A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER: The Drug Legalization Movement in America

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A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER  The Drug
Legalization Movement in America

• Presented at
• The Midwest Security and Police Conference
• August 13, 2008
• by
• Calvina L. Fay
• Executive Director
• Drug Free America Foundation
• www.dfaf.org

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Objectives

• This presentation will provide
• An overview of the tactics being utilized in the
  drug legalization movement and their consequences
• An update on the progress and failures of the
  advocates for drug legalization, including
  efforts in Illinois
• Information on the medical efficacy (or lack
  thereof) and the harms of marijuana
• Information on what can be done to push back
  against drug legalization and why you should get
  involved

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Legalization - The Goal

• Family Values are endangered as drug prevention,
  treatment, and law enforcement are being
  profoundly impacted due to the well-financed
  movement to normalize and legalize all currently
  illegal drugs!

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Impact on Treatment

• Treatment is being redefined as maintenance.
• Addiction is becoming acceptable and not
  mentioned.
• It is represented that all drugs can be used
  responsibly, with the exception of nicotine.
• Losing our hammer to shepherd addicts into
  treatment.

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Impact on Prevention

• Drug education is being shifted from educating
  children against drugs to educating children
  about drugs.
• Children are being taught that they can use drugs
  safely if they just know how.
• Children are being taught how to use drugs.

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Impact on Law Enforcement

• Drug laws cannot be enforced.
• Drug laws are being weakened.
• Asset forfeiture funds are being lost, affecting
  the ability to fight organized crime and protect
  our communities.

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The Ploys of the Drug Culture

• Mainstream approach
• Crime/Drug War has failed
• Harm reduction its the policy not the drugs
• NEPs
• Drug education
• Treatment
• Marijuana and other Schedule One drugs as
  medicine
• Hemp for the environment

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Bridgeport, Connecticut - 1997 Kit to use crack
safely
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Excerpts from Safe Crack Kit Brochure

• If you smoke indoors, make sure it is
  ventilated. Poorly aired rooms can be risky for
  tuberculosis (TB). Cover your mouth when
  coughing.
• If you have problems breathing or are coughing
  up dark stuff, slow down or stop smoking for a
  while. See a doctor is if it continues!

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Harm Reduction and Education

• Harm reduction is creeping into drug education
  at
• -schools
• -universities
• -workplaces

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WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT EFFECTIVE DRUG EDUCATION?

• HISTORY HAS SHOWN THAT WHEN THE
• PERCEPTION OF HARM WAS UP, DRUG
• USE WAS DOWN. WHEN PERCEPTION OF
• HARM WAS DOWN, DRUG USE WENT UP.

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Marijuana Harm Reduction
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Its Just a Plant

• Directed squarely at very young children
• Foreword by Marsha Rosenbaum Ph.D
• Published by Magic Propaganda Mill
• Promoted by Drug Policy Alliance
• Thanks to Ethan, George Soros, mates at the
  NYPD, anyone doing time for this plant Marsha
  Rosenbaum

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Marijuana

• Medicine vs. Legalization Tactic

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NORML

• Based on our objective of legalization by 1997,
  we must begin by demanding immediate medical
  access to marijuana for the sick.
• Richard Cowan
• Executive Director
• High Times Jan 1993

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Is Marijuana Medicine ?

• Scientific research does not indicate it is
• The Food and Drug Administration has stated it is
  not
• ALL major national medical associations have
  rejected it
• The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that medical
  necessity is not a legal defense for possessing
  it

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How Does Medicine Become Medicine?

