MPP Update #28

By Dan Bernath

A medical marijuana bill is signed into law in New Mexico. In Minnesota, the Senate passes a medical marijuana bill. An Illinois legislative chamber votes on medical marijuana for the first time. A similar bill reaches the governor's desk in Connecticut for the first time, only to have her veto it with a flimsy excuse. New York's governor renounces his previous opposition to medical marijuana as legislation passes the state's Assembly. Rhode Island's legislature overwhelmingly overrides a gubernatorial veto to make that state's medical marijuana law permanent. In Vermont, a bipartisan coalition of legislators enacts an expansion of the state's medical marijuana program to cover more patients and medical conditions.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, an amendment that would forbid the Justice Department – including the DEA – from using taxpayer dollars to interfere in states that have medical marijuana laws should soon receive record-breaking support…

With recent advances across the nation, advocates have never been so close to ending the government's war on medical marijuana patients.

In spite of this progress – or more likely, because of it – medical marijuana faces unprecedented threats from opponents who would rather lock up suffering patients than allow them access to a drug they find personally offensive.

As growing scientific understanding, political will, and public support combine to create momentum for sensible, compassionate protection for medical marijuana patients, the opposition becomes more desperate. Their tactics become more ruthless. And the threat they pose to seriously ill people becomes more real.

Three fronts in their war on medical marijuana are particularly troubling.

Ignoring the Will of Voters
In San Diego, county supervisors consumed with a sudden concern for the primacy of federal law sued the state of California rather than obey a law requiring them to establish a medical marijuana identification card program.

A Superior Court judge sensibly tossed the case last December, raising hopes that the supervisors' taxpayer-funded legal adventure had ended.

But supervisor Bill Horn – ignoring the weakness of the county's legal arguments – complained that the judge just "gave us the politically correct opinion that we ignored the will of the voters," and he and his colleagues voted to appeal.

That's right: There's no time to even feign respect for the democratic process when there are sick, dying people out there using their medicine without even the slightest fear of arrest.

With luck, the 4th District Court of Appeals will demonstrate the same "politically correct" attitudes about the will of voters that the Superior Court judge showed. If not, expect medical marijuana opponents to use the ruling to argue that local and state governments need no longer respect state laws or their constituents.

Casting Their Lot With the Feds
It's clear that medical marijuana foes, many of whom are otherwise states-rights fans from way back, now see federal interference as their best hope for keeping medical marijuana patients cowed.

Which could explain why anti-marijuana zealot Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) would slip an amendment into an FDA bill that would explicitly place responsibility for medical marijuana under the FDA.

It's complicated and clever in its own fiendish way. If the bill passes, it could make patients and caregivers vulnerable to arrest for violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act – even in the 12 states with medical marijuana laws. Medical marijuana opponents may even try to use the new law to impose the federal government’s will on states that protect patients from arrest and jail, though supporters of compassionate access are almost certain to fight such attempts in court.

The "Good" (and Expensive) Medical Marijuana
While drug warrior policymakers work behind the scenes to circumvent medical marijuana laws, their counterparts charged with the unenviable task of articulating cruel anti-medical marijuana policies to an increasingly skeptical public believe they may finally have a winning argument. And it comes in a convenient spray.

Called Sativex, this liquid made from natural marijuana is already approved in Canada and will soon begin U.S. testing. Medical marijuana opponents are already hailing Sativex as the final word in the debate on medical marijuana. With this fine pharmaceutical product, they say, why should anyone be allowed to smoke that nasty weed?

If Sativex does prove safe and effective for some patients, that's wonderful news. The prospect of not one, but two new options for suffering patients should be cause for celebration.

But Sativex clearly has drawbacks. For one, it takes much longer to work than marijuana that's vaporized or smoked – an hour or more, according to the official Canadian prescribing information. And it's expensive.

So what sense does it make to use that as a justification to make patients who respond well to marijuana – also proven safe and effective – criminals? Does anybody think the advent of acetaminophen means aspirin users should go to jail? Some patients and doctors may well prefer Sativex, but should they be forced to use it literally at the point of a DEA agent's gun?

And of course, Sativex isn't approved in the United States yet, and probably won't be for at least a couple of years. Seriously ill patients are suffering right now. This doesn't seem to concern the anti-medical marijuana crowd.

Legal protection for all seriously ill patients who use medical marijuana with a doctor's recommendation will come. But we can't let up. The closer we get, the more desperate the opposition gets. We can defeat them, because science and common sense are on our side. But we shouldn't imagine that it will be easy.

Dan Bernath is the Marijuana Policy Project’s assistant director of communications, www.mpp.org. Email him at dbernath@mpp.org.