California city lightens up on marijuana users

Marijuana users in West Hollywood are breathing easier after the city
passed a resolution to deprioritise policing of pot infractions.
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"This is just another nail in the coffin of marijuana prohibition,"
said Bruce Margolin, a pioneer in pro-marijuana legislation. "Now the
police can go after the guy robbing people on the street, rather than
looking for harmless pot smokers."
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Late on Monday the city council of West Hollywood, which is sandwiched
between Hollywood and Beverly Hills in Los Angeles county, voted to
instruct police to not target adults "who consume this drug in private
and who pose no danger to the community".
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The council noted its existing endorsement of the medicinal use of
marijuana as it advised the Los Angeles county police, who handle West
Hollywood law enforcement, to focus their energies on more serious
narcotics problems and other crimes like child and elderly abuse,
burglary, and identity theft.
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"This sends a message that the City of West Hollywood has an
enlightened approach to its law enforcement," Don Duncan, manager of
two local medical marijuana dispensaries, told Agence France-Presse.
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The move gave a boost to the campaign in California to permit
sufferers from cancer and other debilitating afflictions to consume
marijuana freely, despite federal laws banning the practice.
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On Tuesday a steady stream of patients walked through the doors of
Alternative Herbal Health Services, a West Hollywood dispensary where
the product line runs from marijuana seeds to dwarf plants to
harvested ganja bearing names like "Hollywood High" and "Train Wreck,"
all displayed neatly in glass jars.
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Patients also can select between varieties of hashish, and "edibles"
from chocolate-covered peanut butter cups to cannabis-laced banana
bread.
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Dispensary operators like Nichols feel the ordinance validates their
work to provide organic medicine.
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"God bless the city of West Hollywood for this kind of pat on the
back," she said. "I've got cancer patients who come through here who
simply can't eat without this medicine."
<br>
Nichols hopes the resolution will end what she believes is police
harassment of legitimately needy patients.
<br>
"I've been hassled and given citations a few times by the police just
walking from the front door of the dispensary to my car," said Tracy,
a patient who asked that only her first name be used.
<br>
"Now I feel like I don't have to be so anxious," she said as she
peered through the barred windows to the street.
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Another patient who asked to be called Brian comes to the dispensary
specifically for its high quality "edibles" to alleviate his insomnia
and arthritis.
<br>
"The doctor prescribed me Ambien, but I hate the way that makes me
feel the next day," he said.
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With the new city resolution, Brian feels the pressure has lifted.
"Now I don't have to wait around in cars and hope the police won't
show up," he said.
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Local physicians also praised the decision. "This is an important step
towards sane adult use of marijuana," said Dr Craig Cohen. "I see
patients everyday who greatly benefit from marijuana prescriptions to
alleviate their pain and suffering and I know that they will be
grateful for this new resolution."
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California passed legislation in 1996 making small quantities of
marijuana legal for medical use, laws that conflict with those of the
US federal government.
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Since then medical pot clinics have operated openly. San Francisco and
Oakland both have policies in place similar to West Hollywood's.
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Because the resolution does not actually effect legislation, it is
unclear how it will impact law enforcement practices.
<br>
"We will continue to comply with proposition 215 [California's medical
marijuana law]," said Officer Robert McMahon of the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department.

Marijuana in pill form is a medical benefit for heart transplant Director Robert Altman

Director Robert Altman, known for his marijuana use for years, has
not cut down his intake of since his heart transplant 10 years ago. In
fact, reports claim he's been taking marijuana in pill form and
larger amount then when he smoked.

The NY Daily News asked Altman about his love for marijuana, and he
responded, "I've increased it because of my heart condition. I even
have a prescription for marijuana pills."

Altman, 81 year old, is the director of many films, including "MASH"
in 1970 and most recently "A Prairie Home Companion" staring the likes
of Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Meryl Streep and and Lindsay
Lohan.

MS Society to study medical marijuana

Medical Marijuana: National Multiple Sclerosis Society to Fund Study 6/23/06
Source: http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/441/msmedmjstudy.shtml

In what could be the first sign of a course reversal by the National
Multiple Sclerosis Society, which has scoffed at medical marijuana in
the past, the group announced this week that it will fund a study on
the effect of marijuana on spasticity in MS patients. While the
Society acknowledges that up to 15% of MS patients use medical
marijuana, funding the new study is the first time the group has
indicated it is hearing what those patients are saying.

The society currently rejects the use of marijuana to relieve MS
symptoms. As it notes on its web site, "Based on the studies to date,
it is the opinion of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society's Medical
Advisory Board that there are currently insufficient data to recommend
marijuana or its derivatives as a treatment for MS. Long-term use of
marijuana may be associated with significant serious side effects. In
addition, other well-tested, FDA-approved drugs are available, such as
baclofen and tizanidine, to reduce spasticity in MS."

The Society said it was moved by inconclusive earlier studies on the
effect of marijuana on MS spasticity to fund a one using a new
measure. The study is not a new one; the group is taking over funding
for ongoing research at the University of California Center for
Medicinal Cannabis Research, which lost funding when the investigation
was only partially completed.