• Legitimate, double-blind studies not just
  because it makes you feel good
• FDA approval process (w/DEA input) with specific
  criteria
• Sometimes derived from natural plant material

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Voters or Legalizers? (as of 10/26/2000)

• Legalizers 96
• Questionable 3.5
• Grassroots
  .5

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The Three Big Funders of Drug Legalization

• George Soros Open Society over 50 MILLION
  contributed
• Convicted of insider trading
• Peter Lewis Progressive Insurance Estimated
  at 6-8 MILLION per year
• Arrested by authorities in The Netherlands for
  attempting to smuggle drugs
• John Sperling Phoenix University over 13
  MILLION contributed

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U.S. STATES/DISTRICTS THAT HAVE APPROVED MEDICAL
EXCUSE MARIJUANA

• California
• Arizona (legislative members pre-emptive
  implementation)
• Oregon
• Washington
• Alaska
• Maine
• Hawaii (by legislation)
• Nevada
• Montana
• D.C. (amendment prohibits becoming law)
• Vermont
• Colorado
• Rhode Island (by legislation)
• New Mexico (by legislation)

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So, whats the harm in allowing marijuana use?
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Toxins, Toxins, Toxins

• Over 200 known toxic byproducts of the combustion
  of the marijuana leaf, stem, seed
• Carcinogenic
• Tar, tar and more tar
• At least 5 times the potency of cigarettes

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Pot is More Potent Than Ever

• The University of Mississippi's Potency
  Monitoring Project said the level of THC -- the
  main psychoactive substance in marijuana -- was
  9.6 percent in recently seized samples compared
  to an average of just under 4 percent in 1983.

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MJ As Mild Drug Emergency Department Visits

• 24 percent increase in ED visits since 2001
• Correlates with the increasing potency of the
  cannabinoids (and also toxins) in current
  marijuana
• Hallucinogenic properties
• SAMSHA 2002 Drug Abuse Warning Network survey

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Institute of Medicine Report Marijuana and
Medicine 1999

• Given a cigarette of comparable weight (due to
  loose packing of MJ joint), as much as four times
  the amount of tar can be deposited in the lungs
  of MJ smokers as in the lungs of tobacco smokers
• joints do not have filters
• large inhalation volume
• deep lung inhalation
• breath holding practices

42
IOM Report Immune System

• Cell culture and animal studies have established
  cannabinoids as immunomodulators that is, they
  increase some immune responses and decrease
  others
• Based on drug dose, timing of delivery, type of
  immune cell examined

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MJ and Pregnancy

• Dr. S. Dey, Vanderbilt Univ. Medical Center,
  Proceedings National Academy Sciences, 2003
• Anandamide normally exists in the body and
  facilitates the implantation of the embryo into
  the uterus
• Slightly higher dosages may interfere with this
  process and be responsible for spontaneous
  miscarriages

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IOM Report Cognition

• Psychomotor function disrupted by acute MJ body
  sway, hand steadiness, rotary pursuit, driving
  and flying simulation, divided attention,
  sustained attention and digit-symbol substitution
  test
• Experienced airline pilot flight simulator study
• MJ administered 24hrs before simulator task
• pilots thought that they wouldnt be impaired
  they were
• Cognitive impairments associated with acutely
  administered MJ limit the activities that people
  would be able to do safely or productively drive
  vehicle or operate potentially dangerous equipment

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MJ, Pregnancy and Kids Learning

• Dr. V. Cuomo, La Sapienza Univ. Rome, Proceedings
  National Academy of Sciences, 2003
• Offspring of pregnant rats given low dose MJ
  cannabinoid were found to perform poorly in
  learning tests throughout their lives
• Hyperactivity demonstrated during rat infancy and
  adolescence
• This hyperactivity stopped in adulthood but was
  replaced with memory retention problems

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1999 National Center on Addiction and Substance
Abuse (CASA) Report MJ Children

• Impairment of short-term memory, concentration,
  motor skills
• Greater likelihood of another illicit drug like
  cocaine, heroin
• Increase risk of unprotected and or multi-partner
  sex
• Potential long-term physical/psychological
  dependence
• Depressed reaction time, coordination, attention
  span with subsequent risks of accidents

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MJ and Depression

• George Patton, Murdoch Childrens Research
  Institute, Melbourne, n1600, 14-15yo, followed
  over 7 years
• Daily MJ use associated with 5 fold increased
  risk of depression by 20yo
• Weekly use linked to a 2 fold increase
• NewScientist.com, 11/02

