Howdy-Ho (potential) Campers!

A bunch of us here at ASA are just so riled-up over this crazy federal crackdown on safe access, so we decided to start an online activist summer camp called Camp WakeUpObama to give all you medical cannabis advocates out there a fun and easy way to have your voices heard. Signing up for camp is free and easy, just go to www.CampWakeUpObama.com!

As your Camp Counselor, I’ve been working really hard to get the camp ready for you. We’ve been coming up with great activities like holding an ASA house party, contacting your elected officials, or even making some fun protest art! The best part is, you can earn cool Facebook badges for your profile, free ASA gear, or even a free trip to ASA’s 1st Annual National Conference in DC this February. All this, and you get the satisfaction of helping make President Obama aware that medical cannabis is an urgent issue that needs to be dealt immediately.

As the Camp WakeUpObama Counselor (and ASA’s new National Field Coordinator), I encourage you all to sign up for camp and help us really send a message to the President this summer that medical cannabis is an issue that cannot be ignored!

Looking forward to seeing all of you at Camp WakeUpObama this summer!

“Camp Counselor” Hunter Holliman

Hunter Holliman is the National Field Director of Americans for Safe Access.

This is a photo of me at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. I had just heard one of the most politically motivating speeches of my life from a candidate for president. I was moved to tears, joyous, and inspired. This candidate not only filled me with hope about the future of our nation, but said he would not interfere with access to legal medical cannabis.

I was ecstatic to be shedding the dark days of the Bush Administration’s war on medical cannabis patients. As a patient myself, I felt counted and part of the Change that would be coming to Washington, and I was proud to support and volunteer for Barack Obama’s victorious campaign.

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A week of national news about medical cannabis, in review. If you live in Northern California, be part of making the news by protesting Obama’s crackdown on state-legal dispensaries when he visits Oakland on Monday.

• Federal Judge Orders Defendant to Stop Taking Marinol – Toke of the Town
• University of Saskatchewan researchers have discovered the chemical pathway that Cannabis sativa uses to create bioactive compounds called cannabinoids – Phys.org
• Obama’s Pot Problem – Salon.com
• Most Active Constitutional Cannabis Lawyer – East Bay Express
• Truth In Trials Act, Medical Marijuana Protection Bill, Proposed By Bipartisan Group Of Lawmakers - The Huffington Post
• One in eight with fibromyalgia uses cannabis as medicine – Reuters
• Obama’s Attorney Has Come Unhinged: Melinda Haag’s Crusade Against Medical Pot Jeopardizes California’s Safety – Steph Sherer in the Huffington Post

News about medical cannabis from around the nation – or, everything you missed if you were reading about the unjust federal action targeting Harborside Health Center.

• Government-sponsored study destroys DEA’s classification of marijuana – The Raw Story
• Visa and Mastercard Reject Medical Marijuana Purchases – Vibe
• Oregon Kills Medical Marijuana deduction for food stamp applicants – The Oregonian
• Does Medical Marijuana Increase Teen Pot Use? – Wall Street Journal
• CO federal dispensary crackdown widens scope with subjectivities – Examiner.com
• California pot research backs therapeutic claims – Sacramento Bee
• Backers of Arkansas medical marijuana legalization need more signatures – The Republic
• Owner Of First U.S. Marijuana Pharmacy Now Broke And Fighting IRS – Forbes

Last Friday, patient advocates Americans for Safe Access (ASA) filed an amicus ‘friend of the court’ brief in City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient’s Health and Wellness Center to convey the urgent need for safe and legal access to medical marijuana. In what is possibly the most important issue currently facing hundreds of thousands of patients in California, ASA urged the State Supreme Court to reject the notion that municipalities can ban local distribution of medical marijuana, thereby cutting off access. Specifically, ASA argued in its brief that:

While municipalities may pass reasonable regulations over the location and operation of medical marijuana collectives, they cannot ban them absolutely. These bans thwart the Legislature’s stated objectives of ensuring access to marijuana for the seriously ill persons who need it in a uniform manner throughout the state.

