January 2005 - Key Medical Marijuana Developments
I was there when we challenged the HHS in Oct.4-5 04 my friends at ASA work real hard to make a difference so here the latest.
January 2005 - Key Medical Marijuana Developments
HHS answer due 2/4 on ASA's challenge to "misinformation" in response to 1995 rescheduling petition.
HHS Secretary nominee Leavitt promises to "make every effort" to speed up rescheduling recommendation.
Lots to gain, little to lose with US Supreme Court decision
Medical Marijuana Liquid On Pharmacy Shelves Soon in Canada
Overwhelming Popular Support Among Conservative Constituencies
More States & Cities Taking on Regulatory Role for Medical Marijuana
1. HHS answer due 2/4 on ASA's challenge to "misinformation" in response to 1995 rescheduling petition. Medical marijuana advocates are waiting for answer on ASA's Data Quality Act challenge to misinformation included by HHS in their 2001 recommendation to deny removing marijuana from Schedule I, the category for the most addictive and dangerous drugs. HHS had 60 days to respond to the October 4, 2004 challenge, and requested a 60 day extension, moving the deadline up to February 4, 2005. If HHS denies the need to make the requested changes, advocates can then legally challenge the finding. For more information on the Data Quality Act challenge, see http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=1467.
2. HHS Secretary nominee Leavitt promises to "make every effort" to speed up rescheduling recommendation. The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis, of which ASA is a member, submitted a new petition in 2002 that contains a detailed summary of the scientific and medical findings that support the medical use of cannabis (marijuana) in the United States. This petition has been under review at the FDA since the DEA sent it on to them in August 2004. For more information on the petition see www.drugscience.org
Senator Jim Jeffords took the opportunity of the confirmation hearing of HHS-nominee Michael Leavitt to raise awareness of this marijuana rescheduling petition and to put the future Secretary on notice that the Senate was watching to see whether the Department would unreasonably delay its response to the DEA. The following question was submitted by Senator Jeffords, and the answer from Leavitt follows:
Question: "In August of 2004, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) forwarded a petition to reschedule marijuana to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The DEA requested from HHS a scientific and medical evaluation of marijuana, upon which it would base its decision as to whether to reschedule marijuana. By law, the Secretary of HHS is required to conduct this evaluation "within a reasonable time." As you may know, 10 states, including my home state of Vermont, currently allow for the medical use of marijuana, while the federal government does not. To address this discrepancy, the HHS evaluation needs to move forward. Governor Leavitt, can you work to ensure that this evaluation is completed by August 2005, one year after the request was received by HHS? If not, could you please explain what you would consider a "reasonable time" for this evaluation to be?"
Answer: "FDA is currently reviewing the scientific data and must conduct a scientific and medical evaluation of marijuana in accordance with the statutory criteria and make a recommendation to DEA. We will make every effort to complete the evaluation by August 2005."
3. Lots to gain, little to lose with US Supreme Court decision
On November 29, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed a path-breaking decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that protects Prop. 215 patients from federal prosecution. If the patients in Raich vs. Ashcroft prevail, the federal government would be unable to arrest state-legal medical marijuana patients who use and/or grow marijuana non-commercially. The decision, Raich and Monson et al. v. Ashcroft, holds that the federal Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to personal possession or cultivation of medical marijuana by patients and their caregivers, since their activities do not constitute interstate commerce (Court documents in Raich-Monson case). This could constitute a serious challenge to the jurisdiction of the federal government in drug control, an area that many states see as primarily a public health issue and therefore in their power to regulate.
A decision in Ashcroft v. Raich most likely will come down around February 2005 or March 2005, but it could come down as late as June 2005. Several other cases will be affected by this decision, including a similar injunction filed by the Wo/men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana against federal authorities, and two federal defendants out on appeal since the favorable decision by the Ninth Circuit, Bryan Epis and Keith Alden. However, a decision against the patients would not affect state laws that allow for medical marijuana, nor would it affect state and local law enforcement's obligation to respect the state laws allowing medical marijuana use.
4. Medical Marijuana Liquid In Pharmacies Soon in Canada
While American drug warriors have retreated to saying marijuana canā??t be medicine because people smoke it, a British pharmaceutical company has developed Sativex, an under-the-tongue spray that allows patients to use full-spectrum, non-synthetic cannabis without inhaling anything. The Canadian government is set to approve its distribution. http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=1680
5. Overwhelming Popular Support Among Conservative Constituencies
Nearly three-fourths of Americans middle age and older support legalizing marijuana for medical use, according to a poll taken for AARP released in December 2004. http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=1682 Marijuana Policy Project reports independent polls in Alabama and Texas registering three-to-one margins in support for laws to protect medical marijuana -- including 67 percent support among Texas Republicans.
6. More States & Cities Taking on Regulatory Role for Medical Marijuana
The number of states permitting medical use of marijuana went from eight to 10 in 2004 with Vermont and Montana passing new medical marijuana laws, joining Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Local medical marijuana measures also passed in Detroit and Ann Arbor, Michigan and Columbia, Missouri. Campaigns for medical marijuana legislation are underway in Connecticut, Illinois, Texas, New York, and Rhode Island.
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Americans for Safe Access
A national coalition of 10,000 patients, doctors and advocates, Americans for Safe Access is the largest organization working solely on medical marijuana. To learn more, see www.SafeAccessNow.org, or call 510.486-8083.
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