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The Cannabis Timebomb James Chapman, Daily Mail
(UK)

• Cannabis users are seven times more likely to
  develop mental illness, a devastating report has
  revealed
• Report by Prof. Robin Murray, head of psychiatry
  at London Institute of Psychiatry to the annual
  meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatry
• Response to the UK Home Secretary David
  Blunketts decision to reclassify cannabis from
  schedule B to schedule C (like tranquilizers)
• 80 of patients he assessed with first episode
  psychosis had been taking cannabis
• the more cannabis thats consumed, the more
  psychiatrists we are going to need

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Cannabis Timebomb

• 50,000 18yo Swedish Army conscripts who took
  cannabis on more than 50 occasions were 6 times
  more likely to develop schizophrenia in the
  following 15 years
• Dutch study of 4,000 showed that smoking 2 or
  more joints per week were almost 7 times more
  likely to have psychotic symptoms in the next
  three years
• Increased vulnerability if there is a family hx
  of mental illness

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Cannabis Timebomb

• Smoked marijuana connections to cancer and lung
  disease
• Studies demonstrating memory deficits secondary
  to marijuana consumption (face naming tasks,
  day-to-day forgetfulness) point to a 10 percent
  increase in these problems for 5-20 usages/month,
  and a 20 percent increase for usage greater than
  20 times
• Chapman, James Daily Mail, 11.20.02

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Institute of Medicine Report Marijuana and
Medicine 1999

• Logical categories for medical use MJ are not
  based on particular diseases but on symptoms
  (nausea, appetite loss, chronic pain) which can
  be caused by various diseases or the treatment
  for these diseases
• Scientific data indicate the potential
  therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs, primarily
  THC, for pain relief, control of nausea and
  vomiting, and appetite stimulation smoked
  marijuana, however, is a crude THC delivery
  system that also delivers harmful substances.but
  it does not follow from this that smoking
  marijuana is good medicine.
• FDA recently criticized medicinal use

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IOM Report

• Chronic effects of MJ are of greater concern and
  fall into 2 categories effects of chronic
  smoking and the effects of THC
• MJ smoke is like tobacco smoke in that it is
  associated with increased risk of cancer, lung
  damage and poor pregnancy outcome
• Smoked MJ is unlikely to be a safe medication for
  any chronic medical condition
• Vulnerable subpopulations of MJ users can develop
  dependence adolescents, people with psychiatric
  conditions/substance abuse appear to be at
  greater risk for MJ dependence

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Behavioral Consequences of MJ Dependence

• Alan J. Budney, Ph.D., U of Vermont
• Twofold increase in treatment-seeking for MJ
  dependence in the past 10 years
• MJ dependence more similar than dissimilar to
  dependence on other agents
• NIDA Workshops on Clinical Consequence of
  Marijuana, 2001

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12 Pounds of Marijuana
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Consequences of Legalizing Marijuana as a
So-called Medicine

• It is a stepping stone
• Amounts of MJ are later increased
• Distribution of MJ is sought
• Growing of MJ is sought
• Allowable ailments are increased
• Other initiatives are introduced
• Prop 36 and Prop 5
• It normalizes drug taking
• It creates the illusion that MJ is benign
• Increases drug use, especially with youth
• Ignores addiction, mental illnesses, and other
  harms

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Consequences of Legalizing Marijuana as a
So-called Medicine

• It actually harms the truly sick
• Suppresses immune system
• Denies sick true medical care, including pain
  management
• It increases crime and public safety issues
• It enables and encourages drug trafficking

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Consequences of Legalizing Marijuana as a
So-called Medicine

• THE CALIFORNIA EXPERIENCE
• People are smoking pot to treat EVERYTHING
• Non-profit dispensers are making a LOT of money
  (cash)
• New Remedies, a statewide dispenser, revealed
  weekly payroll is 170,000 with after-tax profit
  margins between 5 and 15. A DEA investigation
  showed they made 60 cash deposits totaling
  approx. 2.3 million to a single bank during one
  8-month period.
• Raided clinics in LA area averaged 20,000 in
  profits each day.
• One statewide operation brings in estimated 200
  million/year.
• Weapons (and other drugs) are frequently found in
  dispensaries armed robberies burglaries occur