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On April 2, 2012 Jose Alacran Gutierrez was among the throng of protesters and journalists that captured the federal raid on Richard Lee’s Oaksterdam University and Coffee Shop Blue Sky. A veteran Bay Area beat reporter for Pacifica Radio – KPFA’s La Onda Bajita and the nationally syndicated Flashpoints shows, as well as a longtime medical cannabis activist, Mr. Gutierrez was caught up in the raid as it unfolded outside Coffee Shop Blue Sky and brutally arrested by federal agent. He was charges with one federal felony count of forcible assault on a federal officer. He could be facing up to 8 years in prison. (more…)

The article “Medical Marijuana: Clearing Away the Smoke” by Grant, Atkinson, Gouaux, and Wilsey published this month in Bentham Science’s 5-year-old, peer-reviewed, National Library of Medicine-indexed and internationally edited Open Neurology Journal represents a major milestone in the consolidation of knowledge and regularizing of clinical practice with regards to the medicinal use of cannabis.

The authors, well-established faculty members or associates at leading American academic medical centers, have yet again reviewed the gold-standard clinical trials-based evidence for medical uses of cannabis and related cannabinoids and have found:

1. that it is inaccurate to say that cannabis lacks medical utility or that information on its safety is lacking
2. that judgments on relative benefits and risks of cannabis and cannabinoids as medicines need to be viewed within the broader context of risk-benefit of other standard agents as well, many of which are associated with more serious adverse events, and
3. that enough information and clinical experience exists that an algorithm can be constructed to guide decision-making for physicians who may be considering recommending medicinal cannabis to patients with neuropathic pain, which the authors offer.

The authors conclude that “it will be useful if marijuana and its constituents can be prescribed, dispensed, and regulated in a manner similar to other medications that have psychotropic effects and some abuse potential” and state that marijuana’s Schedule I classification is scientifically untenable and the greatest barrier to forward movement in this area of medicine and medical science. This conclusion is made all the more noteworthy given that the article’s first, second, and fourth authors disclose at the end of the manuscript that they have served as consultants and received financial support from major pharmaceutical companies.

Americans for Safe Access is part of a lawsuit challenging the DEA’s scheduling of marijuana as without any currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. Download our lawsuit at http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/CRC_Appeal.pdf

Sunil Aggarwal, M.D., Ph.D., PGY-3, is a Housestaff Physician at NYU Medical Center and conducts research on the medical geography of cannabis.

News from around the nation about medical cannabis.

• The quiet initiative – the push for medical marijuana – Arkansas Blog
• Three myths of the medical marijuana patient – Toke of the Town
• ‘Mary Jane: The Musical’ examines Humboldt County’s pot industry – LA Times
• Connecticut Law too restrictive (Opinion) – The Hartford Courant
• NY State Senate kills marijuana decriminalization bill – New York Times
• Update on Oaksterdam University – San Francisco Bay Guardian
• Marijuana bill to protect CA dispensaries from city bans dies – LA Weekly
• Medi-pot bill dead for now – San Jose Mercury News
• Hundreds of California Medical Marijuana Shops Close – New York Times

In a sign that the Obama Administration’s tough line on state medical cannabis laws is out of touch with his grassroots support, local Democratic Party organizations are formally endorsing medical marijuana laws – and even legalization.

The North Carolina Democratic Party is formally in support of a compassionate use law in this key swing state. At the state’s June 16th convention, party officials adopted a resolution (PDF) titled, In Support of Legalizing Medical Marijuana in North Carolina. The state party also adopted a resolution in favor of industrial hemp growing.

In California, the Democratic Central Committees of San Francisco and Alameda Counties, whose combined population is over two million, passed resolutions condemning federal government raids on local dispensaries. In addition to these statements from Democratic organizations in favor of medical cannabis, the Texas, Colorado, and Washington State Democratic Parties have adopted marijuana decriminalization or legalization resolutions.

With the American electorate almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, President Obama needs the full support of Democratics to win reelection. Will grassroots opposition to the administration policy toward medical cannabis split the party? As national Democrats prepare to convene in September, we will watch for new developments.

Jonathan Bair is ASA’s Social Media Coordinator, as well as an officer of his local Democratic Club.