Who? Dr Aggarwal is one of the most effective medical cannabis proponents few people outside the Seattle area have ever heard of. It has been easy to find documentation of his myriad achievements in education, research, medicine, medical cannabis advocacy and more, but it has been nearly impossible to ferret out any personal information on Dr Aggarwal.
As a University of Washington medical student, Aggarwal told the crowd at the 2008 Seattle Hempfest, “We have to change the way people think about people and cannabis. This is a staple of the earth and a basic medicine for a lot of people.”
Long before his time at the University of Washington, in the early 1990s Sunil Aggarwal attended high school in Muskogee, Oklahoma until his Junior year when he went on to the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics in Oklahoma City.
After finishing high school, Aggarwal left the Midwest in 1997and traveled to the west coast, where he resumed his education at UC Berkeley--which included a semester of study abroad in Edinburgh. After 4.5 years at Berkeley, Sunil moved to Seattle and continued his studies at the University of Washington in the Geography Department.
There, he completed his first two years of med school, completed his doctorate in geography, writing his dissertation on the “medical geography of cannabinoid botanicals in Washington State.” Two more years of med school followed, in which Aggarwal focused on the Medical Scientist Training Program and the Global Health Pathway, graduating in June, 2010, some two years after his Hempfest proclamation. Dr Aggarwal also holds degrees in chemistry, philosophy and religious studies.
In conjunction with his dissertation, Dr Aggarwal conducted research with 176 chronically and critically ill patients in two groups, one from a rural pain clinic and the other from an urban cannabinoid botanical delivery clinic. At this writing, two peer-reviewed published articles have come from this work. Carter_Aggarwal.pdf
So, what led Dr Aggarwal to the medical cannabis movement? It began while he was an undergraduate. He says that when he discovered “marijuana wasn’t a horribly dangerous thing” he wanted to study it thoroughly and he has done so for at least the past decade.
When medical student Sunil K. Aggarwal convinced the UW chapter of the medical student group of the AMA to support a resolution he had written in support of rescheduling cannabis, he presented the idea and his research to the American Medical Association (AMA) at its annual meeting in 2008. The organization agreed to study the issue for a year.
At its 2009 meeting, the country’s largest physicians’ organization formally adopted a policy urging the federal government to reclassify, or “reschedule,” cannabis.
It was Aggarwal’s research, dissertation, and the two articles derived from it and published in the Journal of Opioid Management that helped convince the American Medical Association (AMA) of the potential for medical uses of cannabis and led the organization to reverse previous policy and call for the rescheduling of cannabis so that more research could be conducted upon it.
So far, the government has not changed its policy and, incredibly, has stepped up efforts to quash medical cannabis production in the states that have legalized it for medical use.
Dr Aggarwal also holds degrees in chemistry, philosophy and religious studies and is a much-sought-after speaker at medical, drug policy reform and other conferences and conventions.
Here’s a link to an interesting article by Dr Aggarwal. Aggarwal-Macroed.pdf
His new website: cannabinergy.com
The report drafted by the AMA’s Council on Science and Public Health asks for a “review” of marijuana’s classification but neither demands the government reschedule the drug nor emphasizes the need Aggarwal believes hundreds of thousands of patients have for the drug’s medicinal properties.
“I tried as best as I could to make the language stronger than it was, but that was as far as it was going,” Aggarwal said. “But I realized that even at that level, it would still be a big shift.”
And not just for the medical community. Speaking at Hempfest last year, Aggarwal urged the crowd not to feel like criminals.
The government hasn’t shown any sign of following the AMA’s suggestion just yet, though it’s hardly the first organization to call for change. Last year, the American College of Physicians also urged the government to reconsider marijuana.
Aggarwal, who expects to stay in what he calls the now “exploding” field of cannabinoid science after he graduates in June, is sure change is coming.
“I’m pretty happy,” he said. “This Schedule 1 thing is going to be a thing of the past.”
© 2011 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
Dr. David Bearman
After working for nearly forty years in substance and drug abuse treatment and prevention programs, Dr. David Bearman has some questions, such as: "Why should the government stand in the way of an individual to take responsibility for their health?" And, "Why should cannabis be in a separate category from other herbal remedies?" Dr. Bearman believes that "it is clear to all but the most scientifically illiterate that cannabis and cannabinoids are medicine."
A pioneer in free and community clinic activities, Dr. Bearman is one of the leading physicians in the U.S. in the field of medical cannabis. His decades of work in substance abuse treatment and prevention qualify him as an expert, not only in conventional treatment and prevention, but in the therapeutic use of cannabis as well.
In his essay, The Tipping Point, this Santa Barbara physician and surgeon asks another, intriguing question, "Are we finally nearing the end to a long pointless war of hysteria?" Bearman continues, "We may have finally reached a tipping point in this long war on our sanity," and cites several indicators that the war against cannabis might soon be over:
In December, 2005, the FDA finally approved phase III clinical studies for tincture of cannabis, to be conducted by GW Pharmaceuticals (more info here)
Two of the most ferocious former federal drug warriors, Congressman Bob Barr and Dr. Andrea Barthwell, Deputy Drug Czar under President George W. Bush, have seen the light and switched sides, now working as spokespeople for the Marijuana Policy Project and GW Pharmaceuticals, respectively.
The Hinchey - Rohrbacher Amendment continues to slowly gain support, and that support is expected to increase dramatically in the near future. (No documentation available.)
In June 2001, Professor Lyle Craker applied to the DEA for a license to grow and study cannabis at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. A recent ruling in the case seems to finally point toward approval.
Americans for Safe Access, or ASA, has filed a suit against the Department of Health and Human Services for violating the Data Quality Control Act of 2002. (The Data Quality Act (DQA) is a measure enacted by Congress to ensure that federal agencies use and disseminate accurate information.) A decision in this case is expected this year.
Democratic presidential candidate, Governor William Richardson signed New Mexico's medical cannabis bill into law and sustained no discernable political ramifications.
Growing numbers of U.S. physicians, at least 5,000 documented, are openly supporting medical cannabis.
Dr. Bearman believes that these indicators are undeniable proof of Americans' collective change of mind about the worth of cannabis as medicine, and that the real issues raised by medical cannabis are Constitutional and philosophical.
Bearman and other informed observers believe that, with the great interest shown by the pharmaceutical industry in the development of new cannabis-based drugs and synthetic cannabinoids, we will benefit from a better understanding of brain chemistry, and that different strains of condition-specific cannabis will continue to be developed, along with similar synthetics, making the future of medicinal cannabis look promising indeed.
© 2009 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Al Byrne, Lcdr, SC, USN (ret)
The son of a cancer patient who in 1966 used medical cannabis to combat the negative aspects of cancer chemotherapy, Al Byrne has remained active in the promotion of medical cannabis since that time. From 1989-1994 Byrne was on the Board of Directors of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), serving as Managing Director in 1991 and 1992, and as National Secretary from 1992 to 1994.
Mr. Byrne works with some of the remaining federally-supplied patients enrolled in the Compassionate Individual New Drug (IND) Program, and advocates for U.S. patients with the International Academy of Cannabis Medicine (IACM). He worked as an outreach counselor for five years in Appalachia for the Agent Orange Class Assistance Program, and is a valuable source of cannabis use information for PTSD-afflicted veterans in that region
This is but a short list of Byrnes accomplishments in increasing awareness of cannabis therapeutics. Today he is Secretary-Treasurer of Patients Out of Time, as well as a founding member. Mr. Byrne is adept at using a variety of media to increase awareness among health care professionals and the public.
© 2010 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Valerie Corral
Valerie Corral's long journey as a leading advocate for medical cannabis began in the Nevada desert in 1973 when a freak accident--the Volkswagen in which she was riding was scraped and knocked off the road by a low-flying small aircraft--left Corral with brain damage, brutal migraines, and epileptic convulsions.
Back home in Santa Cruz, California, prescription medications proved to be ineffective in providing relief as Ms Corral continued to suffer convulsions and grand mal seizures. Valerie's husband, Mike, had read in a medical journal that cannabis appeared to control such seizures in mice. Desperate to help his wife, he suggested that she try cannabis for her seizures.