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Consequences of Legalizing Marijuana as a
So-called Medicine

• THE CALIFORNIA EXPERIENCE
• Indoor growing facilities have been found next to
  day care centers
• Indoor growing facilities have been linked to an
  Asian organized crime group suspected of buying
  dozens of homes in affluent neighborhoods
• Indoor growing facilities steal electricity
  bypass meters creating fire hazards and safety
  issues for police others
• Indoor growing facilities are discarding used
  chemicals into community drainage systems or back
  yards resulting in environmental damage.

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Consequences of Legalizing Marijuana as a
So-called Medicine

• THE CALIFORNIA EXPERIENCE
• Cities are moving to ban dispensaries because of
  so many problems
• Dealers are claiming to be caregivers or
  patients in order to do business as usual
• Dispensaries have been linked to organized crime.
  One N. Hollywood dispensary owner told police a
  Jamaican drug trafficking organization was trying
  to take over his business was threatening
  physical violence to him his family.
• MJ has become a major cash crop 40 of all of
  Mendocino County economic activity.

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Consequences of Legalizing Marijuana as a
So-called Medicine

• THE CALIFORNIA EXPERIENCE
• Storefront operations are increasing (more than
  200 statewide), typically with no requirement for
  legitimate medical examinations or follow up.
  One doc saw 49 persons in 1 day, netting 150 per
  patient and saw 293 in 1 week, earning over
  43,000 without ever examining them.
• It is costly for the state to police the
  operations
• High school students have openly smoked medical
  marijuana in class
• No age requirement - Children are using MJ as
  so-called medicine can easily obtain it

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Consequences of Legalizing Marijuana as a
So-called Medicine

• THE CALIFORNIA EXPERIENCE
• Dispensaries attract criminal behavior
  robberies, burglaries, car-jackings, drug deals,
  beatings, murders
• Property owners around dispensaries claim some
  customers urinate on and vandalize nearby
  buildings, clog the area with traffic, and drive
  away legitimate business with what appears to be
  drug dealing. Some dispensaries attract 200 to
  300 per day.
• Many dispensaries also market products attractive
  to children such as MJ-laced candy bars and
  lollipops.

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Consequences of Legalizing Marijuana as a
So-called Medicine

• MULTI-STATE EXPERIENCE
• Obstacles for drug-free workplace programs
• Obstacles for treatment providers
• Mixed message to children
• Disregard for law enforcement
• Expanded legalization efforts
• More pot allowed
• More conditions to be treated
• Decriminalization
• Legalization
• Treatment vs. incarceration
• Distribution growing efforts

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The Stated Goals of the Drug Legalization
Advocates at the Start of 2008

• Lobbying Congress to pass medical fraud MJ
  legislation at federal level
• Legalize MJ as medicine federally
• Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment
• Expanding medical fraud MJ laws in RI and VT
• Medical fraud MJ ballot initiatives in up to 4
  states
• Arizona, Idaho, Michigan, Ohio
• War on Drug Czar campaign
• Decrim MJ initiative in MA

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Their Stated Goals for 2008 (contd)

• Build a coalition of supporters in NV
• Legalization ballot initiative in 2010
• Recruit celebrities
• Legislation to legalize MJ in CA
• Build upon city initiatives
• Medical fraud MJ state legislative bills
• Illinois, Minnesota, New York
• Work with doctors medical organizations to pass
  resolutions set internal policy supporting
  access to MJ as medicine

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The Drug Legalization Approach

• State legislation
• City ordinances
• Federal bills
• Ballot initiatives and petitions
• Resolutions

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The Drug Legalization Approach

• Medi-pot
• Expansion bills
• Allowable quantity
• Allowable conditions
• Distribution capability
• Source capability
• Treatment vs. incarceration
• Decriminalization
• Legalization

