Pot times July 15, 2005

Medical Marijuana Activists Are Just Getting Started

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1113/a03.html
Newshawk: Is My Medicine Legal YET? www.immly.org

Pubdate: Thu, 14 Jul 2005
Source: Shepherd Express (WI)
Contact: editor@shepherd-express.com
Copyright: 2005 Alternative Publications Inc.
Website: http://www.shepherd-express.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/414
Author: Lisa Kaiser
Cited: Is My Medicine Legal YET? http://www.immly.org
Cited: Marijuana Policy Project http://www.mpp.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Gary+Storck
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Jacki+Rickert

The Politics of Pot

MEDICAL MARIJUANA ACTIVISTS ARE JUST GETTING STARTED

Rep.  Gregg Underheim, a Republican legislator from Oshkosh, has a lot of support, even if it is silent.

When an issue has 65% support from the public, enacting sympathetic legislation would seem to be a no-brainer.

And when support reaches 80% in Wisconsin, you would think that our state representatives would be falling all over themselves to follow the will of the people.

But when the issue concerns that legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes, things get complicated.  On the one hand, there are those who understand-sometimes first hand-the usefulness and benefits of this sometimes lifesaving drug.  Many of these people are living with cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV, glaucoma or chronic pain or illness.

Gary Storck, a medical marijuana activist in Madison, is one of those people.  "As a small child, I found myself rapidly losing my eyesight," Storck said.  "I would pray to God that I wouldn't go blind, and that's a horrible way to grow up.  Eventually I was diagnosed with glaucoma."

Storck found out that smoking marijuana relieved the pressure in his eyes and in 1979 his doctor wrote him a note saying that if marijuana were legal, he would recommend it for Storck's condition.  Since then, Storck has used it not only as part of his treatment for his glaucoma, but also to cope with other medical problems that he's battled.

"I've been on a lot of treatments, but this is reliable without having a lot of bad side effects," said Storck.  Storck, along with Jacki Rickert, is at the head of Is My Medicine Legal Yet? ( IMMLY ), which is dedicated to educating the public about the benefits of medical marijuana.

Opposing seriously ill people like Storck are those who are stuck in the Reagan-era "just say no" mentality in which all drugs are suspect, unless they are concocted and marketed by big pharmaceutical companies.  "Our national medical system relies on proven scientific research, not popular opinion," said John Walters, President Bush's drug czar, in a recent statement.

"The politics of this is fascinating," said Bruce Mirken of the Washington, D.C.,-based Marijuana Policy Project ( MPP ).  He pointed to a nationwide Mason-Dixon poll conducted last month that showed that 65% of those surveyed would support legalized medical marijuana.  He added that a 2002 poll conducted by Chamberlin Research Consultants in Madison showed about 80% support in Wisconsin.  "It's clear that this isn't a controversial issue for individuals, but a lot of politicians are afraid of being seen as being soft on drugs," he said.  "But what other issue gets this high in polling?"

Mirken noted that in polls in Vermont and Rhode Island, most people favored legalizing medical marijuana, but they didn't realize that the majority agreed with them.  Mirken concluded, "What we have is a majority that doesn't know it's a majority.  But then the elected officials don't know that, either."

To illustrate the unpredictable political nature of this issue, the U.S.  Supreme Court decided in June that the federal government retains its right to arrest and prosecute legal users of medical marijuana in states with official programs.  Writing in the majority were some justices often assumed to be the more liberal ones-David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Steven Breyer, Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and John Paul Stevens.  The dissenters were Sandra Day O'Connor, Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2004.

The Wisconsin Idea

One elected official who does understand public sentiment is Rep.  Gregg Underheim, a Republican from Oshkosh.  The chair of the Committee on Health in the state Assembly, Underheim was diagnosed with cancer in 2002, but didn't have to undergo chemotherapy or radiation as part of his treatment.  When he was recovering, he spoke to other cancer patients who helped him understand why medical marijuana benefits those who are seriously ill.

