Next Submission Deadline Feb. 5

By Stephen Gutwillig, Drug Policy Alliance*

CAPITOL IDEA — Proposed AB 390, sponsored by California Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (at podium) to establish legal and regulated adult use of cannabis, was kicked off at a Oct. 28 press conference and committee hearing in Sacramento. From left to right: Rev. Mary Moreno Richardson, Allen Hopper of ACLU, Drug Policy Alliance staff attorney Tamar Todd, Cal NORML Director Dale Gieringer, Tom Ammiano, Aaron Smith of Marijuana Policy Project, and Steve Gutwillig, California State Director of DPA. Photo by Mikki Norris WEST COAST LEAF

Many Americans are following the escalating rhetoric over proliferating medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles. The Obama administration’s Oct. 19 announcement that the federal government will consider state laws got even more attention.

Around the same time, another kind of cannabis news was made in Sacramento. The Assembly Public Safety Committee convened an unprecedented public hearing Oct. 28, the most prominent consideration of legalization in American history. Formally titled “Examining the Fiscal and Legal Implication of the Legalization and Regulation of Marijuana,” the hearing featured testimony from a range of regulation advocates and opponents.

The meeting chaired by Assembly Member Tom Ammiano, author of California’s landmark cannabis legalization bill (AB 390), proposed the same regulation for adult use of cannabis as for alcohol. It was a remarkable moment in the struggle to change decades-old policies. A recent avalanche of high-profile media has declared that although illegal, cannabis has gone mainstream. Its use is second only to alcohol and cigarettes, is objectively far less harmful than either, is dramatically less addictive and cannot cause an overdose. Every major independent study has debunked the gateway myth.

Those of us concerned about youth access note that children across the country consistently report that pot is easy for them to get from their peers and the black market while there are significant barriers to stop them from buying alcohol and cigarettes. As a result, Americans are increasingly turning against a prohibition that fails to protect kids and guarantees a market share to brutal criminal syndicates.

While polls have long confirmed that large majorities favor treating pot possession as an infraction without arrest, support for ending cannabis prohibition outright is quickly gaining speed. A Gallup poll in the Fall reported that a historic 44 percent of Americans favor legalization, a 10-point jump since 2001. Respondents across the Western states registered that opinion in sizable majorities.

Even with reform moving forward, arrests have tripled nationwide since 1991. In California, which decriminalized lowlevel possession in 1975, arrests have jumped 127 percent. Police made nearly 850,000 marijuana arrests across the country last year, which represents half of all drug arrests and more than all violent crime arrests combined. No law in the US is enforced so widely, yet deemed so unnecessary by so many.

These laws are enforced selectively and racially. African Americans are three times more likely than whites to be arrested for marijuana in California. A recent expose by the Pasadena Weekly found that blacks, 14 percent of that city’s population, account for more than half the marijuana arrests of the last five years.

It’s hard to overstate the significance of that Sacramento hearing, the first legislative discussion in the US about taking legal control of the massive cannabis market through state regulation. The Public Safety Committee has its hands full considering prohibition’s failures and the new mainstream movement for reform. Regulation will end the criminalization of millions of responsible adult users, redirect scarce police resources, generate new tax revenue, and reduce youth access.

This is a conversation that’s long overdue. * Gutwillig is the California State Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the nation’s leading organization working to promote alternatives to the failed Drug War.

By Tony Newman, Drug Policy Alliance

PHOTO: HONORED — DPA’s executive director Ethan Nadelmann and Board member Pam Lichty with Montel Williams on the night of his award. West Coast Leaf photo

The International Drug Policy Reform Conference, co-hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), brought together over 1000 leading international experts, researchers, care providers, policymakers and key activists for a global forum held in Albuquerque, NM Nov. 12-14.

Montel Williams was honored for sharing his own story as a cannabis patient and advocate, thus giving voice to thousands of other patients and caregivers whose struggles don’t make the news. Williams, a household name with a national TV show that was a platform for people to share their personal stories, now hosts the syndicated daily radio show, Montel Across America.

“I utilize medical marijuana to help alleviate the extreme neuralgic pain I suffer from,” Williams said. “I am not alone. There are thousands of patients like me, and we should not be treated as criminals.”

Williams, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, uses cannabis to relieve chronic nerve pain. He received the biennial Edward Brecher Award for Achievement in the Field of Journalism Nov. 13. The award from the DPA, the nation’s leading organization promoting policy alternatives to the Drug War, gives the award to media figures with the courage and leadership to question official drug war propaganda.

Since going public with his story in late 2003, Williams has tirelessly campaigned for changes in state and federal laws to expand access. Climbing Higher, his 2004 autobiography, detailed his struggle with MS and the therapeutic effects of cannabis.

Williams has hosted TV shows on the topic, authored op-ed pieces in major newspapers and used his platform as a public figure to press legislators across the country to enact new drug policies based on compassion, reason and science. He has traveled to state capitals in Albany, NY and Trenton, NJ and to Washington, D.C. to urge elected officials to pass legislation.

“Montel is in a league of his own insofar as the effort to legalize medical marijuana is concerned,” said Ethan Nadelmann, DPA executive director (drugpolicy.org). “No one has used his media pulpit as effectively and passionately as he has in combating drug war intransigence.”

Previous recipients include: ABC News Anchor Hugh Downs, Cartoonist Gary Trudeau, The Economist magazine, Rolling Stone magazine, New Yorker staff writer William Finnegan and Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness, among other distinguished honorees.

By Jonathan Perri, SSDP

Tapping into the historically strong bond between music and activism, the nation’s largest college-based reform group, Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) recently launched the AMPLIFY project: Artists Making Political Leadership Inspirational For Youth.

With over 120 campus-based chapters and growing rapidly, SSDP organizers act as street teams for bands on tour, who in turn allow SDDP members to do outreach at their shows.

Some of the hottest touring acts have joined up, starting with long-time SSDP supporters Roots of Creation. John Brown’s Body, a world-leading reggae/dub band, takes the project further, putting SSDP’s logo on nearly 20,000 posters and handbills for their Fall 2009 tour. They are joined by up-and-coming groups like Passafire and acclaimed reggae/soul superstars The Black Seeds from New Zealand.

The jam-band and electronica scenes have also taken note of the project. The noted touring bands Pnuma Trio and Lotus are providing table space at their shows. AMPLIFY has also gained the support of Boston based hip-hop phenom Mr. Lif, and the San Francisco-based Sellassie, who headlined the annual San Francisco Power to the Peaceful Festival.

Slightly Stoopid, who toured with Snoop Dogg’s “Blazed and Confused” tour, plans to use their powerful sound, huge fan base, and dedication to cannabis reform to take help take AMPLIFY to the next level.

Reaction from bands and SSDP members has been overwhelmingly positive. Tommy Benneditt, drummer for John Brown’s Body, said, “Everyone we’ve met through SSDP has been so knowledgeable and passionate about their activism, and that’s inspiring for us. It’s right in the name: ‘Sensible.’ There just seems to be no common sense in some of our current drug policies.” According to Pnuma Trio member Alex Botwin, “The decriminalization of marijuana is long overdue. A network such as AMPLIFY has the potential to be very powerful!”

At ssdp.org/amplify are bios, streaming tracks, and other info about the bands involved and how SSDP chapters can start amplifying their activism.

By Alun Buffry, Legalise Cannabis Alliance*

Even in the 21st Century, people around the world are being sentenced to death for trafficking in cannabis.

Malaysia is preparing to hang arrestees allegedly caught with as little as half a kilogram of cannabis — just over a pound. Khairul Idzham was sentenced to death Aug. 27 for trafficking 4.3 kilos of cannabis five years ago. Lim Kok Yong was sentenced Sept. 2 to be hanged after he was found guilty of trafficking 625.7 grams five years ago. Khalil Anuar Sukirman was sentenced to death for trafficking over a kilo three years ago. Indonesian Nasir Ibrahim, 31, was given the death sentence Sept. 30, after he was found guilty of trafficking 868 gm of cannabis more than five years ago.

Groups such as Amnesty International, the world-wide cannabis legalization movement’s Legalise Cannabis Alliance (LCA) and European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD) are taking action on these atrocities, writing to the heads of government in Malaysia to ask that the death sentences be reversed.

Although several other countries execute people for cannabis, China is one of the worst. It celebrates June 26, the UN International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking, by executing convicted traffickers.

The Government of China does not make records public, but Amnesty International estimates that around 500 people are executed there each year for drug offenses. Those executed have typically been convicted of smuggling or trafficking in drugs, including cannabis.

“The 1988 convention does provide a legal framework for waging war against drug trafficking. As far as I am aware the convention does not provide for the application of the death penalty,” UN deputy spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva told a New York press conference.