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Ballot Initiatives and Petitions in 2008

• 28 pro-drug ballot initiatives or petitions have
  been filed across the nation
• 9 failed or were unable to qualify for the ballot
• 14 remain open
• 5 passed

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Ballot Initiatives and Petitions in 2008 (contd)

• Initiatives or Petitions that PASSED local and
  no statewide
• Idaho legalized medical fraud MJ in Hailey
• Idaho made MJ law enforcements lowest priority
  in Hailey
• Idaho approved industrial use of hemp in Hailey
• Illinois made first time MJ possession a ticketed
  offense in Sugar Grove
• Vermont passed resolution to explore option for
  handling small amounts of MJ in Burlington
• Hailey city officials have filed a lawsuit
  against the initiatives.

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Ballot Initiatives and Petitions in 2008 (contd)

• Initiatives or Petitions that FAILED local and
  statewide
• Arizona petition to tax and decriminalize MJ
  and petition to implement medical fraud MJ
• California initiative to legalize hemp for
  medicine and industrial purposes
• Idaho initiative to regulate and tax MJ in
  Hailey
• Michigan ballot initiative to legalize MJ use
  on private property and permit cultivation of MJ

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Ballot Initiatives and Petitions in 2008 (contd)

• Initiatives or Petitions that FAILED local and
  statewide
• Oregon initiative to allow pot dispensaries and
  initiative to allow adults to consume, possess,
  cultivate MJ for non-medical purposes
• South Dakota initiative petition to lower
  drinking age to 19 for drinks containing 3.2 or
  less alcohol
• Vermont initiative to decriminalize MJ in
  Burlington

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Ballot Initiatives and Petitions in 2008 (contd)

• Initiatives or Petitions that are still OPEN
  local and statewide
• Arkansas Petition in Fayetteville to make MJ
  law enforcements lowest priority will be on Nov
  09 ballot
• California Prop 5 (NORA )which seeks to
  decriminalize MJ engage addicts in harm
  promotion will be on the Nov ballot
• California Act seeks to eliminate limits on
  amount of MJ that patients can possess in
  Berkley
• Massachusetts initiative to replace criminal
  penalties of 1 oz of MJ with a civil fine

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Ballot Initiatives and Petitions in 2008 (contd)

• Initiatives or Petitions that are still OPEN
  local and statewide
• Maine Summer ballot initiative to make MJ laws
  enforcements lowest priority, a petition to
  decriminalize MJ, and a petition to expand
  current medical MJ law
• Michigan initiative to legalize MJ as so-called
  medicine will be on state ballot in November and
  a ballot initiative in Ferndale to permit the use
  of MJ as a medicine and permit an organization
  the ability to distribute it

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Ballot Initiatives and Petitions in 2008 (contd)

• Initiatives or Petitions that are still OPEN
  local and statewide
• Oregon Portland initiative seeks to legalize
  possession of 1 oz of MJ for non-medical purposes
• Missouri Joplin petition seeks to decriminalize
  MJ and MJ paraphernalia

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Ballot Initiatives and Petitions Expected in 2010

• Nevada
• Legalization measure
• Oregon
• Oregon Cannabis Tax Act was to start signature
  gathering in July 08
• Dispensary program filed on June 30, 2008
• Oregon Crimefighting Act A good initiative
  supported by SOS that would require that
  medical MJ be FDA-approved

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Pro-drug Legislative Efforts in 2008

• 63 pieces of legislation
• 47 failed or were unable to make it out of
  committee
• 3 passed but, 2 were vetoed by the Governors of
  HI and RI and the 1 in VT cannot go into effect
  until definition of MJ is amended by Congress
• 13 are still open

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Pro-drug Legislative Efforts PASSED in 2008

• Hawaii sought to expand number of MJ plants
  allowed to medical users and to create a
  taskforce to study the transport of JM between
  the islands passed but vetoed by governor
• Rhode Island sought to allow pot dispensaries
  passed but vetoed by governor
• Vermont allows for industrial hemp but will not
  take effect until US Congress amends definition
  of MJ

