St. NE, Salem, Ore., 97301 503.363-4588 E-mail: Mercy_Salem@hotmail.com Or
our WWW page: www.MercyCenters.org Check it
out! ___________________________ MERCY On The Tube!
in Salem,
Oregon area thru Capital Community Television, Channel 23.
Call In – 503.588-6444 - on Friday at 7pm, or See us on Wednesdays
at 06:30pm, Thursdays at 07:00pm, Fridays at 10:30pm and Saturdays at
06:00pm. Visit – http://mercycenters.org/tv/ |
About
MERCY – The Medical Cannabis Resource Center MERCY is a non-profit, grass roots organization
founded by patients, their friends and family and other compassionate and
concerned citizens in the area and is dedicated to helping and advocating for
those involved with the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP). MERCY is based in the
Salem, Oregon area and staffed on a volunteer basis. The
purpose is to get medicine to patients in the short-term while working with
them to establish their own independent sources. To
this end we provide, among other things, ongoing education to people and
groups organizing clinics and other Patient Resources, individual physicians
and other healthcare providers about the OMMP, cannabis as medicine and
doctor rights in general. The mission of the organization
is to help people and change the laws. We advocate reasonable, fair and effective
marijuana laws and policies, and strive to educate, register and empower
voters to implement such policies. Our philosophy is one of teaching
people to fish, rather than being dependent upon others. Want to get your Card? Need Medicine Now? Welcome to The Club! MERCY – the Medical Cannabis Resource Center
hosts Mercy Club Meetings every Wednesday at - 1745 Capital
Street NE, Salem, 97301 – from 7pm to 9pm to help folks get
their card, network patients to medicine, assist in finding a grower or
getting to grow themselves, or ways and means to medicate along other info
and resources depending on the issue.
visit – www.MercyCenters.org
- or Call 503.363-4588 for more. The Doctor is In ... Salem! * MERCY is Educating Doctors on signing for their
Patients; Referring people to Medical Cannabis Consultations when their
regular care physician won't sign for them; and listing all Clinics around
the state in order to help folks Qualify for the OMMP and otherwise Get their
Cards. For our Referral Doc in Salem,
get your records to – 1745 Capital Street NE,
Salem, 97301, NOTE: There is a $25 non-refundable deposit
required. Transportation and Delivery
Services available for those in need.
For our Physician Packet to educate your Doctor, or a List of Clinics
around the state, visit – www.MercyCenters.org
- or Call 503.363-4588 for more. Other Medical Cannabis Resource NetWork
Opportunities for Patients as well as CardHolders-to-be. * whether Social meeting, Open to public
–or- Cardholders Only * visit: http://mercycenters.org/events/Meets.html ! Also Forums - a means to
communicate and network on medical cannabis in Portland across Oregon and
around the world. A list of
Forums, Chat Rooms, Bulletin Boards and other Online Resources for the
Medical Cannabis Patient, CareGiver, Family Member, Patient-to-Be and Other
Interested Parties. * Resources > Patients (plus) > Online
> Forums * Know any? Let everybody else know!