Taking her husband's advice, with cannabis Valerie finally found alleviation of her symptoms, and she readily admits to maintaining a steady level of cannabis in her system ever since.
Having found effective relief for her own condition, Corral was motivated to help other patients. She created a hospice care center for patients who use cannabis in dealing with their terminal illnesses, and has been by the bedsides of most who have passed on. Corral says, "It is the greatest honor to be asked by a person who is dying to sit with them."
The Corrals' enthusiasm for medical cannabis did not go unnoticed by the authorities. In 1992 Valerie and Mike were arrested by the local sheriff for growing five marijuana plants, and Valerie thus became the first California patient to challenge existing law by claiming medical necessity. Realizing that in liberal Santa Cruz, before a sympathetic jury, they would be unlikely to win the case, prosecutors dismissed it.
The next year, 1993, at about the time Dennis Peron was developing the Cannabis Buyers Club in San Francisco, in Santa Cruz the Corrals founded the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), the first legally recognized nonprofit medical cannabis organization in the nation.
Through WAMM, the Corrals grow and share their crop with seriously ill patients who have doctors' prescriptions for cannabis. WAMM has long been considered the most legitimate medical cannabis cooperative in the US and provides cannabis to patients at no cost.
When the Corrals were again arrested one year after the 1992 arrest, the district attorney declared that he would never prosecute them, and asked the police to leave them alone.
The Corrals helped draft California's Compassionate Use Act-Proposition 215-a few years later. When Prop 215 was approved by voters in 1996, California became the first state in the nation to allow patients with a doctor's recommendation to use cannabis therapeutically.
The new law, however, did not provide complete protection from arrest. Federal law still prohibited the cultivation and distribution of cannabis for medical purposes. In an effort to protect the Corrals, the City of Santa Cruz in 2000 deputized them as medical cannabis providers.
Despite their status as medical cannabis providers for the City of Santa Cruz, Valerie and Mike's farm was raided by armed federal agents on September 5, 2002, just a few weeks before harvest. More than 150 plants were uprooted and destroyed and the Corrals again went to jail, but were later released without being charged. This latest raid, recognized and proclaimed by the media to be against the terminally ill, led to negative worldwide press for the DEA. (snicker)
WAMM members rallied in support of their leaders and a few weeks later medical cannabis was distributed from the steps at city hall in Santa Cruz. Although charges were never filed, the Corrals decided to challenge the federal law and eventually a San Jose judge ruled in their favor, making the Corrals the only people in the nation growing cannabis in their backyard with protection from state law, a local ordinance, and an injunction from a federal judge.
Valerie Corral has been at the helm of several efforts to deliver safe medicine to those most in need of it. She has taken her pursuit to the courts of the land, with favorable results overall, and she had a key role in the drafting of SB 420 legislation, which further clarifies provisions of Prop 215.
Ms Corral well deserves her reputation as a courageous pioneer in the quest for compassion.
(c) 2011 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Dr. Lyle Craker
Dr. Lyle Craker is Professor of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. For the past thirty-some years, most of his work with medicinal plants—such as black cohosh, goldenseal, and maca—has been done in obscurity, but now he is known for requesting that medical grade cannabis be made available for research into its possible health benefits. Ten years ago, in 2001, Dr. Craker applied to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for permission to grow cannabis for research.
Dr. Craker says, “From the beginning, I have recognized that this plant is somewhat different from other medicinal plants, long suppressed because of misuse as a recreational drug. Yet, I also recognized that with proper security any misuse of plant material grown for medical trials could be prevented. Indeed, the danger from growing this plant seems no more hazardous than other illicit drugs to which the government limits access through appropriate security arrangements."
Six years after Craker submitted his application, Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner finally approved it in February, 2007. Nearly two years later, in January, 2009, DEA Deputy Administrator Michele Leonhart denied Craker’s petition. Unfortunately, President Obama has appointed Leonhart to head the DEA, so permission for Dr. Craker or anyone else to conduct any meaningful research on medicinal cannabis seems unlikely for the near future.
Rick Doblin, founder of MAPS, and Valerie Corral, Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM), had joined Dr. Craker in asking the federal government to end its monopoly on medical grade cannabis production and research. The University of Mississippi currently provides all the cannabis produced by the federal government but it is of inferior quality and strength, unsuitable for extensive medical research. Dr. Craker believes he could produce stronger, higher-quality cannabis. He added that he could even do it without government funding.
Professor Craker has his work cut out for him. The government’s position is that the cannabis produced at the University of Mississippi “continues to meet the nation's need for research-grade marijuana while maintaining the highest level of safeguards against diversion."
To that Craker responds, "When you have a complete monopoly you have no incentive to improve the material." Should the government relent and approve his application, Craker says he would not perform the research himself, but would make the cannabis available to other researchers approved by the federal government.
Professor Craker says his lab is “prepared to take extraordinary precautions” to assure security and that all plant materials would be carefully catalogued and protected at all times.
Dr. Craker’s application is currently under review; a public comment period ends Sept. 22. At that time, if the DEA rejects his petition Craker can again appeal to a federal administrative judge.
Rick Doblin and MAPS are working with several other drug policy reform organizations, hoping to persuade the Obama Administration to accept the inevitable and finally issue Prof. Craker his license.
©2010 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Steve DeAngelo
It could be said that Stephen DeAngelo is a born activist. He entered the world in 1958 in Philadelphia, but grew up in Washington DC where his parents were involved in the Civil Rights movement. Steve's father worked for the Peace Corps in India during the late 1960s before the family returned to the US in 1969 as the Vietnam War was raging and its chilling atrocities dominated the nightly news.
DeAngelo was deeply troubled by these events and began skipping school to participate in antiwar demonstrations. He even organized a takeover of his school's gymnasium in solidarity with an antiwar rally. Still a teenager, it wasn't long before Steve became aware that his activities could be risky and result in his going to jail or even being shot.
DeAngelo was undaunted. He dropped out of school at 16, joined the Yippies, and worked with the 4th of July Hemp Coalition to organize the annual July 4th marijuana Smoke-Ins in front of the White House. (In the mid-eighties Steve decided it was time to finish his education so he enrolled in the University of Maryland where in less than three years he graduated at the top of his class.)
After a few years as a street activist DeAngelo decided to test his entrepreneurial abilities. Drawing on skills such as event planning and promotion that he had acquired as an activist, he became involved in the music industry as an independent concert promoter, club manager and record producer. He collaborated on NORML 's fundraising Hempilation CDs (Capricorn Records) and worked on awareness and fundraising events for the organization.
DeAngelo became interested in hemp sometime around 1986 when he met Jack Herer shortly before he published his masterpiece, The Emperor Wears No Clothes, which exposed the hidden link between hemp and cannabis and the conspiracy to outlaw both.
After reading the manuscript, DeAngelo was convinced that cannabis/hemp is indeed a beneficial plant, so he helped Herer edit and publish the book and then went about widely promoting the book's message. Steve was a key organizer of the Hemp Tour, which took the news about hemp to hundreds of universities around the nation, and he was instrumental in establishing the original Hemp Museum.
In Washington DC in 1998, two years after California passed its landmark medical marijuana initiative, Steve DeAngelo was deeply involved in the passing of DC's medical cannabis measure, Initiative 59. The initiative passed in each and every precinct in the city, with 69% of the vote, but the US Congress used its power to veto implementation of the measure!
Severely disgusted by this blatant violation of majority rule, DeAngelo moved to California, where he continued his activism by helping to coordinate legal cannabis gardens and writing and producing the groundbreaking documentary, For Medical Use Only. During this period Steve somehow found time to create a new type of cannabis concentrate while also thinking about a new version of medical cannabis dispensary.
In October 2006 Steve DeAngelo was issued a medical cannabis dispensary license by the City of Oakland. Shortly thereafter he opened Harborside Health Center (HHC) on Oakland's historic waterfront. HHC rapidly became locally famous for many positive reasons-a free holistic care clinic, laboratory tested medicine, and a low-income care package program are just a few of them.
HHC is internationally famous for its status as the largest MC dispensary in the world, raking in at least $20 million in total annual revenue. Not too shabby for a rabble-rousing high school dropout!