The study, by Dr. Mark Agius and fellow researchers at the University
of California-Davis School of Medicine, is scheduled for completion in
March 2008.

Presbyterians have faith in medical marijuana

Presbyterians Call for Medical Marijuana
By Peter Sachs
Religion News Service
June 23 - The Presbyterian Church (USA) on Wednesday (June 21) became
the seventh major religious organization in the nation to support the
use of medical marijuana.

The consensus vote of the church's General Assembly in Birmingham,
Ala., comes as the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take
up the issue next week.

In explaining its reasoning for the policy shift, a church committee
wrote that marijuana may alleviate the pain that some patients who are
confined to "ineffective" prescription drugs are forced to endure.

"Medical marijuana is an issue of mercy," said the Rev. Lynn Bledsoe,
a Presbyterian minister in Alabama. "It is unconscionable that
seriously ill patients can be arrested for making an earnest attempt
at healing by using medical marijuana with their doctors' approval."

Eleven states have passed laws allowing medical uses of marijuana
following a doctor's prescription, but federal law enforcement
officials can arrest people in those states.

A proposal by Reps. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and Dana Rohrabacher,
R-Calif., that will be considered next week would prohibit the federal
government from using any of its budget money to pursue medical
marijuana users who comply with their state laws and doctors' orders.

Similar amendments, including another by Rohrabacher and Hinchey, were
defeated twice in the last two years, and a separate bill died in a
House committee in 2005.

But Hinchey's chief of staff, Wendy Darwell, is optimistic that the
amendment will fare better this year.

"There has been at least one other state that has expanded its own
medical marijuana rules," Darwell said. With the growing number of
states with provisions for medical marijuana, "that should only draw
the support of more members of Congress who represent those states."

In 1982, the Episcopal Church became the first to endorse the use of
medical marijuana, according to the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative,
a Washington-based advocacy group. In more recent years, the United
Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the Union for Reform
Judaism, the Progressive National Baptist Convention and the Unitarian
Universalist Association have announced similar support.

Michigan Marijuana users can be charged for Imparied driving, even if "sober"!!!

Mich. Supreme Court rules blood test showing marijuana smoked weeks ago can be used in court.

John Wisely / The Detroit News



Motorists can be prosecuted for driving under the influence of drugs if they test positive for any trace of marijuana, even weeks after they smoked it, the Michigan Supreme Court has ruled.




Pot smokers beware! That joint you smoked four weeks ago could come back to haunt you under a ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court.

In a 4-3 vote, the court ruled that motorists can be prosecuted for driving under the influence of drugs if they test positive for any trace of marijuana, including a metabolized remnant that experts say can stay in a person's system for weeks after the smoke.

"They are automatically guilty even though they are no longer impaired by it," said Tim Beck, executive director of the Michigan chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which wants the drug legalized, taxed and regulated for adult use as alcohol is. "It's not based on common sense or justice."

Officers still need probable cause to believe a crime was being committed before they can request a blood test, but motorists who refuse could be found guilty of a civil infraction and lose their license. Officers can compel a blood sample if a judge approves a search warrant for it.

The ruling stemmed from two cases. In the first case, a woman admitting smoking marijuana four hours before she crossed into oncoming traffic on a snowy road, striking another vehicle. That car's front-seat passenger was killed and three children were injured. In the second case, a man stopped for erratic driving admitted smoking marijuana 30 minutes before.

In both cases, blood tests found 11 carboxy-THC, a byproduct created when the human body metabolizes marijuana. The ruling turned on the court's interpretation of the law that prohibits driving under the influence of drugs.

The four justices in the majority -- Maura Corrigan, Stephen Markman, Clifford Taylor and Robert Young -- concluded that 11 carboxy-THC is a drug under the law even though experts testified that it has "no pharmacological effect on the body and its level in the blood correlates poorly, if at all, to an individual's level of THC-related impairment."

The experts also testified that the chemical can only come from ingesting THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. The majority based its conclusion on the Legislature's definition of marijuana, which includes cannabis and "derivatives" of it.

Justice Michael Cavanagh called the ruling unconstitutionally vague. He cited expert testimony that noted the substance can be detected in a person's system for up to four weeks after being ingested -- long after its effects have worn off.

"Plainly, there is no rational reason to charge a person who passively inhaled marijuana smoke at a rock concert a month ago," Cavanagh wrote in a dissent joined by Justices Elizabeth Weaver and Marilyn Kelly. "Now, if a person has ever actively or passively ingested marijuana and drives, he drives not knowing if he is breaking the law, because if any amount of 11 carboxy-THC can be detected -- no matter when it was previously ingested -- he is committing a crime.

State drug prevention experts said the ruling could cause people to think more seriously about the effects of drug use.

"I think the ruling could be one more arrow in our quiver in the message we send to young people," said Donald Allen, director of the state's office of drug control policy. "Most kids don't think about how long this is in their system."

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You can reach John Wisely at (313) 222-2035 or jwisely@detnews.com.