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Pro-drug Legislative Efforts still OPEN in 2008

• Massachusetts
• SB 1121 would replace criminal penalties of 1 oz
  of MJ with a civil fine
• HB 2247 would allow for medi-pot
• SB 1011 seeks to decriminalize 1 oz or less of MJ
• SB 944 would allow for medi-pot
• Michigan
• HB 4038 medi-pot bill carried over from 2007

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Pro-drug Legislative Efforts still OPEN in 2008

• New Jersey
• AB 804 SB 119 medi-pot bills
• Ohio
• SB 343 seeks to legalize medi-pot

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Pro-drug Legislative Efforts still OPEN in 2008

• California
• SJR 20 urges Congress to mandate DEA and others
  to uphold state law in violation of federal law
  and allow MJ as medicine
• AB 2279 would protect medi-pot users in the
  workplace
• AB 2743 would make it illegal for state and local
  law enforcement to assist federal agencies with
  enforcement of federal drug laws
• Illinois
• SB 2865/HB 5938 seeks to allow medi-pot

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• Seeks to legalize MJ as a so-called medicine
  allows possession of up to 2.5 oz (150-300
  joints) of usable MJ and 8 plants (plus any
  incidental amount of seeds, stalks, unusuable
  roots)
• House bill re-referred to Rules Committee
• Senate Floor Amendment No. 4 Re-referred to
  Rules Pursuant to Senate Rule 3-9(b)

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• Allows medical use of MJ to treat, among other
  illnesses, a chronic or debilitating disease or
  medical condition that produces
• Cachexia or wasting syndrome
• Severe pain
• Severe nausea
• Seizures, including but NOT LIMITED TO those
  characteristic of
• Epilepsy
• Severe persistent muscle spasms

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• Chronic disease or condition disease or
  condition lasting for more than 3 months
• Debilitating disease or condition disease or
  condition causing loss of energy of strength

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• Medical use is defined to include acquisition,
  possession, cultivation, manufacture, use,
  delivery, transfer, or transportation of MJ or
  paraphernalia relating to the administration of
  MJ to treat or alleviate a patients condition.
  
• Users are recognized as qualifying patients.

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• Medi-pot can be recommended by practitioners
  who will be registered by the state. A
  practitioner means a person who is licensed
  with authority to prescribe drugs under Article
  III of the Illinois Controlled Substance Act.
  Does this include vets and dentists?

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• Primary caregivers are allowed to supply MJ to
  users and may assist up to 5 individuals.
• Caregivers can receive compensation and can
  possess 12.5 oz of MJ (750-1500 joints) and 40
  plants (plus any incidental amount of seeds,
  stalks, unusuable roots).
• Visiting qualifying patients are recognized as
  so-called patients who are not residents of ILL
  or who have been a resident for less than 30 days.

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• Allows for medical MJ organizations
  (dispensaries) to be recognized by the state and
  issued an ID card to allow them to provide the MJ
  source.
• Medical MJ organization is defined as a
  registered entity that acquires, possesses,
  cultivates, manufactures, delivers, transfers,
  transports, supplies, or dispenses MJ, or related
  supplies and educational materials to registered
  qualifying patients.

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• No restriction on locating medical MJ
  organizations near day care centers, parks, and
  playgrounds.
• The Department SHALL give reasonable notice of
  inspection of facilities.
• Medical MJ organizations are prohibited from
  obtaining MJ from outside the state of ILL. How
  will this be enforced???

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• Prohibits businesses, occupational, or
  professional licensing boards or bureaus from
  taking any disciplinary action against
  patients, caregivers, or medical MJ
  organizations as long as they comply with the
  Act.
• No school, employer, or landlord may refuse to
  enroll or employ or lease to, or otherwise
  penalize a patient or caregiver solely for
  their status as such.