Visit: http://mercycenters.org/orgs/Forums.html and Post It! |
2 mercycenter@hotmail.com * |
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<continued from JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FILES CIVIL ASSET FORFEITURE
ACTIONS AGAINST CALIFORNIA STATE'S
LARGEST MEDICAL CANNABIS DISPENSARY, page 1 > asserted that Justice officials are solely
targeting individuals who are "taking advantage of those state laws
and going beyond what those states have authorized." Commenting
on her actions against Harborside Health Center, US Attorney Melinda Haag said: "I ... find the need to consider actions
regarding marijuana superstores such as Harborside. The larger the operation,
the greater the likelihood that there will be abuse of the state's medical
marijuana laws, and marijuana in the hands of individuals who do not have a
demonstrated medical need." However, in contrast to Haag's public
statement, the federal complaint cites no alleged violations of state law,
instead claiming that HHC's actions violate the federal US Controlled
Substances Act. Speaking
at a press conference last week, Harborside's Executive Director
Steve DeAngelo said the operation intends to remain open despite federal
threats. A recent post on the Harborside website states: "Harborside
is not in imminent danger of closing. We intend to keep the commitment we
made six years ago to provide our patients with safe access to the medicine
their doctors have recommended, for as long as we possibly can." This
week, Congressional House lawmakers reintroduced legislation, H.R. 6134 - The Truth in
Trials Act - which would allow federal defendants the opportunity to
"introduce evidence (at trial) demonstrating that the marijuana-related
activities for which the person stands accused were performed in compliance
with state law regarding the medical use of marijuana." Fifteen
Democrats and three Republicans are sponsoring the measure. Commenting
on the administration's latest actions, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano
said: "It is ironic that many of California's most prominent and
well-respected medical cannabis dispensaries and related facilities -
including Oaksterdam
University, Berkeley Patients Group, and Harborside Health Center -
flourished under the George W. Bush administration. But they'll be lucky to
survive President Barack Obama's first term." Medical
cannabis advocates intend to protest
the administration's actions on Monday, July 23, during a Presidential
fundraiser at the Fox Theater in downtown Oakland. For more information,
please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500,
or Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. For additional
information, please visit: http://www.canorml.org. |
Taking Action Drug Enforcement Administration raids on
dispensaries have become an unfortunate fact of life in medical cannabis
states. So when Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress that the
Department of Justice’s policy toward medical marijuana is only to enforce
against “individuals or organizations acting out of conformity with state
law,” we were skeptical. But the gap between the administration’s
tolerant rhetoric and the harsh reality facing patients was made clear only four
days after Holder’s testimony. Sacramento, CA dispensary El Camino Wellness
was raided - and like many other DEA targets, it had a long history of
compliance with local laws. In what represents a serious escalation in
the federal attack on safe access to medical cannabis in California, Northern
California US Attorney Melinda Haag has initiated property forfeiture
proceedings against the landlord of Harborside Health Center’s two locations
in the Bay Area. They need your help right now to push back on the federal
assault. Harborside is fighting this cruel federal
action, and so are we. On June 7th, Attorney General Eric Holder told
Congress he will only enforce against dispensaries violating state law. In
her statement on the raid, Ms. Haag admitted that Harborside was breaking no
local laws. Join us in demanding that Obama rein in this out-of-control
prosecutor and respect state laws! Harborside is a model medical cannabis
collective, enjoying the strong support of local and state officials. Serving
100,000 patients, founders Steve DeAngelo and David Weddingdress pioneered
security, doctor verification, comprehensive wellness and cannabis testing
services that are beginning to transform the distribution of cannabis - by
putting the patients’ needs first. Zealous prosecutor Haag needs to shut them
down so that the drug warriors can continue to claim that cannabis has no
medical value - by destroying the evidence that Harborside has helped make
tens of thousands of people’s lives better. Attorney
General Denies Reality of Raids
Attorney General Eric Holder faced tough
questions before the House Judiciary Committee at the beginning of June over
the crackdown on state medical cannabis programs. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.
pressed Holder on why there have been more than 200 federal raids on
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<continued
from previous page> cannabis providers since 2009, given that as a
presidential candidate in 2008, Barack Obama had promised that he wouldn't
use "Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on
this issue." While Holder acknowledged the Justice Department
had pledged not to go after anyone acting within state law, he flatly denied
that anyone in compliance has been targeted. Holder claimed that the DOJ is only interested
in people who have "come up The DEA has conducted at least 200 raids and
federal prosecutors have brought at least 60 indictments against medical
cannabis providers in states that have authorized their operation. “Either the Attorney General doesn’t know what
his people are doing, or he’s a bald-faced liar,” said ASA Executive Director
Steph Sherer. “His prosecutors have threatened not just every landlord of a
medical cannabis provider they can find but a host of state and local elected
officials trying to implement the law.” Patients deserve better than double-speak
from our nation’s top law enforcement official. That is why we have partnered
with the progressive advocacy group Courage Campaign to petition Eric Holder to
stop raiding dispensaries in medical cannabis states. >>
Sign the petition asking the Attorney General to be a man of
his word at HolderStopTheRaids.com! << ASA has produced a video telling the story
of Eric Holder’s testimony and subsequent raid in Sacramento, and how it
impacts patients. The video will help explain to new allies why it matters to
everyone that the administration's rhetoric doesn't match reality. Please
share the petition with your friends, and help inform Americans about unjust
federal enforcement in medical cannabis states. Visit - http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/tell-ag-holder-end-the-raids
- and tell everybody! If you haven’t signed
the Petition asking Holder to be a man of his word and
stop the raids of state-permitted cooperatives and collectives, please do so |
now.