According to Underheim, marijuana has many medicinal properties.  "There are a wide array of medical uses," Underheim said.  "Marijuana more effectively deals with issues of appetite.  When you are in chemotherapy, you can become violently ill.  Marijuana quells the nausea and gives you an appetite.  Also, AIDS patients are often rail thin from all of their medications, and marijuana helps bring back their appetite.  When combined with opiates, marijuana has pain-relieving properties, and you are able to use a lesser amount of an opiate.  There are also positive effects for those with MS and glaucoma."

Based on this evidence, Underheim introduced a bill last year that would allow for legal, regulated use of medical marijuana in the state.  If this happens, users would be in a doctor's care, must register with the state and could possess only a small amount of marijuana.  "Under my bill, a doctor could recommend it but not prescribe it," Underheim said.  "If a registered patient were caught with a small amount, he or she would not be prosecuted."

Underheim plans to reintroduce similar legislation in the next few weeks, and if passed, Wisconsin would join 10 states with legalized programs.  ( See "Rhode Trip" to find out how Rhode Island is likely to become the next state to legalize medical marijuana.  )

However, Underheim's proposed bill leaves open the question of how patients would acquire their marijuana.  In his plan, there would be no growing clubs, personal plants or sanctioned pharmacies.  "I've remained silent on acquisition," he said.  "I couldn't think of any way that would be acceptable."

The lack of access worries an activist and user like Gary Storck.  "This puts patients in a tight spot," he said.  "If you grow it, you're facing potentially a long time [in jail] if you're caught.  Besides, if you're in chemo you could be dead before you grow a crop.  Your friends or family could help you out or you could get it on the street, but that's medicine of uncertain quality and you risk being arrested."

Sen.  Tim Carpenter ( D-Milwaukee ) sponsored the state Senate's version of the medical marijuana bill last year.  Like many other politicians involved in this issue, Carpenter is responding to the concerns of those in his district on Milwaukee's South Side.

"We'd been contacted by many constituents who were HIV positive or had cancer or leukemia," Carpenter said.  "They thought that marijuana was lifesaving medication that could help alleviate the devastating side effects of their treatments."

Carpenter is willing to let the details of any proposed legislation work themselves out, but said that he would support a program that would fall under the supervision of the Department of Health and Family Services.  "I'm also willing to sit down with the attorney general and law enforcement to talk about it from all perspectives and get their input," he said.

He added that the public needs to voice their opinion, too.  "If the bill comes up for a public hearing, it's important that people make their feelings known," he said.  "We want to deal with this in a humane way and alleviate people's pain and suffering."

Underheim welcomed public input, too-at both the state and national levels.  "The real battle is convincing federal legislators to change the laws," he said.

The Federal Question

While Underheim portrayed what's playing out at the federal level as a battlefield, medical marijuana advocates shouldn't lose hope.  Although the drug czar Walters said that the Supreme Court's decision "marks the end of medical marijuana as a political issue," others would say that the battle is just heating up.

Just after the decision, the U.S.  House of Representatives voted on an amendment that would stop federal raids on those who use medical marijuana.  While the measure was defeated, it showed more support than previous versions of the proposal had gained.

Many Republicans voted in favor of it-especially those who represent states with legalized medical marijuana programs-and all of Wisconsin's Democratic representatives agreed.  However, none of our Republican elected officials-including James Sensenbrenner ( Menomonee Falls ), Mark Green ( Green Bay ), Paul Ryan ( Waukesha ) and Tom Petri ( Fond du Lac ) -dared to support this bipartisan legislation.

In addition, the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act, authored by Rep.  Barney Frank ( D-Mass.  ) and co-sponsored by Rep.  Tammy Baldwin ( D-Madison ), was also introduced in the House.  It more or less tells the federal government to get out of a state's way if it chooses to enact a medical marijuana law.

Nationwide, the issue will continue to crop up in individual states and will likely put pressure on federal legislators.  "This is a classic example of an issue that's bubbling up at the state level," Mirken of MPP said.

While advocates frame the issue as an urgent one that will alleviate the suffering of those who are seriously ill, the Bush administration has a far different take on the issue.  "For them, this is the sign of the apocalypse," Mirken said.  "They continue to say that there's no benefit from using medical marijuana.  But it's sort of like the Soviet Union under Brezhnev-they're propping up a system that nobody believes in anymore."