DeAngelo sees hemp and cannabis as a single issue and was inspired to create a hemp manufacturing and distribution company which he named Ecolution. This business was a glaring success, soon exporting hemp clothing to stores in fifty states and more than 20 foreign countries.
Actually, Steve DeAngelo's accomplishments are far too numerous to fit within the confines of this article. After nearly four decades of unrelenting advocacy he deserves sincere congratulations for service above and beyond anyone's reasonable expectations.
'Hats off' to Steve DeAngelo, with his jaunty hat and trademark braids.
© 2011 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
Rick Doblin, PhD
Rick Doblin, PhD, founder and executive director of MAPS, the membership-based nonprofit research and educational organization he established in 1986, says he has never used the most-commonly-used/abused drugs.
"I still have never had a cup of coffee, I’ve never had a cigarette, I’ve never had a Coca-Cola. I’ve never had a beer. I don’t drink alcohol," says the 56-year-old. "I felt that drugs were a dangerous escape and there was no need for it."
Doblin, a member of NORML’s board of directors since 1996, earned his psychology degree in 1987 from the small, highly-respected New College of Florida, and in 2001 was awarded a doctorate in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. His dissertation examined the regulation of the medical use of psychedelics and cannabis, while his master’s thesis explored the experiences and opinions of oncologists regarding the use of cannabis as medicine.
Doblin and MAPS have been restricted in the clinical cannabis studies they would like to conduct by the continued government monopoly on the production of medical-grade cannabis, and by unreasonable stalling on the application submitted by Dr. Lyle Craker, Valerie Corral and MAPS to produce cannabis for research at the University of Massachusetts.
In 2004, Craker, Corral and Doblin filed suit against the DEA, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the National Institutes of Health. They accuse the government of having a monopoly on the production of medical marijuana and stalling unreasonably on UMass’s application to produce high-quality cannabis for research.
Rick Doblin asserts that "Dr. Craker has no goal here except to advance scientific research into marijuana and our goals are the same. By controlling who can research marijuana and how they can do it, the DEA has greatly limited promising research that could lead to [government] approved medications."
There is no question that Doblin, an animated and colorful individual who likes to dance, takes the therapeutic potential of cannabis (and psychedelics) quite seriously. He has designed and funded numerous studies on medical applications for psychedelics, and has worked so diligently within the system—along with many others—that public perception of therapeutic psychedelics and cannabis has finally begun to change.
One of Doblin’s primary goals is to "develop psychedelics and marijuana into FDA-approved prescription medicines, and to educate the public honestly about the risks and benefits of these drugs." He estimates that the cost to transform FDA-approved cannabis into legal medicine will be about $5-7 million.
Doblin dreams that by the time his five-to-nine-year-old children are grown, he will have achieved another of his long-term goals: "What I hope is that, maybe 15 years from now, I can go from primarily focusing on the politics of psychedelics and medical marijuana to actually being a therapist."
© 2010 by c.a riley. All rights reserved.
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Mahmoud ElSohly
Step into Dr. Mahmoud ElSohly's office in the Coy W. Waller Laboratory Complex on the University of Mississippi campus at Oxford and the first thing you'll notice is the heady, slightly sweet aroma of cannabis. This should not be surprising, as Dr. ElSohly is director of the NIDA-funded Marijuana Project at the university, where the entire Waller Complex smells as if it is the home of an army of skunks.
In 1968, a few years after THC was isolated as the active ingredient in cannabis, the federal government was seeking standardized cannabis for research. This would require that marijuana be grown under strictly controlled conditions in order to standardize the amount of THC and other cannabinoids in the finished product.
When the federal government called for proposals Ole Miss won a three-year contract to supply cannabis for research and has had the federal contract since 1968. Although the contract is renewed every five years, the university must submit a new bid each time. The contract pays about $1.2 million annually.
Dr. ElSohly says, "If another organization came along with equal capabilities that could do this for a little less money, we could lose this. We have no idea who applies each time or even if anyone else applies at all."
Since the Marijuana Project has been housed at the University of Mississippi for more than 40 years and Dr. ElSohly has been with the project since 1975, however, he probably needn't worry.
In the beginning, Dr. ElSohly worked under the Marijuana Project's director, Carlton Turner. In 1980, when Turner was recruited as President Ronald Reagan's drug czar, ElSohly was promoted to direct the project.
When NIDA requests an outdoor grow Dr. ElSohly and his staff plant and tend the crop until harvest time. After the harvest, drying, manicuring and deseeding must be done and the cannabis tested for quality assurance. It is then stored in a large, walk-in freezer at about 16 degrees.
For some (unknown) reason, some of the finished product is shipped out to be made into cigarettes and is then sent back to the laboratory where it is distributed to researchers and the four remaining Compassionate IND patients.
Dr. ElSohly says that the cigarettes are not made on-site unless there is a requirement for high-potency cannabis, which must be hand-rolled because it gums the manufacturing equipment. He says that large orders are processed by a subcontractor in North Carolina.
Dr. ElSohly is president and laboratory director of ELI, ElSohly Laboratories Incorporated, a small company dedicated to helping solve analytical problems in the area of drugs of abuse, testing for those drugs and performing research and development, along with other activities.
ElSohly serves also as Research Professor in the National Center for Natural Products Research; Research Professor in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Professor of Pharmaceutics in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Mississippi.
He has earned several degrees, holds a number of patents, and has authored hundreds of articles and presentations pertaining to drug discovery, analysis and metabolism. Many of his articles focus on forensic issues of drugs of abuse, and he is certified by the American Board of Forensic Medicine (BCFM) and the American College of Forensic Examiners (BCFE).
The list of ElSohly's achievements goes on and on but they are much too numerous to list here. Find more information about Dr. ElSohly at http://www.elsohly.com/.
© 2010 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Dr. Mollie Fry and Dale Schafer
Nearly 10 years ago, on a bright September morning in 2001, Dr Marion “Mollie” Fry was on her way to her medical office in Cool, California when she was suddenly pulled over and arrested by El Dorado County Sheriff's deputies.
Meanwhile, back at the home Dr Fry shares with her husband, attorney Dale Schafer and their children, more deputies arrived and took Schafer into custody as he was wantonly preparing breakfast for the kids.
After putting these dangerous and unpredictable felons into handcuffs, the deputies delivered them to federal agents who gave them a free ride to the Federal Courthouse up in Sacramento. Here, both faced charges of cultivating and dispensing medical marijuana—which was perfectly legal under the laws of the state of California, but, inexplicably, illegal under federal law.
Thus, Fry and Schafer made history by being among the very first medical cannabis providers raided by the most recent—and hopefully, last—Bush Administration. (It’s a good thing this happened because federal agents apparently had run out of things to do since the massive terroristic attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon two weeks earlier.)
Our heroes were not (successfully) indicted until nearly five years later, in June, 2005, following the Supreme Court’s reversal of the Raich decision (Raich v. Gonzales)*. Upon hearing the verdict Schafer prudently stopped growing and providing cannabis to patients.
From their arrest in September, 2001 until the Raich decision in June, 2005, the couple continued working with patients: Dr Fry conducted medical cannabis consultations while Schafer grew and processed a modest amount of cannabis for the patients. During this time, Fry and, especially, Schafer worked closely with local officials to maintain compliance with all applicable laws.
In addition to providing medical cannabis consultations and recommendations, both Fry and Schafer are patients themselves: Dr. Fry is a breast cancer survivor and Schafer struggles with hemophilia and failed back syndrome. Both have found cannabis therapy to provide dependable relief.
In August, 2007 the couple was tried on federal charges in a three-week jury trial which ended with their convictions. Infuriatingly, after their years of close cooperation with authorities at state and local levels this couple, like Ed Rosenthal in 2003, was not allowed to present a medical defense.
In March, 2008, under the mandatory minimums law, Fry and Schafer were each sentenced to serve 60 months (5 years) in federal prison, but were allowed to remain free on bond pending appeal.
Last November, the federal government filed a motion to revoke the couple’s bond and they were ordered to surrender to federal authorities at 2pm, May 2 to begin serving their sentences.
“The Fry-Schafer case is a perfect exhibit in the argument for legalizing marijuana. With the challenges facing the nation today, it is absurd that the federal government is spending its time and our dollars raiding, arresting and prosecuting individuals for activities deemed legal under state law. Do they not have better things to do? Prohibition is creating victims needlessly, and not protecting anyone from anything.” ~Gary Johnson, 2012 Presidential Candidate
© 2011 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
An excellent read on this maddening case may be found at http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/07/28/18437773.php
Donations to the Fry/Schafer Defense Fund can be sent to P.O.Box 634, Cool, CA. 95614
www.freedocfry.com
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Jon B. Gettman
Medical cannabis advocate, Jon B. Gettman, first formally petitioned the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to remove cannabis and cannabinoids from Schedules I and II of the Controlled Substance Act in 1995, on grounds that the substance lacks the potential for abuse.
The DEA decided six years later that there was insufficient evidence to necessitate the change and denied Gettman's petition.
Not to be deterred, Gettman organized the group, the Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis (CRC), and, on October 9, 2002 again petitioned, focusing on accepted medicinal value rather than relative harm. He still wondered whether, if removed from Schedule I, cannabis might be regulated as:
A Schedule III or IV prescription drug
A Schedule V over-the-counter substance; or
Whether it should be eliminated from the Schedules altogether and regulated as alcohol and tobacco are.
On April 3, 2003, the DEA formally accepted the proposal seeking federal recognition of the therapeutic qualities of cannabis, reclassification, and creation of a legal infrastructure for the production and distribution of medical cannabis. The DEA's acceptance of the proposal is tacit acknowledgement of its merit.
By law, the DEA must forward for review to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) all petitions seeking to reschedule drugs. In July, 2004 DEA referred the petition to HHS where review remains in progress.
Jon Gettman is a former head of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law (NORML) and now writes the longstanding "Cannabis Column" for High Times magazine wherein he tracks the progress of this latest petition, filed in collaboration with High Times. By September 2009, Gettman's column had reported on the petition's progress in more than fifty issues.
In his 1999 speech, Science and the End of Marijuana Prohibition, delivered at the 12th International Conference on Drug Policy Reform, Gettman pointed out that under the Controlled Substances Act, the scientists at HHS are the key decision-makers on marijuana policy because their scientific and medical findings are binding on the DEA.
He went on to suggest that drug policy reformers should use the petitioning process to "cross-examine under oath and penalty of perjury every HHS official and scientist who claims that marijuana use is as dangerous as the use of cocaine or heroin." This would strike one as a very valid proposal; needless to say, however, there isn't much likelihood of it ever being acted upon.
Among Bob Gettman's publications is his 2006 report, published in the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform, Marijuana Production in the United States, wherein he estimated the fiscal value of the U.S. marijuana crop and discovered-not unexpectedly-that cannabis exceeds the combined values of corn and wheat, making it the nation's largest cash crop. Gettman then calls for the legalization and regulation of an estimated $35.8 billion cannabis industry.
Again from an economic perspective, in another special report for the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform: "Lost Taxes and Other Costs of Marijuana Laws," Gettman looks at the effects of cannabis prohibition and calculates those costs to taxpayers to be about $42 billion in decreased tax revenues and enforcement costs.
Gettman's degrees include a BA in Anthropology from the Catholic University of America and an MS in Justice, specializing in drug policy, from American University. He also holds a PhD in public policy and regional economic development from George Mason University.
In addition to his work with the CRC and his extensive publishing, Gettman teaches public administration at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. He is leader of the Bulletin of Cannabis Reform and writes frequently on the marijuana industry.
Jon B. Gettman is to be very much admired for his exemplary work in cannabis reform policy.
© 2010 by c.a riley. All rights reserved.
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Dr. Dale Gieringer
About his time at Harvard in the late 60s, Dale Gieringer declares, “I was not one of the ’60s radicals. I was pretty libertarian and sort of Republican-leaning. [I was] definitely in the political minority.”
Gieringer continues, “I arrived at an interesting time at Harvard. I didn’t even know what marijuana was as a freshman. It was dangerous, something that disreputable people used. There was no discussion of drugs at Harvard back then.” Since those times, much about Dr Dale Gieringer has changed with the times.
Dr Gieringer concentrated his studies on math and eventually moved to California, where at Stanford in 1984 he earned a PhD in economics and public policy, writing his doctorate on the topic of DEA drug regulation. Gieringer, however, considers his year as a congressional intern in Washington in the mid-70s to be his “real education.” He says that his decades of medical cannabis advocacy would never have happened had it not been for that year on Capitol Hill.
Today, as state coordinator of California NORML (since 1987), Vice-Chairman of the national NORML board of directors, a co-founder of the California Drug Policy Reform Coalition and of Californians for Compassionate Use, he is one of this nation’s leading advocates for relegalizing marijuana—certainly not usually considered an issue with which a conservative such as Gieringer would align himself.
Under Gieringer’s direction, California NORML has become a model for the medical cannabis campaign across the nation, and for its crusade to re-legalize the plant for recreational purposes as well.
Dr Gieringer has distinguished himself in innumerable ways as a courageous leader in the quest for safe medicine and sensible drug policy. A full list of his accomplishments in the decades since his early days in Washington is far too lengthy to post in its entirety here, but a few more highlights from his long career in drug policy activism are given below, in no particular order:
Published research on drug screening; marijuana smoke harm reduction; marijuana and safe driving; medical cannabis use; cannabis potency testing
Presented testimony before the California legislature and in court actions on issues related to personal use of marijuana
Published book on the economic benefits of legalizing cannabis (1994)
Helped organize and co-write Proposition 215, which voters passed, legalizing medical cannabis in California (1996)
Advocated for Oakland’s “Measure Z,” an Oakland local tax and regulation initiative which led to discussion on general legalization of marijuana and prompted Assemblyman Tom Ammiano to introduce the first legalization bill, Assembly Bill 390. Gieringer was gratified to see language from his 1994 book on the economic benefits of legalization in the legislation. (2004)
Gieringer was involved in California NORML’s groundbreaking study on alternative methods of delivering medical cannabis to patients. Gieringer concluded that “Water pipes and vaporizers are now the gold standard for medical marijuana.”
Dr Dale Gieringer has definitely “put his money where his mouth is” (played a huge role) in drug policy reform and we cannot thank him enough for his brilliant work.
High Times magazine has tried to, with its award of “Freedom Fighter of the Year” title to Dr Gieringer in November, 2010 at its annual Cannabis Cup celebration. Of the honor Gieringer says, “It was a big year for marijuana. I usually spend Thanksgiving with my family. But I made an exception for this.”
Gieringer goes on to predict a further uphill battle for cannabis legalization, “Prop. 19 most likely won’t pass quite yet. Federal law has tried to pre-empt states on this, so it really has to be done on a national basis. I said I’d be happy to retire when marijuana is legal in California. But I’m going to be 65 in April, so I’ll have to take a late retirement.”
©2009 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Dr. Lester Grinspoon
"I believe it would be good for the country if more people in business, academic and professional worlds were known to be marijuana users," Dr. Lester Grinspoon writes in his essay To Smoke or Not to Smoke: A Cannabis Odyssey.
Dr. Grinspoon then goes on to say, "The government has been able to pursue its policies of persecution and prosecution largely because of the widespread false belief that cannabis smokers are either irresponsible and socially marginal people or adolescents who 'experiment,' learn their lesson, and abandon all use of the drug. That lie is unfortunately perpetuated when those who know better remain silent."
Back in 1967 Dr. Grinspoon had become alarmed that so many young people were using the "terribly dangerous drug" marijuana so he set out to review existing medical and scientific literature on cannabis and write an objective, scientific paper on the dangers of the substance in order to expose its mental and physical toxicity and save these youngsters from inflicting irreparable harm upon themselves.
As Dr. Grinspoon delved into his research it wasn't long before he began to question his "knowledge" about cannabis. He began to realize that what he believed was based largely on myths, both old and new, and misinformation perpetuated by the federal government. As his research progressed, Dr. Grinspoon began to recognize the vast potential of this complex plant and became an advocate for its legalization. His compassion and commitment to the truth remain unparalleled to this day.
Lester Grinspoon was born in Newton, Massachusetts in 1928. He is married and the father of three. The first American physician to prescribe lithium carbonate for bipolar disorder, Dr. Grinspoon is Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has authored or co-authored more than 160 journal articles or chapters and twelve books on marijuana and psychedelics, beginning in 1971 with Marihuana Reconsidered (recently republished as a classic) and continuing through his latest book, Marihuana, the Forbidden Medicine, co-authored with James B. Bakalar.
Also among Dr. Grinspoon's accomplishments:
40 years as Senior Psychiatrist at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston
Founded Harvard Mental Health Letter; editor for fifteen years.
Has testified before Congress, and as expert witness in legal proceedings.
Worked with AG Ramsey Clark on a number of international marijuana-related incidents.
Alfred R. Lindesmith Award of the Drug Policy Foundation for "achievement in the field of drug scholarship."
Operates two websites: 1) Marijuana: The Forbidden Medicine (thousands of individual anecdotes); 2) Uses of Marijuana (user essays on 'enhancing' effects of marijuana)
Fellow of both the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Psychiatric Association
This is only a partial listing of Dr. Grinspoon's myriad achievements. He is currently writing a book on the many uses of marijuana and is still active in the quest for reform. Every one of us who enjoys or employs marijuana in any way owes Dr. Lester Grinspoon an undying debt of gratitude.
©2009 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Richard Lee
As a youngster growing up in Houston with four brothers, Richard Lee liked to play many action sports. Later, when he was old enough to drive, he enjoyed riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle around Houston and to nearby Pearland, Texas. He also flew ultra-light aircraft and was a master of the ski slope.
Unfortunately, when he was 27 and working as a lighting technician Lee fell from a scaffold, breaking his back and becoming paralyzed from the waist down-a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair. He began suffering complications, including pain and sleeplessness, from the injury and began to think about suicide.
While he was undergoing rehabilitation at a Houston facility, Lee happened to see a news article about the usefulness of cannabis therapy for the treatment of chronic pain in paralyzed patients. At that time, the standard treatment for these conditions was large doses of Valium, which can be quite debilitating. Lee says that people would become "Valium zombies," staying home all day, but "when they switched to cannabis, they'd go back to college, get married."
Shortly after discovering cannabis therapy, Lee and a partner opened Legal Marijuana - The Hemp Store, a boutique in the Montrose area which sold hemp clothing and legal pot-related items and, in 1992, was one of the first hemp product retail outlets in the United States. Lee began his cannabis-advocating activities at this time.
When California voters made medical cannabis legal, Lee moved to the Bay Area in 1997 and began working in this new industry, co-founding the Hemp Research Company which supplied cannabis to the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club. At this time, Lee also began researching efficient, environmentally-friendly cannabis production.
In 1999, Lee opened the second cannabis outlet, the Bulldog Coffeeshop, in the Oaksterdam District, and in 2003, he founded the Oakland Civil Liberties Alliance. This was the PAC that passed Measure Z in Oakland, making private sales, cultivation, and possession of cannabis the lowest law enforcement priority.
Lee published the Oaksterdam News from 2005 to 2007, a quarterly newspaper with a circulation of more than 100,000, before going on to found Oaksterdam University in November, 2007, and in 2008 he provided funding for the new monthly magazine, West Coast Cannabis, with a circulation around 30,000.
Richard Lee has served on the City of Oakland Cannabis Regulation and Revenue Ordinance Commission since 2005. This group was created after the passage of Measure Z in 2004. Lee manages several Oaksterdam companies as well. His dedication to ending cannabis prohibition has been a significant factor in the revitalization and economic growth of the City of Oakland.
Never satisfied with his accomplishments, Lee organized the effort to have full marijuana legalization on the California ballot in 2010. In November, voters will decide whether cannabis prohibition is over in California. If the measure does not pass, it will not be because one mobility-challenged individual did not give his all. Many thanks, Richard Lee.
© 2010 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Dr. Phillip Leveque
During World War II Dr. Phillip “Dogface” Leveque served with General Patton's Third Army as a Combat Infantryman. Today, more than 60 years later, he still suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Despite this hindrance, Phil Leveque has achieved much more during his long lifetime than most of his unafflicted peers. He holds master’s degrees in biochemistry and pharmacology, and doctorate degrees in pharmacology and osteopathy.
He has worked as a Professor of Pharmacology with the University of London; as an Osteopathic Physician; as a Forensic Toxicologist; and as a Nutritional Biochemist. Dr. Leveque was one of Oregon’s first toxicologists and one of the first fifty toxicologists in the United States.
As a physician in Molalla, Oregon, Dr. Leveque has for the past several years been recognized for his advocacy of medical cannabis and his work in improving veteran care. He has specialized in treating veterans such as himself with PTSD.
Dr. Leveque has the unfortunate distinction of being the first doctor in any of the states having medical cannabis programs to lose his license for recommending it. On May 1, 2002 Leveque’s license was suspended for ninety days by the Board of Medical Examiners and he was fined $5,000. None of Dr. Leveque’s patients had any complaints about anything he had done and, in fact, helped him pay his fine and $20,000 in attorney fees.
Leveque’s license was reinstated at the end of the ninety days and he returned to treating his patients. All was well until March 2004 when the Board of Medical Examiners again suspended his license, and several months later, in October, issued a formal notice of revocation although no patient of Leveque’s had ever indicated any sort of complaint about his treatment of them. Leveque appealed the decision but lost.
Testifying at a hearing before the Board’s administrative law judge, defensive expert witness Rick Bayer, M.D. stated, “Totally removing Dr. Leveque's license alleging he is a danger to Oregonians based on these cases seems more like anti-medical marijuana politics than science-based medical therapeutics." Who would argue with that?
For more about Dr. Leveque, see his memoirs, "General Patton's Dogface Soldier of WWII: From a Foxhole." Or visit: http://www.letfreedomgrow.com/articles/or070703.htm
© 2010 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Dr. Frank H. Lucido
Frank H. Lucido has been providing family and general health care at his present location in Berkeley since December 10, 1979. His practice includes primary care for patients older than 12 years. His patients know "Dr Frank" will generously spend time with them as their condition requires, and he will even make house calls when necessary.
Since establishing his practice in1979, Dr Lucido has been affiliated with the Alta Bates Medical Center, also in Berkeley. He has served as a member of several working groups, and as Chairman of the Medical Education Committee. He has served also on the Family Practice Advisory Committee, and the Ethics Committee.
Since the1996 passage of the California Compassionate Use Act, 'Prop 215,' Dr. Lucido has become a prominent figure in the Bay Area medical cannabis community, conducting medical cannabis evaluations as well as lecturing and writing on the subject. He estimates he conducts about 900 cannabis consultations per year (including follow-up visits).
A number of times, Dr. Lucido has spoken to the Medical Board of California, and on several occasions the board has referred patients to him. His cannabis evaluation and recommendation letters are highly regarded by legal and court officials.
In his widely read Implementation of the Compassionate Use Act in a Family Medical Practice (co-authored with Mariavittoria Mangini, PhD), Dr Lucido meticulously defines practice standards. This groundbreaking work is intended to be a guide for other medical professionals evaluating and recommending patients for cannabis therapy.
After three decades in primary care medicine, Dr Frank has developed a deep sense of medical ethics. He has assisted several attorneys in defense of patients and physicians possessing or recommending cannabis within established guidelines.
Lucido founded Lucido Medical-Legal Consulting for patients and physicians in California and elsewhere. The group provides unassailable medical testimony for legal proceedings.
In 2004, Lucido founded MedicalBoardWatch.com to monitor actions against doctors who recommend cannabis to their patients.
Dr Lucido speaks on MC and practice standards. He likes to focus on speaking to fellow physicians in the hope of inspiring them to also recommend this safe, effective, and versatile medicine to their own patients.
Dr Lucido received his diploma from the University of Michigan in 1974 and went on to French Hospital in San Francisco where he finished his internship. He completed his Family Practice Residency at the University of California at Davis.
Frank Lucido's attainments do not end there. He is a member of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians and the Association of Independent Medical-Legal Consultants, and is on the steering committee of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Lucido is a committed anti-nuclear activist.
In April, 2009, with Dr David Bearman and other researchers, Lucido formed the American Academy of Cannabis Medicine for the purposes of establishing board certification requirements for doctors recommending MC to their patients and to provide clinical expertise and legal assistance to them.
Dr Lucido also is well known as Angel Raich's doctor in the 2005 precedent-setting case, Gonzales v. Raich.
Overall, Dr Lucido's contribution to the advancement of cannabis therapy has been incredibly beneficial to patients and physicians alike. We cannot thank him enough.
© 2011 by cheryl riley. All rights reserved.
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Mary Lynne Mathre, RN, MSN, CARN
With more than 30 years of hospital experience—the last 20 in the field of substance abuse/addiction treatment—Mary Lynne Mathre is a veteran medical cannabis campaigner. By encouraging and educating others in her field, Mathre has helped to bring the American Nurses Association, as well as many state nursing organizations, into the realm of medical cannabis. In 1994, after a presentation by Mathre, the Virginia Nurses Association became the first nursing organization to pass a resolution in support of medical cannabis.
Today, Nurse Mathre works as a self-employed legal nurse consultant and an Addictions Consult Nurse with the University of Virginia Health System in the Charlottesville, Virginia region. She remains committed to raising awareness of the therapeutic benefits of cannabis, and is President and a founding member of Patients Out of Time, a well-regarded non-profit organization working to educate heath care workers and the general public about the medical qualities of cannabis.
© 2010 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Dr. Raphael Mechoulam
Political controversy over medical marijuana is widespread in the United States, but clinical studies conducted abroad over the past forty-some years have revealed that marijuana, or cannabis, does indeed appear to have potent therapeutic qualities.
Widely regarded as one of the world's experts on cannabinoid-based medicine, and a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, Ph.D., Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, along with his colleagues, has been researching what he calls "cannabinoid chemistry" over these past four decades, making many notable contributions to the field. Dr. Mechoulam has written countless scientific papers on his cannabinoid research results, as well as a review of his group's early studies, the book Cannabinoids as Therapeutic Agents.
Dr. Mechoulam has been awarded many honors for his groundbreaking work, including the highest national scientific prize in Israel-the Israel Prize. He is a past-president of the International Cannabinoid Research Society. Those who know Dr. Mechoulam describe him as mentally vigorous, generous and kind.
In 1964 Dr. Mechoulam and his associates identified and synthesized THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), creating an entire new line of medical research. Twenty-eight years later, in 1992, working with Drs. William Devane and Lumir Hanus, Dr. Mechoulam identified the brain's natural version of THC, or endocannabinoid. The doctors named this natural THC "anandamide," from the Sanskrit, ananda, which is translated as "eternal bliss" or "supreme joy."
Research has revealed that the brain contains many cannabinoid neurotransmitters and receptors. The 1964 discovery of THC led to the eventual discovery of the endocannabinoid system in the brain. Further research conducted by Dr. Mechoulam, working with Dr. Lumir Hanus and Dr. Shimon Ben-Shabat, has led to the detection of an additional endocannabinoid with the tongue-twisting name 2-arachidonylglycerol, or 2-AG. As a result of this work, understanding of cannabinoid systems has advanced significantly.
Endocannabinoids are part of the brain's reward system, helping with the reduction of pain, regulation of emotions, consolidation of memory and the synchronization of movement. Interestingly, cannabinoid receptors outnumber all other receptors in the brain; the endocannabinoid system is active in nearly every other physiological system that has been studied. Therefore, Dr. Mechoulam has concluded that the endocannabinoid system is crucial to communication with and functions of many other bodily systems.
Pharmaceutical companies in the UK and France are researching and developing many new cannabis-based medicines. Carefully conducted trials have shown not only pain-relieving action and growth-retardation in tumors, but efficacy in treating multiple sclerosis and seizure disorders and a host of other medical conditions.
Over just the past few years the pace of cannabinoid research has been steadily increasing. Quite promising are new drugs currently being developed that both activate and deactivate cannabinoid receptors in the brain. Pain management, neuroprotective treatment for head trauma and stroke, and appetite regulation are just a few of the applications now being studied.
Most recently, one of the synthetic compounds (HU-211) from Dr. Mechoulam's lab has completed phase 2 clinical trials against head trauma with evidence of a neuroprotective effect. The pace of cannabinoid research has certainly been accelerating over the past few years, and Dr. Mechoulam thinks these new drugs are just the tip of the iceberg.
Learn more about Dr. Raphael Mechoulam and his outstanding accomplishments for medical cannabis patients. See David Jay Brown's full report on his interview with Dr. Mechoulam, on which this article is based, at http://www.smart-publications.com/articles/MOM-mechoulam.php.
© 2009 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Dr. Robert Melamede
In the world of medical cannabis, the qualifications and work of Robert Melamede, PhD are quite impressive . . . but just call him Dr. Bob.
Melamede, associate professor of biology at the University of Colorado, is an expert on Endocannabinoids and president and CEO of an innovative Colorado Springs medicinal cannabis company called Cannabis Science.
The company's stated goal is to build upon the growing use of medical marijuana by developing cannabis-based medicines.
Cannabis Science began in San Francisco as Cannex Therapeutics, founded by medical cannabis patient and entrepreneur Steve Kubby. Through a "reverse merger" with an oil company, Gulf Onshore, Cannex became a public company. (Reverse merger is an expedited way for a private company to go public without an initial public offering.)
Soon thereafter, Cannex was renamed Cannabis Science, Kubby was ousted as president and CEO and replaced by Melamede, who had been science officer for Cannex. The new focus of the company became Melamede and medical cannabis patients in Colorado.
Cannabis Science, in partnership with an international regulatory-compliance firm, is seeking FDA approval for a clinical study on treatment of post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).
One group in particular that Melamede hopes to help is soldiers struggling with PTSD. He says, "It tears at me to see soldiers suffering after their return from Iraq and Afghanistan - and the high rate of suicide among them."
Anecdotal accounts affirming the therapeutic effect of cannabis for PTSD are widely reported as well, so this study-if approved-will undoubtedly add validity to those claims and demonstrate once and for all that PTSD responds well to certain cannabinoids and people afflicted with the disorder should have unquestioned access to it.
Next, CS plans to investigate the use of cannabinoids for treatment of chronic pain.
Dr. Bob holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the City University of New York. In 2005 he retired as Chairman of the Biology Department at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs but he continues to teach and research cannabinoids, cancer, and DNA repair.
As an authority on the therapeutic use of cannabinoids, Dr Bob has authored or co-authored dozens of papers on a wide variety of scientific subjects.
He serves as Scientific Advisor for Cannabis Therapeutics, is on the Editorial Board of The Journal of the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine and on the Scientific Advisory Board of Americans for Safe Access, the Marijuana Policy Project, and Sensible Colorado as well as several other state dispensaries and patient advocacy groups.
Melamede has also served as a director of Newellink Inc, a Colorado-based company specializing in cancer research, but in spite of all these notable achievements, he's still just "Dr Bob," and a medical cannabis patient himself, using it for chronic back pain and other medical conditions.
At UCCS Dr Bob teaches a course on medical cannabis-one of very few in the world. He declares that cannabis is "an anti-aging drug with incredible health benefits." He will undoubtedly be proved correct.
© 2011 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Dr. Tod Mikuriya
As one of the authors of Proposition 215—the 1996 California state ballot measure legalizing marijuana for seriously ill patients having a doctor's recommendation—Dr. Tod Hiro Mikuriya (1933-2007) was truly a pioneer in cannabis research and medicine. Still in medical school when he first started the study of cannabis medicine, Dr. Mikuriya went on in 1967 to briefly oversee the National Institute of Mental Health Center for Narcotics and Drug Abuse Studies’ non-classified marijuana research program. He left the Institute when he learned the government was interested in negative results only.
Dr. Mikuriya—or “Dr. Tod” as he was widely known—was born in Pennsylvania, grew up in the Quaker community of Fallsington, and attended Quaker schools. Dr. Tod’s father was a Japanese Civil Engineer and converted Christian and his mother, a German immigrant, practiced the Bahá'í faith. Together, they decided to raise their children as Quakers. As an adult, Dr. Tod believed that his views were related to his religious background, and so it might seem.
Of those gentle people, Dr. Tod said, “The Quakers were proprietors of the Underground Railway, I’m proud to say. The cannabis prohibition has the same dynamics as the bigotry and racism my family and I experienced starting on 7 December 1941, when we were transformed from normal-but-different people into war-criminal surrogates."
Eager for higher education, Mikuriya sang folk songs to pay his way through Reed College in Portland, Oregon, graduating in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He served as a medic in the Army and then earned his medical degree in 1962 from Temple University. It was at Temple that Dr. Tod’s lifelong interest in medical cannabis began when he chanced upon a reference to it in a pharmacological text.
After specializing in psychiatry at Oregon State Hospital and completing training at Mendocino State Hospital, Dr. Mikuriya by 1970 had entered private practice in Berkeley. Mikuriya Medical is California's original medical marijuana consultation service. In 1972 Mikuriya published Marijuana Medical Papers: 1869-1972, a landmark work which signaled the beginning of the current medical marijuana movement.
Dr. Tod had a gentle manner and usually wore a white lab coat emblazoned with the snake and staff of Asclepius atop a marijuana leaf, revealing his specialty. He wrote lyrics for several of the songs used in the campaign for the 1996 Medical Marijuana Initiative in California and when the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 became law, Dr. Tod began practicing cannabis therapy full time.
Not surprisingly, negative attention from many prohibitionists rained down upon Dr. Tod shortly after this bold move. Protagonists of prohibition from the Federal Drug Czar down to county sheriffs verbally attacked and threatened Dr. Mikuriya, but he stood firm and did not waver and by the time of his death in May 2007 he had overcome most of this personal opposition.
To help educate his colleagues about the medical uses of cannabis, in 1999 Dr. Mikuriya founded the Society of Cannabis Clinicians. He made a list of 285 conditions known to respond to cannabis therapy—including many cancers, insomnia and stuttering. Dr. Tod has written a number of books on the subject as well.
His controversial practices might have caused Dr. Mikuriya more than his share of clashes with authorities, but he took it all in stride and continued with his work.
In 2004, Dr. Tod was placed on probation by the Medical Board of California, who accused him of incompetence and unprofessional conduct for recommending marijuana to 16 patients and failing to perform proper physical examinations. He was also accused of failure to keep adequate records. These accusations came from law enforcement only; not one patient, family or physician complaint was filed when the Board solicited comments.
When the state placed Dr. Mikuriya on probation in 2004 he appealed the decision and, under the watchful eye of a state monitor, continued his practice, although he stopped seeing patients at his home.
Dr. Tod intended to continue to appeal his charges—which he considered to be politically motivated—but he became ill with cancer, which ultimately claimed his life in May, 2007. His sister, Mary Jane Mikuriya, took over her brother’s cannabis clinical consultation practice after his death.
In addition to his life’s work, Mary Jane says that Dr. Tod also enjoyed traveling, flying his plane, racing cars and experimental cooking—including once using food coloring to turn an entire meal blue just to examine the psychological effect.
Of her brother, Mary Jane also said, "He was eclectic and had an adventurer's spirit and was very, very curious.” Dr. Tod is also survived by another sister, a son and a daughter.
© 2010 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Professor Roger G. Pertwee
At Oxford University In 1968, post-doctoral scholar Roger G. Pertwee began research on the pharmacology of cannabinoids with Professor Sir William Paton. Their preliminary work focused on delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol extracted from tincture of cannabis, which at that time was still legal medicine in the UK.
In 1974, Pertwee moved to Aberdeen and continued his cannabinoid research, investigating the hypothermic properties of THC and discovering that it enables animals to maintain a lower-than-normal core temperature. He also discovered during this time that the globus pallidus, located deep within the brain, is one of the locations at which cannabinoids affect motor function.
At a cannabinoid gathering in Palm Beach in 1991, research presented by Pertwee attracted the attention of another attendee, Professor Rafael Mechoulam, and resulted in a collaborative effort, based on work by Graeme Griffin, which led to some of the first evidence that anandamide—a naturally-occurring substance produced by the human body—binds to and activates cannabinoid receptors within the body. This exciting discovery lent credence to the argument that anandamide is actually an endogenous cannabinoid, or endocannabinoid.
In 1992, Pertwee joined with some of his colleagues in founding the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS). He is currently International Secretary of the group and has twice been elected its president. Professor Pertwee has also served as First Chairman of the IACM (2005-2007), and is a current member of the Board of Directors of the group and its Second Chairman. Pertwee is an invited member of the Faculty of 1000 and a member of another group, the Endocannabinoid System Network (ECSN), whose mission is to help other scientists understand the pharmacology and clinical significance of the endocannabinoid system.
Working with Drs Rik Musty and Paul Consroe in 1997, Pertwee helped to conduct the first large survey of self-medicating MS patients. In 1998, Professor Roger Pertwee personally presented evidence on cannabis to the Science and Technology Committee at the House of Lords. He is Professor of Neuropharmacology at the University of Aberdeen and co-chair of the International Union of Pharmacology (IUPHAR) Subcommittee on Cannabinoid Receptors, as well as coordinator of the British Pharmacological Society's Special Interest Group on Cannabinoids, and is a visiting Professor at the University of Hertfordshire.
In 2002, Pertwee received the Mechoulam Award for his “outstanding contributions to cannabinoid research," is listed by ISI Web of Knowledge as an “ISI Highly Cited Researcher,” and is widely regarded as one of "the world's most cited and influential researchers." He served on the Royal Pharmaceutical Society group that helped to design clinical trials with cannabis and THC that were funded by the Medical Research Council and conducted in the UK.
As if all of the above activities would not occupy all of Professor Pertwee’s time, he is also Director of Pharmacology for GW Pharmaceuticals and he heads GW’s Institute of Cannabinoid Research at Aberdeen. There is much more in Roger Pertwee’s long list of accomplishments, including authorship of numerous articles on the cannabinoids, and frequent speaking engagements. He was a contributing author of Therapeutic Uses of Cannabis, a publication of the British Medical Association.
Pertwee’s current research on the pharmacological actions of plant cannabinoids is supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), by the US National Institute on Drug Abuse (part of NIH) and by GW Pharmaceuticals.
© 2010 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Ed Rosenthal
It is difficult to imagine there might be readers who have never heard of Ed Rosenthal, the outspoken advocate for the legalization of marijuana and proficient cannabis grower. During the Reagan presidency, Rosenthal had been an advisor to the federal government’s Compassionate Use Investigative New Drug (IND) program, wherein cannabis was grown at the University of Mississippi and distributed to the few patients whose medical conditions had qualified them for the program.
In 1994, while Dennis Peron was creating the first cannabis club across the bay in San Francisco, Rosenthal was working in Oakland with state and local governments to develop a similar means of delivering medical grade cannabis to qualified patients. Rosenthal has never limited his advocacy to medical cannabis, but the City of Oakland deputized him to produce cannabis for medical use because he is so widely recognized as an expert grower.
Unfortunately, Rosenthal’s role as “official” medical cannabis grower for the City of Oakland did not protect him from federal authorities. The federal government refuses to recognize states’ rights to enact medical cannabis policy, and in 2002 DEA investigators arrested Rosenthal for cultivation of about 100 cannabis plants, which he was growing for an Oakland cannabis club.
At the trial, Rosenthal’s attorneys were not permitted to argue before the jury that he was sanctioned by the Oakland city government to grow cannabis for city dispensaries! Rosenthal was convicted, but U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer dealt the federal government an unexpected setback when he sentenced Rosenthal to time already served: one day. When jurors learned the truth about the nature of Rosenthal’s activities, most were infuriated and denounced their own verdicts.
Ed Rosenthal was determined to clear his record. After several years of appealing his conviction, the 9th Circuit Appeals Court finally overturned it in 2006. End of story? No. The U.S. Attorney’s office re-indicted Rosenthal and on May 14, 2007 a new trial got underway—with a promise from the judge of no additional prison time.
Judge Breyer again did not allow Rosenthal’s attorneys to argue before the jury that his work was city-sanctioned, and he was reconvicted on three of five charges. Judge Breyer kept his promise and did not give Rosenthal any additional jail time. Ed Rosenthal is again appealing his conviction.