A spokesperson for the UK-based Legalise Cannabis Alliance said, “The vast majority of cannabis users benefit from the plant and there remains no justification for capital punishment for anyone that has done no harm to others.”
* For more information, visit lca-uk.org.

By Brian Vicente Sensible CO Executive Director

In a decisive victory for equality, a high-profile Colorado ski tourist destination voted to legalize adult possession of cannabis. Breckenridge voters on Nov. 3 passed Measure 2F by a 73 percent vote to remove from the Town Code criminal penalties for private possession of up to one ounce by adults 21 and older.

In a cutting-edge move, the ordinance also removes criminal penalties for the possession of drug paraphernalia. This is the first ordinance change in Colorado — and likely national — history to remove penalties for both cannabis and associated paraphernalia.

“This vote demonstrates that our Breckenridge citizens overwhelmingly believe that adults should not be punished for making the safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol, said Sean McAllister, Breckenridge attorney and chair of Sensible Breckenridge.

“As state and national focus grows on this important issue, the popular ski town of Breckenridge has taken center stage on marijuana reform — and not just for medical purposes, said Brian Vicente of Sensible Colorado, the statewide nonprofit which assisted the local effort. “With this historic vote, Breckenridge has emerged as a national leader in sensible drug policy.

The campaign, which had no formal opposition, received a chorus of local support including endorsements from Breckenridge Colorado Town Councilman Jeffrey Bergeron, former State Represen­tative and Breckenridge resident Gary Lindstrom, and the Summit Daily News.

Measure 2F was placed on the ballot when over 1400 local supporters signed a petition supporting the reform measure. The ordinance change goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2010.

Above: A Higher Standard Chris Van Hook inspects an outdoor California medical garden. Crop certification programs and rising industry standards are helping to ensure cannabis integrity. Story in Science and Horticulture.

New position calls on DEA to look at rescheduling cannabis

By Kris Hermes Americans for Safe Access

The largest physician-based group in the country, the American Medical Association (AMA), voted Nov. 10 to reverse its long-held position that cannabis has no medical value. The AMA adopted a report drafted by its Council on Science and Public Health (CSAPH) entitled Use of Cannabis for Medicinal Purposes which affirmed the plant’s therapeutic benefits and called for further research.

The report concluded that “short-term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis. The report urges that “the Schedule I status of marijuana be reviewed with the goal of facilitating clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines, and alternate delivery methods.

The change of position followed a 2008 resolution by the Medical Student Section of the AMA (SSAMA) in support of reclassifying cannabis out of Schedule I. The past year, the AMA considered three other resolutions on cannabis.

The November vote took place during the organization’s annual Interim Meeting of the House of Delegates in Houston, and is a turnaround from the last AMA position, adopted eight years ago, to keep cannabis in Schedule I.

“It’s been 72 years since the AMA has officially recognized that marijuana has both already-demonstrated and future-promising medical utility, said Sunil Aggarwal, Ph.D., the medical student who spearheaded passage of the 2008 resolution and one of the CSAPH report’s designated expert reviewers.

“The AMA has written an extensive, well documented, evidence-based report that they are seeking to publish in a peer-reviewed journal that will help to educate the medical community about the scientific basis of botanical cannabis-based medicines. Aggarwal is also on the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the largest US medical marijuana advocacy organization.

In February 2008, a resolution was adopted by the American College of Physicians (ACP), the country’s second largest physician group and largest organization of doctors of internal medicine, calling for an “evidence-based review of marijuana’s status as a Schedule I controlled substance to determine whether it should be reclassified to a different schedule. “

“The two largest physician groups in the US have established medical marijuana as a health care issue that must be addressed, said ASA Government Affairs Director Caren Woodson. “Both organizations have underscored the need for change by placing patients above politics.

The CSAPH report has not officially been released to the public, but AMA documents indicate that it: “(1) provides a brief historical perspective on the use of cannabis as medicine; (2) examines the current federal and state-based legal envelope relevant to the medical use of canna­bis; (3) provides a brief overview of our current understanding of the pharmacology and physiology of the endocanna­bin­oid system; (4) reviews clinical trials on the relative safety and efficacy of smoked cannabis and botanical-based products; and (5) places this information in perspective with respect to the current drug regulatory framework.

AMA Summary: AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/ AMA_Report_Executive_Summary.pdf Recommendations of AMA Report: AmericansForSafeAccess.org/

downloads/AMA_Report_ Recommendations.pdf American College of Physicians resolution: acponline.org/advocacy/where_we_ stand/other_issues/medmarijuana.pdf