Tuesday, October 14, 2003

Hemp - The Miracle Plant! Jeff Trigg at RandomActOfKindness has an excellent piece on the potential for industrial hemp farming in Illinois. Check it out. This is something near and dear to me, and very important to the student group I work with - M.A.S.H. (Mobilizing Activists and Students for Hemp). We prepared a report for the governor's economic development team which touched on this important issue as well. The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture. --Thomas Jefferson 9:03:36 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Rush-ing down two potential paths... The Rush Limbaugh Oxycontin story has been one of the hottest around in ages. The good news is that it has generated discussion, and perhaps encouraged some of his audience to think about drugs in a way that doesn't demonize the user or the abuser. I see two distinct directions this story can travel. More discussion. Rush returns and uses his pulpit to push for treatment rather than incarceration for all drug abusers, and calls for an open discussion about drug use. This could be positive. or... The Rush story is seized by the DEA and the ONDCP as a propaganda tool to further restrict the legal and proper medical use of opioids for severe pain treatment. In a plea-bargain generated statement, Rush blames lax enforcement and improperly supervised medical community for his addiction and the ease of getting pills, and calls for greater restrictions. This one scares me. A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the serious problems regarding severe pain care under the drug war regime. To that information I would like to add this excellent letter to the DEA from Jane M. Orient, Executive Director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. It was written back in April, but I just found it today, and think it's worth reading. 8:45:07 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Supremes refuse to force doctors to shut up. The big news around today is the fact that the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that affected whether doctors could talk to their patients about marijuana. The quick synopsis: The government wanted to gag doctors and punish them if they even mentioned marijuana to patients. The 9th Circuit correctly ruled that the government has no right to prevent doctors from discussing medical options. The government appealed and now the Supreme Court has agreed with the Circuit Court by refusing to hear the case. So doctors will be able to talk to patients about medical pot. See more coverage at TalkLeft. One problem with the news coverage today. The AP story that has been used by all the major media outlets starts out: The Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for state laws allowing ill patients to smoke marijuana if a doctor recommends it. That is a bit deceptive. It's true that if the Supremes had agreed to hear the case, and had sided with the government, it would be a severe blow to the future of medical marijuana. However, this victory does not clear the way for medical marijuana use. Federal laws still hold, allowing the DEA to hassle medical marijuana patients and providers, and even go after doctors if they move beyond talking and actually help patients get marijuana. In a related story (and a follow-up to my speculation about Arnold yesterday): Tomorrow morning at 10:00 am [Wednesday, October 15], medical marijuana patients and their supporters will be at California Governor-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger's Santa Monica office. After a press conference out front, they will ask him to use his meeting with President Bush later this week to help put an end to the federal attacks on patients and doctors. Count on Americans for Safe Access to make sure the Governator doesn't forget his medical marijuana campaign promise! If you're in the area, why not stop by the Santa Monica office tomorrow. 8:13:27 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []