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Americans for Safe Access Highlights |
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Written by Rebecca Saltzman
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Saturday, 10 June 2006 |
FDA hits patients, Colorado ASA effort, Emeryville pays
Americans for Safe Access is a patient advocacy group on the forefront of the defense of patients’ medical marijuana rights. ASA organizes rapid response actions, as needed, and maintains legal and political arms. Here are some recent highlights of its activities.
Questioning FDA statement on medical cannabis
The April 21 New York Times ran a front page story headlined, “FDA dismisses medical benefit from marijuana.” Americans for Safe Access (ASA) sees three major problems with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claim:
1. The FDA conducted no scientific study of the evidence related to cannabis as medicine to treat those with cancer, AIDS and other serious illnesses. Their “inter-agency advisory” was simply a press release that contained no new information, yet still received widespread national attention.
2. The FDA’s dismissal of cannabis as a safe and effective treatment for certain illnesses directly contradicts the 1999 National Academy of Science / Institute of Medicine report Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base and a rapidly growing body of research on the safety and efficacy of cannabis for treating a wide range of afflictions. Unlike the FDA’s press release, this million dollar study got almost no publicity because its findings conflict with the Drug Czar’s agenda.
3. The timing of FDA advisory is suspect given that just nine days earlier, April 12, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which houses the FDA, for the eighth time postponed a decision on a medical cannabis petition filed pursuant to the provisions of the Data Quality Act, which requires that federal agencies justify regulatory decisions with scientific data. If HHS feels confident enough in their position that cannabis has no accepted medical value to permit FDA to release an inter-agency advisory, then they should be compelled to answer our appeal without further delay.
In response to the FDA press release, 24 Members of Congress have drafted a strongly worded letter to FDA asking the agency to either produce evidence of new research or explain the motivation behind its statement. This effort was led by Representatives Hinchey (D-NY), Paul (R-TX), Frank (D-MA) and Farr (D-CA) in collaboration with ASA.
Furthermore, ASA will be sending a letter to HHS and FDA asking these agencies to explain their contradictory statements on medical marijuana and produce any evidence that supports the administration’s position. The FDA’s job is not to play politics; it is to protect public health.
The FDA’s job is not to play politics; it is to protect public health. 
If the government is going to stick to its position that cannabis does not have medicinal benefits, then HHS should be compelled to show us the science and respond to our DQA petition. If not, ASA will take the government to court. It’s that simple.
Emeryville pays patient $15,000 for lost medicine
Medical marijuana patient James Blair was arrested on cultivation charges in 2003 and had his medicine and equipment confiscated. Blair, who is partially paralyzed from a diving accident, received a check for $15,000 from the City of Emeryville on April 11, 2006, for cannabis seized by police. With help from ASA, Blair got one of the largest cash settlements to date in a case of wrongful seizure. The City has now adopted a policy of not confiscating cannabis from qualified patients.
“By making government pay for their transgressions through successful lawsuits like mine,” said Blair. “Americans for Safe Access and I are going to force police agencies to adopt sensible policies that uphold patients’ rights.”
After the dismissal of criminal charges, stemming from the 2003 raid on Blair’s home by Emeryville police (EPD), a Superior Court judge issued a 2004 court order to return his property. When Blair went with order in hand to pick up his property, it was verbally denied. Under threat of contempt of court, EPD finally agreed to return only some of Blair’s property. Blair learned that due to a burglary at an off-site, secured police evidence locker, many of his possessions, including cultivation equipment and much of his cannabis plants, were stolen.
It is ASA’s hope that financial pressures such as these will bring about change.
It is ASA’s hope that financial pressures such as these will bring about change.
With this monetary penalty, and ASA’s recent success in reversing a mandatory seizure policy by the CHP, patients are winning the battle for their rights under state law. Widespread adoption of sound police policies on medical marijuana are within sight.
Announcing the Colorado Campaign for Safe Access
A cannabis dispensary. A legal support hotline for patients. A diverse network of rural and urban patient support groups. Only in California, right? Wrong. These are parts of a burgeoning medical marijuana renaissance occurring in the traditionally conservative state of Colorado.
One of the most longstanding medical marijuana states, CO has recently made considerable strides towards securing safe and reliable access for its approximately 750 licensed patients. Many of these changes have been spearheaded by the Colorado Campaign for Safe Access (CCSA), a shared project of ASA and Sensible Colorado, which has emerged as the state’s primary patient resource.
Begun in August 2005, the group serves as a combined organizing and legal campaign aimed at protecting the rights of cannabis patients in Colorado.
the group serves as a combined organizing and legal campaign aimed at protecting the rights of cannabis patients in Colorado.
Through litigation, education and organizing, CCSA has helped the state reach a number of important milestones including opening its first dispensary and medical marijuana clinic, fostering the growth of numerous patient support groups, and establishing positive case law for patients. The campaign’s well-traveled website features an array of legal and educational materials on issues from housing and eviction to law enforcement encounters.
On April 28, Sensible Colorado joined ASA at a press conference to officially launch the Colorado Campaign for Safe Access. Several patients spoke at this event and local media outlets covered the story. To learn more about the vibrant and growing CO medical marijuana community, please call 720-890-4247 or visit SafeAccessColorado.org.
For information on this and any ASA activities, visit safeaccessnow.org.
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Rebecca Saltzman |
| About the author: |
| Rebecca Saltzman graduated with a BA in Sociology from the University
of California, Berkeley, where she wrote an honors thesis titled
"Mavericks and (Im)moral Entrepreneurs: Power and Resistance in Medical
Marijuana Dispensaries." While studying at Berkeley, she co-founded the
school's chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the
student-run, harm reduction based Drug Resource Center. She worked with
Grassroots Campaigns after graduating, leading an office that raised
over one million dollars in the campaign to defeat George Bush. | |
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