When he is not being harassed by federal officials Rosenthal writes and publishes many works, and is a general humanitarian. Along with his wife, Jane Klein, he owns and operates a publishing house, Quick Trading Company, in Piedmont, California, which specializes in cannabis-related books by Rosenthal and other authors.
Rosenthal has thoroughly researched cannabis production and was one of the first American writers to travel to The Netherlands in search of information about cannabis breeding and production techniques, which he happily shared with readers around the world.
His first book, Marijuana Grower’s Guide, is the only book on marijuana cultivation to have been reviewed by The New York Times Book Review. He has written more than twenty other books on the subject, and for nearly two decades Rosenthal’s “Ask Ed” advice column has answered all sorts of readers’ and breeders’ marijuana questions.
Ed Rosenthal is a member of the International Cannabis Research Society and the Garden Writers Association of America. He has worked with California legislators, actively promoting and helping to develop civil regulation policies for the state’s medical cannabis program. He also serves from time to time as an expert witness on marijuana cultivation in federal and state trials.
Rosenthal was born in 1944 in Bronx, New York. In 1988 he married Jane Klein and they live in Oakland, California. Rosenthal has a son and a daughter.
His popular blog is at http://edrosenthal.blogspot.com.
Quick Trading Company – Rosenthal’s publishing house
Green Aid – The Medical Marijuana Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.
© 2010 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Dr. Ethan Russo
Ethan Russo, M.D., is a clinical neurologist in Missoula, Montana, whose specialties are child neurology, migraines and chronic pain. Russo, a native Montanan, is also a ground-breaking researcher in the study of therapeutic cannabis. He has been keenly interested in cannabis and its medicinal qualities for many years and says it is the most useful plant on earth.
A loving husband and devoted father of two great teenagers, Russo is naturally cheerful and extremely energetic. If he is not busy writing, teaching, farming or parenting he is away, traveling to international events that feature information on cannabis therapeutics or conducting on-the-spot research on medicinal plants in the field.
Dr. Russo says he has discussed cannabis with his patients ranging in age from 17 to 75 years and has yet to have one complain or drop him as his/her doctor. He goes on to say that he feels generally respected by his colleagues, his community and medical licensing authorities.
“I may have lost a few clinical cannabis patients,” he says, “but only because they moved to one of the states where voters made it legal." Russo continues, "My opinion about the efficacy and relative safety of cannabis is widely known since I've made no secret of my feelings the last few years."
In 1996 Russo began an attempt to obtain government approval of clinical studies with cannabis. In 1999 his long-awaited, DEA-approved application to study the effects of cannabis in acute migraine was abruptly rendered completely useless when the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)—official supplier for the federal government’s IND program—refused to supply the cannabis for the proposed research!
Undaunted by this setback, when the renowned Dr. Lester Grinspoon approached Dr. Russo about producing a professional publication for cannabis researchers with up-to-date information, he responded with the Journal of Cannabis Therapeutics, first published in January 2001.
The journal created by Russo in 2004 became the peer-reviewed CANNABINOIDS, an online journal of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (IACM) published on their website in several languages.
© 2010 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Steph Sherer
In spite of her often debilitating medical condition, Steph Sherer has several years’ experience managing and servicing non-profit and community organizations. She is a respected advocate, an articulate spokesperson and a tireless campaigner.
Never idle, Sherer is nationally recognized for her work in the global justice movement and has been honored for her work in community development, social justice, human rights, youth programs and more. She has received a number of community awards, and in 2003 she received the San Diego Peacemaker of the Year Award.
Sherer regularly suffers pain, muscle spasms and inflammation from a neurological movement disorder called torticollis, in which certain muscles controlling the neck undergo repetitive or sustained contraction which causes the neck to jerk or twist to the side. This abnormal posture is often debilitating and usually painful. The disorder is also sometimes called wry neck and may spread to involve other muscles, especially in the jaw, arm, or leg. In spite of her condition, and in addition to her other activities, Sherer is a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley and George Washington University in Washington, DC.
In 2002, outraged by DEA raids on patients and medical cannabis cooperatives, Sherer was led to create Americans for Safe Access (ASA) in Oakland, California for the purpose of educating people on the medicinal use of cannabis and offering patients some much-needed resources.
Before founding ASA Sherer spent three years in San Diego, where she began working with the global justice movement, becoming well known for her local activism and nationally recognized for her effective leadership in challenging the biotechnology industry and other critical social and public safety threats.
Today, Sherer spends a good portion of her time in Washington, DC, where she and ASA continue their work to get federal cannabis policies changed so patients’ immediate needs may be met, and to create long-term programs to foster research.
The medical cannabis movement would be far behind where we are today, and patients much worse off without the dedicated work of Steph Sherer and ASA, and I for one would like to say thank you so very much for your kindness and compassion. Godspeed.
© 2010 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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Medical Cannabis and ADD, ADHD and Autism
Who in their right mind would give dangerous chemicals to a child? Millions of parents do this every day, often at the behest of their children's school officials, when they give strong pharmaceutical drugs to their children with ADHD, ADD and other psychiatric disorders.
Who in their right mind would give marijuana to a child? If those same parents gave their children controlled doses of cannabis they would likely be arrested if found out, but a recent article from the New York Times suggests that medical cannabis can be quite helpful in the treatment of people who suffer with autism, ADD, ADHD and similar conditions.
The most commonly-prescribed pharmaceuticals: methylphenidate (Ritalin), amphetamine and dextroamphetamine (Adderall), and pemoline (Cylert) are known to produce serious side effects including, but not limited to, nervousness, headache, depression, rapid heartbeat, blood pressure instability, abdominal pain, cardiac arrhythmia and even stunted growth. Moreover, these substances can lead to dependency and addiction. Ritalin is very similar to cocaine. Cases in which the use of Ritalin has led to death have been recorded.
Why would parents do this to their kids? The answer can only be that they are desperate for help for their children who are struggling with the distressing symptoms of their emotional disorders. The child with the condition is not the only family member who suffers from his ADD/ADHD, autism, or other psychiatric affliction. The stress of living with such a child can negatively affect the entire family. Mounting anecdotal evidence appears to verify that cannabis produces beneficial results in the treatment of certain mental health disorders, while scientific reports of positive results are emerging from studies conducted abroad.
As a "Schedule One" substance, cannabis is illegal in the U.S. even when used as medicine, so medical research may not be carried out on it. Previous research in the U.S. has been done primarily to illustrate the "harmfulness" of the substance.
Certainly, marijuana-like other mind-altering substances-is not without its drawbacks. It must not be ignored that some research results hint at the potential for negative outcomes among young, chronic users, emphasizing the need to proceed with caution when working with younger subjects. Still, the early consensus seems to be that the potential therapeutic benefits of cannabis outweigh the potential risks for most patients.
For example, in a recent case in Berkeley, Dr. Frank Lucido authorized marijuana use for a 16-year-old patient with ADHD for whom Ritalin was not effective. The patient just could not seem to stay out of trouble. Aware of cannabis's safety record and certain that he would be doing his young patient no harm, Dr. Lucido decided to try the patient on cannabis to see whether it might help him.
Dr. Lucido reported that within a year of beginning treatment not only had his patient improved his grades, he was elected president of his class. The patient stated that his brain had started working and, for the first time, he was able to think. The Medical Board of California questioned Dr. Lucido about his decision to try his patient on cannabis but in the end decided against disciplining him for it.
Another doctor, Dr. Edward M. Hallowell, a psychiatrist and author of several books on these behavioral disorders goes so far as to say that marijuana can be a "godsend" for certain patients with ADHD, but he goes on to say that because of the legal issue he discourages his patients from using it. Dr. Hallowell also reports that in some people he has observed a loss of initiative to do anything but get stoned.
There is no question that much more research needs to be done before the therapeutic benefit of cannabis treatment for behavior disorders can be established beyond all doubt, but with the major policy reversal announced in November, 2010 by the American Medical Association, calling for the reclassification of cannabis so that studies on it may commence, it is likely only a matter of time until the medicinal usefulness of the cannabis plant becomes apparent to all.
© 2010 by c.a. riley. All rights reserved.
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