If you live in the region, you can call Obama’s Bay Area campaign
headquarters and ask that he reign in or remove US Attorney Melinda Haag. Call
510 863 9632 to reach the campaign. Remember to be brief and courteous. Help Protect Federal Medical Marijuana
Defendants & Property Owners
US
Representative Sam Farr (Dem-CA) has just introduced the “Truth in Trials
Act” (HR 6134), legislation that will finally allow medical cannabis
defendants a fair trial in federal court. Americans for Safe Access (ASA) is
committed to promoting this bill and protecting the rights of patients,
cultivators, and providers; but we need your help right now to do it. Can you
take a minute to ask your US Representative to co-sponsor and support this
bill? HR
6134 allows people facing federal prosecution for medical cannabis-related
offenses to introduce evidence showing they were in compliance with their
state’s medical cannabis laws. It is hard to believe that this is not allowed
right now, but federal judges do not allow evidence about state laws in
federal court. That leaves federal defendants with little or no defense –
even in cases where they obeyed the state law! That is unfair, and if
adopted, the “Truth in Trails Act” will change it. The bill will create an “affirmative defense” for
federal medical cannabis defendants. That is crucial for the 100 million
Americans who live in the seventeen states and the District of Columbia where
medical cannabis is already legal. The bill will also protect law-abiding
property owners who rent to medical cannabis tenants. They have recently been
targeted for civil asset forfeiture cases by the US Department of Justice and
also have no defense under current law. ASA is uniquely poised to take up the battle for
the “Truth in Trials Act” in Congress. This bill is about fundamental
fairness and the integrity of our courts. We can fight that fight and win,
even if it takes a long time to do it. But we need help from people like you
to make it happen. Please send a message to your US Representative right now,
and then make a special donation to support ASA’s federal advocacy work. <continued
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<continued from previous page> Thanks in advance for doing your part. For more
info contact: Steph Sherer, Executive
Director, Americans for Safe
Access * 1322 Webster Street, Ste. 402 * Oakland, CA 94612 by phone:
510-251-1856 * -or- email info@AmericansForSafeAccess.org*
-or- visit: www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org You
can take an active part in the movement by following ASA on Facebook, Twitter, and sharing ASA Executive Director Steph
Sherer’s Huffington Post blog. This summer, they plan to
turn up the heat on the Obama administration to stop the raids. Join or donate today to help support nationwide
actions to demand respect for state medical cannabis laws. More links: Download
Americans for Safe Access v. Eric Holder ; Download Americans for Safe Access v. Drug Enforcement Administration
; Download the reply brief in ASA v. DEA ; Download ASA’s Fact Sheet on the “Truth in Trials Act” > http://safeaccessnow.org/downloads/Truth_In_Trials_Fact_Sheet.pdf
; and/or Download a copy of Sam
Farr’s “Truth in Trials Act” > http://safeaccessnow.org/downloads/Truth_in_Trials_Act_2012.pdf
- and Spread The Word! _____________________________________________________________ <continued from SCHEDULE I PROHIBITIVE STATUS FOR POT
"UNTENABLE," SCIENTISTS SAY, page 1 > Investigators
at the University of California at San Diego and the University of
California, Davis reviewed the results of several recent clinical trials
assessing the safety and efficacy of inhaled or vaporized cannabis. They
conclude: "Based on evidence currently available the Schedule I
classification is not tenable; it is not accurate that cannabis has no
medical value, or that information on safety is lacking." Researchers
added, "It is true cannabis has some abuse potential, but its profile
more closely resembles drugs in Schedule III (where codeine and dronabinol
are listed)." Under federal law,
Schedule I controlled substances are defined as possessing "a high
potential for abuse, ... no currently accepted medical use in treatment in
the United States, and there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug
or other substance under medical supervision." Heroin and Methaqualone
(Quaaludes) are examples of other Schedule I substances. Cocaine and |
methamphetamine
are classified as schedule II controlled substances. In 2011,
the Obama administration - via the United States Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) - formally denied
a nine-year-old administrative petition
filed by NORML and a coalition
of public interest organizations calling on the agency to initiate hearings
to reassess the present classification of marijuana as a Schedule I
controlled substance without any 'accepted medical use in treatment.' In her
denial of the petition, DEA administrator Michele Leonhart alleged: "[T]here are no adequate and
well-controlled studies proving (marijuana's) efficacy; the drug is not
accepted by qualified experts. ... At this time, the known risks of marijuana
use have not been shown to be outweighed by specific benefits in well-controlled
clinical trials that scientifically evaluate safety and efficacy." Last
month, Ms. Leonhart testified before Congress that she believed that heroin
and marijuana posed similar threats to the public's health because, in her opinion, "all illegal drugs are
bad." For more
information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org.
Full text of the study, "Medical Marijuana: Clearing Away the
Smoke," is available online at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358713/.
_____________________________________________________________ <continued from OREGON
KILLS MEDICAL MARIJUANA DEDUCTION FOR FOOD STAMP APPLICANTS, page 1 > the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, after The Oregonian contacted the
agency about the practice last week. The newspaper surveyed 17 states that
permit marijuana for medicinal use and found three â€" Oregon, New
Mexico and Maine â€" allowed certain applicants to deduct the cost of
the drug from their income when applying for the benefit. In determining whether a family is poor enough to
receive food stamps, Oregon allows applicants to deduct medical expenses from
their incomes. Since voters legalized the use of marijuana for medicinal use
in 1998, the state has counted the cost associated with obtaining medical
marijuana as a qualifying medical expense. Only elderly or permanently
disabled Oregonians who qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance
could claim the deductions. Although the change is expected to affect a small
percentage of food stamp recipients, the <continued
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<continued from previous page> government's move was a symbolic blow for medical
marijuana advocates. "It's a sad day when we have to see this kind of
retreat based on what appears to be federal pressure and federal
intimidation," said Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe
Access, the country's largest medical marijuana advocacy group. "It
makes one wonder when the federal government is going to come around and
realize this is indeed a public health issue and address the problem
accordingly. It's a problem only in the sense that the federal government is
creating the problem." The
Oregon Department of Human Services on Tuesday received the memo from the
USDA ordering states to discontinue the deduction. The memo states that under
federal law, marijuana "has no currently accepted medical use and cannot
be prescribed for medicinal purposes." "States that currently allow
for the deduction of medical marijuana must cease this practice immediately
and make any necessary corrections to their state policy manuals and instructions,"
wrote Lizbeth Silbermann, director of the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service's
program development division. "States
that are not in compliance may face penalties for any overissuance of SNAP
benefits," she wrote. Gene Evans, spokesman for the Oregon Department of
Human Services, said the agency forwarded the memo to the Oregon Justice
Department for review. The department advised the agency to drop the
practice. The Department of Human Services on Thursday told agency staff that
the state will stop allowing medical marijuana deductions on food stamp
applications. New
Mexico and Maine officials also told The Oregonian on Thursday that they,
too, have heard from federal authorities and will no longer allow the
deductions. In an email to The Oregonian Thursday, Erinn Kelley-Siel, the
director of the Oregon Department of Human Services, acknowledged that
out-of-pocket medical expenses are a challenge for low-income elderly and
disabled food stamp recipients. "While
we recognize that Oregon voters have declared marijuana to be medicine, this
new guidance from the federal government sets clear direction on allowable
medical expenses under federal law," she wrote. She said officials will
suspend approval of any new medical marijuana deductions on food stamp
applications; correct the state policy manual to reflect the change; and
provide new instructions for staff and food stamp recipients about medical
marijuana deductions. She said the agency also will identify all recipients |
who previously submitted
medical marijuana deductions on their paperwork and "work with them to
make corrections to their eligibility and benefits." In Oregon,
the number of people eligible for the deductions was small. About 33,000 food
stamp recipients are elderly and qualified for social security disability
insurance -- roughly 8 percent of the total food stamp caseload. It's not
known how many of them are medical marijuana patients, but Evans said such
cases were not common. For source, visit - Oregon
Kills Medical Marijuana Deduction for Food Stamp Applicants - by
Noelle Crombie, Posted: 7/13/2012, oregonlive.com _____________________________________________________________ <continued from MASSACHUSETTS: MEASURE TO LEGALIZE STATE-SANCTIONED
DISTRIBUTION OF MEDICAL CANNABIS APPROVED FOR NOVEMBER BALLOT, page 1 > A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office
reported this week that initiative proponents, the Massachusetts
Patient Advocacy Alliance, had collected sufficient signatures from
registered voters to qualify the measure for the 2012 ballot. If
passed by voters this fall, the measure would eliminate The
Massachusetts Medical Society, the state's largest doctor's organization, is campaigning against the proposal. If
approved, Massachusetts will become the 18th state since 1996
to allow for the limited legalization of marijuana for therapeutic purposes.