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• A law enforcement agency that seizes does not
  return medical MJ shall be liable to the
  cardholder for the fair market value of the MJ.
• Users from other states are protected even though
  their ID card was issued by a different state
  with different rules.
• After the Act becomes law, petitions from the
  public will be accepted to add debilitating
  medical conditions to the list.

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• Children may qualify for medi-pot with parental
  permission and involvement.
• Law enforcement would be prohibited from
  cooperating with federal law enforcement or other
  agencies that do not recognize the protection of
  this Act on any MJ-related investigation if the
  person is a patient.

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• Patients shall not be considered to be under
  the influence of MJ solely because of failing a
  drug test impairment would need to be proven.
• Patients may assert the medical purpose for
  using MJ as a defense to ANY prosecution
  involving MJ and this defense shall be presumed
  valid if they are acting within the Act. Proof
  to the contrary would be required.

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• ID cards would be issued by the state for
• Patients
• Caregivers
• Medi-pot organizations
• At what cost???

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• What are the safeguards for issuing ID cards?
• No limits for criminals or addicts as patients
  or as caregivers

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Illinois SB 2865 and HB 5938 Compassionate Use
of Medical Marijuana Pilot Program Act

• Limits issuance of card to any principal
  officer, board member, agent, or employee of a
  medical marijuana organization who has been
  convicted of a felony drug offense.
• Silent about other offenses
• Excludes from felony drug offense definition an
  offense for which sentence, including any term of
  probation, incarceration, or supervised release,
  was completed 10 or more years earlier OR an
  offense that involved conduct that would have
  been permitted under this Act.

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Pro-Drug Activity in Progress for 2008 at the
Federal Level

• Mobilizing for Hinchey-Rohrabacher federal
  amendment - was not introduced this year
• Mobilizing for federal bill to legalize MJ as
  medicine
• Federal bill filed by Rep. Frank Barney at the
  end of July to legalize personal possession of
  3.5 oz. MJ (210-420 joints) and not-for-profit
  transfer of 1 oz of MJ (60-120 joints)

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There is a lot of good news with positive
efforts!!!!!

• Anti-drug legislation PASSED
• Florida
• HB 173 lowered number of MJ plants possessed from
  300 to 25 for trafficking offense
• HB 1360 added Salvia Divinorum and Salvinorin A
  to list of Schedule I substances
• Hawaii
• HB 2346 added MJ to endangering welfare of a
  minor
• Kansas
• SB 481 makes Salvia a Schedule I drug

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There is a lot of good news with positive
efforts!!!!!

• Anti-drug legislation PASSED
• Louisiana
• HB 514 allows certain employers engaged in
  certain safety-sensitive areas to reduce the
  initial cut-off level for MJ testing
• HB 46 reorganizes Schedules I, II, III, and V of
  the Controlled Substances Law to make them more
  consistent with federal law
• SCR 78 expresses support for the creation of a
  joint legislative Substance Abuse and Mental
  Health Caucus
• Mississippi
• SB 2456 makes Salvia a Schedule I drug

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There is a lot of good news with positive
efforts!!!!!

• Anti-drug legislation PASSED
• Nebraska
• LB 844 re-criminalized MJ possession
• Oklahoma
• HB 3148 classifies Salvia as a Schedule I drug
• South Dakota
• HB 1060 increased penalties for possession with
  intent to sell
• SB 69 adds MJ to list of substances for purposes
  of child abuse

101
There is a lot of good news with positive
efforts!!!!!

• Anti-drug legislation PASSED
• North Carolina
• Expands drug-free safe zones/schools parks
• Tennessee
• HB 5828 seeks random student drug testing
  approved but placed at the back of the budget

102
There is a lot of good news with positive
efforts!!!!!

• Anti-drug legislation still PENDING
• New Jersey
• SB 1060 student drug testing
• AB 1323 criminalizes the sale and distribution of
  Salvia
• Ohio
• HB 215 seeks to classify Salvia as a Schedule I
  drug
• Pennsylvania
• SB 584 establishes problem-solving courts

103
There is a lot of good news with positive
efforts!!!!!

• At the federal level
• We have pro-actively pushed forward the
  implementation of the REAL ID Act in states
  across the country.