Advocate Gary Storck said that politicians and the public should think about the implications of banning medicinal marijuana.  "In a nation that prides itself on being compassionate, it's extremely cruel to withhold this medication from our most defenseless and vulnerable," Storck said.

"Serious illness can strike at any time.  Think about if that day comes for you.  You would want to have all treatment options available to you.  This ban is irrational, cruel and it's got to end."

A Dose Of Reality

The anti-medical marijuana crowd tends to argue that legal users are zonked-out stoners who use their medical conditions as excuses to get high, and get others high, too.

But that doesn't appear to be the case.

Marijuana's reputation as the favored drug of '60s hippies and experimenting teenagers is still working against it today.

"Marijuana has a bad name in some quarters,"Republican state Rep.  Gregg Underheim said.  "It's seen as a gateway drug for younger people."

Some say that smoking medical marijuana would lead to addiction.  But state Sen.  Tim Carpenter pointed to OxyContin, a legal prescription painkiller and a sought-after street drug, as one of the most addictive drugs around.  "But nobody said, gee, legalizing it will put more of it out there for people to abuse," Carpenter said.

The anti-medical marijuana crowd often argues that the prescribed cannabis can wind up in the hands of others for fun and recreation, what's called "diversion" in medical marijuana terminology.  That, too, is a myth.

"In states where you see the medical usage of marijuana you see no real diversion," Underheim said.  "People are responsible in their use of it and they'd be reluctant to give their medication to others."

Taking on the "stoner" stigma, medical marijuana advocate Gary Storck said that relaxation and improved mood from smoking marijuana are pleasant side effects, not a reason for banning it.

"As far as euphoria goes, what's so wrong with feeling good?" he asked.  "If you're sick, and this makes you feel better without a lot of bad side effects, why not use it?"

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RHODE TRIP

How a Small, Heavily Catholic State Became Poised to Legalize Medical Marijuana - And What it Means for the Rest of Us.  By Ian Donnis

Coming less than 24 hours after the U.S.  Supreme Court supported the federal government's right to prosecute sick people who use marijuana, the Rhode Island Senate's emphatic June 7 vote in support of medical marijuana may have come as a surprise-to everyone but Rhode Islanders.

On the surface, the tremendous 34-2 bipartisan support shown for the medical-marijuana bill was curious.  After all, Rhode Island is a heavily Catholic state where, despite an independent streak and an overwhelmingly Democratic General Assembly, most legislators are social conservatives, and the popular Republican governor, Donald L.  Carcieri, strongly opposes the very concept.  Then again, in the smallest of states, where everyone, it seems, knows someone who might benefit from medical marijuana to treat cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis or some other debilitating illness, the bill's passage makes perfect sense.

Take the case of State Representative Thomas C.  Slater ( D-Providence ), a 30-year veteran of the Marine Corps Reserves who describes himself as a strong opponent of recreational marijuana use.  Slater, 64, became a highly visible proponent-the lead sponsor in the House this session-after studying up on the subject.  The issue touches close to home for him, since he has been treated for cancer and the disease has affected a number of people in his family.

Adds Rep.  Raymond J.  Sullivan Jr.  ( D-Coventry ), "When you sit across the table from someone who tells you they only have seven, eight or nine months to live, and say that this is the only thing that can help them get through the day-whether it be eating or relaxing their muscles, whatever issue that might be-I don't know how we can look that person in the eye and tell them that we're going to treat them like a criminal."

The bill's success is due, at least in part, to the campaign waged year after year by proponents such as Sen.  Rhoda Perry ( D-Providence ).  The main Senate sponsor, Perry offered poignant testimony of how her nephew, Edward O.  Hawkins, suffered before dying from AIDS at age 41 last year.  But while Perry is an unabashed liberal, support in recent years from groups such as the Rhode Island Medical Society and the Rhode Island State Nurses Association, as well as from AIDS Project Rhode Island and the local chapter of the ACLU, reflects just how mainstream medical marijuana has become.