Several other New England states - Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and
Vermont - already allow for the use of medical cannabis. The
results of a recent statewide survey by the firm Public Policy Polling reported that
Massachusetts' voters favor the measure, with 53 percent of respondents
indicating that they will vote 'yes' on the initiative versus only 35 percent
who said that they would vote 'no.' In 2008, 65 percent of voters approved a ballot
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<continued from previous page> initiative decriminalizing marijuana
possession offenses. Voters
in at least three other states - Colorado, Montana, and Washington - will also be deciding on
marijuana-specific ballot measures this November. Montana voters will decide
on Initiative
Referendum 124, which seeks to repeal amendments enacted by lawmakers in 2011 to restrict the state's 2004, voter approved medical
cannabis law. Colorado voters will decide on Amendment
64, which would immediately allow for the possession of up to one ounce
of marijuana and/or the cultivation of up to six cannabis plants by those
persons age 21 and over. Longer-term, the measure seeks to establish
regulations governing the commercial production and distribution of marijuana
by licensed retailers. In Washington, voters will decide on Initiative
502, which seeks legalize and to regulate the production and sale of
limited amounts of marijuana for adults. For more information, please visit: http://www.masspatients.org/site/.
NORML has additional details about this and other 2012 ballot proposals at
its newly redesigned 'Smoke the Vote' website here: http://norml.org/about/smoke-the-vote. _____________________________________________________________ <continued from STUDY: CANNABIS USE HAS "NO LASTING RESIDUAL
EFFECTS ON NEUROCOGNITIVE PERFORMANCE", page 1 > assessing
whether cannabis use is associated with lasting adverse residual effects on
cognition. They reported that cannabis chronic consumption may be associated
with "small but significant" effects on neurocognitive skills for
limited periods of time lasting beyond the immediate hours of intoxication.
By contrast, authors found "no evidence of lasting effects on cognitive
performance due to cannabis use" in subjects whose abstention period was
at least 25 days. Researchers
concluded: "As hypothesized, the meta-analysis conducted on studies
evaluating users after at least 25 days of abstention found no residual
effects on cognitive performance. ... These results fail to support the idea
that heavy cannabis use may result in long-term, persistent effects on
neuropsychological functioning." Clinical
trial data
published in 2011 in the journal Addiction similarly reported
"no significant differences associated with cannabis consumption"
on various measures of memory and intelligence in over 2,000 self-identified
marijuana consumers and non-users over an eight-year period. Authors of the
study concluded, "[T]he adverse impacts of cannabis |
use on cognitive
functions either appear to be related to pre-existing factors or are
reversible in this community cohort even after potentially extended periods
of use." For more
information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org.
Full text of the study, "Residual effects of cannabis use on
neurocognitive performance after prolonged abstinence: A meta-analysis,"
will appear in Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology. _____________________________________________________________ Cannabis May
Mitigate Traumatic Memories In Patients With PTSD
Hannover,
Germany: The use of cannabis and cannabinoids likely
mitigates symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD),
according to a review of clinical and preclinical evidence published
online in the scientific journal Drug Testing and Analysis. An
international team of investigators from Germany, the United States, and the
United Kingdom reported that the use of cannabis "dramatically
reduced" PTSD symptoms in a single 19-year-old male patient. Authors
reported: "In the case report presented in this review, the patient
displayed a grave pathology involving anxiety, dissociation and heavy
flashbacks as a consequence of PTSD. ... The patient stated that he found
cannabis more useful than lorazepam. ... It is evident from the case history
that the patient experienced reduced stress, less involvement with flashbacks
and a significant decrease of anxiety." Authors
also cited "accumulating clinical and preclinical evidence that
cannabinoids may mitigate some major symptoms associated with PTSD." They
concluded: "Cannabis may dampen the strength or emotional impact of
traumatic memories through synergistic mechanisms that might make it easier
for people with PTSD to rest or sleep and to feel less anxious and less involved
with flashback memories. ... Evidence is increasingly accumulating that
cannabinoids might play a role in fear extinction and anti-depressive
effects. It is concluded that further studies are warranted in order to
evaluate the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids in PTSD." Last
year, administrators at the United States Department of Health and Human
Services, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) blocked investigators at the University of Arizona at
Phoenix from conducting an FDA-approved, placebo- <continued
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MAY MITIGATE TRAUMATIC MEMORIES IN PATIENTS WITH PTSD, previous page> controlled clinical trial to evaluate the use of cannabis in 50
patients with PTSD. Under federal law, any clinical trial evaluations involving cannabis
must receive NIDA approval because the agency is the only
source of legal cannabis for FDA-approved research purposes. In 2010, a
spokesperson for the agency told The New York Times: "[O]ur focus is
primarily on the negative consequences of marijuana use. We generally do not
fund research focused on the potential beneficial medical effects of
marijuana." For more
information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org.