104
Unfortunately, some good bills did not make it

• North Carolina
• HB 1749 would have increased penalties for the
  sale of drugs near parks adjourned without
  action
• Alabama
• SB 15 sought to add Salvia to list of Schedule I
  drugs adjourned without action
• SB 8 sought to add the sale of Salvia as sale of
  controlled substance adjourned without action

105
Unfortunately, some good bills did not make it

• New York
• A 4358 S 2252 sought to increase penalties for
  sale of drugs and post drug-free school zones
  died in committee cannot be carried over
• A 2670 S 1447 relates to criminal possession of
  MJ on or near school grounds adjourned without
  action
• A 1534 S 816 would not allow candy to resemble
  MJ products or taste like MJ adjourned without
  action
• A 2079 sought to create aggravated sale of MJ
  adjourned without action
• A 10611 sought to prevent a controlled substance
  from resembling candy adjourned without action

106
Other Attacks by the Legalizers

• ACLU and legalization groups attacking random
  student drug testing
• ACLU and legalization groups attacking drug-free
  workplace programs
• Legalizers soliciting employers in their fight
• Treatment centers challenged by patients
  needing their medicine while in treatment
• Prison system challenged by those needing their
  medicine while incarcerated

107
Global Cornerstone Attacks by the Legalizers

• Harm reduction the harm of drug policy not the
  harm of drugs themselves
• Human rights the right to use drugs
• Elimination or alteration of the UN Drug
  Conventions

108
Understanding the international drug treaties

• The United Nations International Drug Conventions
  of 1961, 1971, and 1988 explicitly state that
  every member country must take measures to reduce
  drug use and the total harm resulting from the
  use of drugs. 
• The Conventions require member states to devote
  resources towards reducing the demand and supply
  of drugs and to not cede to legalization efforts. 

109
Understanding the international drug treaties

• Every ten years the goals that have been set
  forth in the Conventions are reviewed. 
• The current review was due in 2008 but, has been
  delayed until 2009 with 2008 to be observed as a
  year of reflection. 

110
Elimination of international drug treaties as a
legalization strategy

• Drug legalization advocates are planning to
  petition the United Nations during the General
  Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) in
  2009. 
• A call will be made for the elimination or
  rewriting of the Conventions which are vital in
  preventing countries from legalizing currently
  illegal drugs or implementing other drug
  permissive measures under international law. 
• A similar attempt was made during the review of
  the Conventions in 1998.

111
It is imperative that we protect the
international drug conventions

• Project SUNDIAL was formed to counter the efforts
  of the drug legalization advocates and support
  the international goals against drugs.  
• Online petition is available to enable citizens
  around the world to support the UN Drug
  Conventions and to push back against drug
  legalization. 
• Individuals and organizations may sign this
  petition located at www.ungassdrugs.org.

112
Whats Next From the Drug Legalization Movement?

• Heroin give-away programs
• Marijuana give-away programs
• Injection rooms
• Inhalation rooms
• More needle give-away programs
• Decriminalization/legalization

113
And if things are not BAD enough..Soros Adds
New Money

• George Soros has announced that he will
  contribute significant funding to treatment in
  several major cities.

114
Things YOU can do to help in this battle

• Visit www.ungassdrugs.org and sign our petition
  in support of the UN Drug Conventions
• Visit www.saveoursociety.org and sign up for
  legislative congressional alerts
• Visit www.noonproposition5.com and sign the
  endorsement against Prop 5 in CA
• Establish a similar No endorsement campaign for
  ILL
• Gather resolutions
• Build coalitions to get the word out

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Questions?

• SAVE OUR SOCIETY FROM DRUGS DRUG FREE
  AMERICA FOUNDATION
• 727-828-0210 727-828-0211
• www.saveoursociety.org www.dfaf.org
• The Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice
• www.globaldrugpolicy.org