Ultimately, though, its success is because in this tiny state of just over one million people, the personal tends to become political a lot faster than it does anywhere else.

So when related legislation passed the last hurdle in the Senate on June 28-quickly, without discussion, and on a 33-1 vote-it was as though it were the blandest and most pedestrian of bills, in spite of Gov.  Carcieri's veto the very next day.

The Senate overrode Carcieri's veto, 28-6, on June 30, and support is likely to remain similarly strong when the House takes up the measure, probably within a few weeks.

Not Fade Away

Rhode Island's medical-marijuana bill would protect doctors, patients and caregivers from state prosecution if a state-certified physician finds that marijuana might aid a Rhode Island resident suffering from a "chronic or debilitating" medical condition.  It does not outline a source for the marijuana, although patients with state-issued registration cards would be able to possess up to 12 plants or 2.5 ounces of "usable marijuana" at a time.  In an amendment that bolstered legislative support, the initiative would cease on June 30, 2007, unless legislators voted to continue it.

Proponents hail what's happening in Rhode Island as a clear rebuke to federal assertions that the states' legalization of medical marijuana has been rendered moot.  As the MPP pointed out in a statement last week, "no authority has ever declared state medical marijuana laws unconstitutional."

Gov.  Carcieri's spokesman Jeff Neal says the governor's opposition to medical marijuana stems from his belief that insufficient controls exist for the production and distribution of the drug, as well as the related concern that "illegal marijuana use could proliferate throughout the state, and that marijuana could become much more accessible on the streets."

The governor has also pointed to the Supreme Court's ruling in explaining his opposition to legalizing medical marijuana in Rhode Island.  Critics, however, say Carcieri was less concerned about diverging from national mandates when he allowed a measure legalizing prescription-drug imports from Canada to become law in 2004, despite a warning from the U.S.  Food and Drug Administration that federal law would trump it.

While state-sanctioned patients would have to obtain their marijuana from an illegal source, they appear unlikely to face federal prosecution.  Anthony Pettigrew, the U.S.  Drug Enforcement Administration's spokesman in New England, said, "The DEA has never targeted the sick and dying, but rather criminals [involved] in drug cultivation and trafficking.  We'll target major trafficking organizations and take them apart."

Although 10 states have legalized medical marijuana-Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington-moving similar initiatives forward remains a challenge even in a place with as liberal a reputation as Massachusetts ( all but two of these states, Vermont and Hawaii, enacted their laws through ballot initiatives, indicating that elected officials are afraid to act on the public's wishes ).

Medical marijuana may remain an uphill battle, but it's far from settled.  "I think this issue is not going to die," says Marc Genest, a professor of political science at the University of Rhode Island.

What are the lessons of Rhode Island? Advocates invariably return to the importance of grassroots organizing and the message of compassion.  But the larger message, Mirken says, "is that the public is several steps ahead of Congress and the White House, at least in terms of being willing to look at drug policy in a pragmatic, common-sense way.  A lot of people who don't like drug abuse and who would like to see the misuse of drugs curbed are willing to look at things with an open mind, and say that if someone with cancer or MS can get a little bit of relief from marijuana, there's no reason that they ought to be casualties in the war on drugs."

Printed with the permission of The Boston Phoenix.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION

Marijuana Policy Project ( MPP )

www.mpp.org The non-profit MPP is the largest marijuana reform organization in the country and works toward minimizing the harm linked to marijuana.

Is My Medicine Legal Yet ( IMMLY )

www.immly.org This Madison- and Mondovi-based organization is headed by Gary Storck and Jacki Rickert and is "dedicated to furthering access, public education and research regarding the therapeutic uses of cannabis."

Medical Marijuana Pro And Con

www.medicalmarijuanaprocon.org This site provides a balanced, comprehensive look at all aspects of the medical marijuana debate.

Wisconsin NORML

www.winorml.org Information about the state chapter of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law.  According to their Web site, "WI NORML supports the right of adults to use marijuana responsibly, whether for medical or recreational purposes."

Office of National Drug Control Policy

www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov The official word from the government.