Full text of the study, "Mitigation of post-traumatic stress symptoms by
Cannabis resin: A review of the clinical and neurobiological evidence,"
appears online in the journal Drug Testing and Analysis. _____________________________________________________________ Patient
Politicians; Cannabis Candidates in the News
Pro
cannabis candidates (Cannidates? Canndidates?) are gaining ground as polls
indicate growing support for legalization.
We even have medical cannabis (marijuana) patients running for office
these days. In
Kentucky, Sen. Perry Clark, D-Louisville, is trying to legalize
medicinal marijuana thru the General Assembly. A previous bill failed in this
year’s session. Clark’s latest attempt is called the Gatewood Galbraith
Memorial Medicinal Marijuana Act, and would allow patients suffering from
various afflictions to get prescriptions for the now-prohibited drug, said to
relieve myriad ills. The senator
revealed he sometimes smokes marijuana for relief from chronic back pain and
said he’ll apply for a legal permit if his measure passes. Read
More << Locally,
Jim Klahr is trying for the representartive seat in District 1. Mr. Klahr is a medical cannabis patient,
as well as an advocate and activist, who serves on the Advisory Committee for
Medical Marijuana (ACMM) to the Oreogn Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP).
District 1 is comprised of all of Curry and Coos County, with slivers of
Josephine and Douglas counties. As
a Volunteer, he educates cardholders of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program
to become self reliant and advocates to the mainstream medical |
field on the properties of Cannabis as a non-toxic herb. He has been an Activist for the medicinal use of Cannabis since 1997 and he was Co-Chief Petitioner of Measure 74. A statement on his Ballotpedia page sez - “It's time to care more for people that money. Corporatism has no place in democracy. “ This apparently resonates with his proposed constituents, according to Democratic Underground – "This is an opportunity to actually bring change to Oregon! Jim is one of those folks who does not have big ‘dirty money’ coming in to support the status quo. Jim is anything but status quo. He wants to Progress. He believes in taking Oregon forward for Real Justice, Health Care, Job Creation, Womens Reproductive Rights, Marriage Equality, Education, Pro-Union and so much more. Jim is one of those folks who has watched Oregon politics for more than a decade and has decided the one way to make change is to create change via legislation. Oregon's Dist 1 is very fortunate to have him. Jim understands the issues Dist 1 faces both financially and environmentally." writes a blogger at - http://www.democraticunderground.com/1073179 To help –or- for more info, contact: Jim Greig; Co-Director, Jim Klarh for Legislator at 541 654 0011 * www.VoteJimKlahr.com * Facebook: http://on.fb.me/NcFXrj * Twitter: @JimKlahr * http://www.ustream.tv/channel/vote-jim-klahr * -or- Campaign Phone:(541) 469-4380 –or- visit: www.jimklahr4rep.com
Nationally, folks have Gary
Johnson, former goverenor of New Mexico, as an option to represent them as
president. He is the Libertarian
party candidate. There are good
reasons you might want to be giving Johnson some thought. He's the only candidate willing to violate
the politicians' version of don't-ask-don't-tell and say out loud what they
all know, that the war on drugs is a useless waste of money. in New Mexico, where Johnson was governor from 1995 to 2003. Though the state is overwhelmingly Democratic, Johnson won a solid victory with his platform of cutting taxes and reining in spending.And in spite of facing a legislature that was two-thirds Democratic, he delivered, vetoing 750 bills and thousands of line-item expenditures. He easily won reelection, and when he left office the state had a $1 billion budget surplus. Learn more >> Gary Johnson: It's not just a two-man race - http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/16/2898206/gary-johnson-its-not-just-a-two.html |
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