UPDATED March 10, 2010 -- Senate Bill 5798 would correct our medical marijuana law to allow naturopathic doctors, physicians' assistants, and advanced nurse practitioners -- all of whom have federal prescriptive authority -- to authorize the medical use of marijuana.
SB 5798 passed the House last week with an amendment that would require future medical marijuana authorizations be written on new tamper-resistant paper that will also be required for prescriptions starting in July.
The Board of Pharmacy expressed concern about having authority over such authorizations, and the Senate refused to concur with the amendments. On Wednesday, March 10, the House rescinded their amendments, and adopted a "striker amendment" to address the Board of Pharmacy conerns while keeping the new paper.
The Senate now has until Thursday, March 11 to concur with the amendments, or the bill is dead. We believe the Senate will concur with the changes before the deadline, and our bill will be headed to the governor's desk.
Tamper-resistant paper amendment.
Amendment Effect: Provides that an authorization of marijuana use must be written on temper resistant paper approved by the board of pharmacy, for authorizations written on or after the effective date of this act.
The Cannabis Defense Coalition supports concurrence with these amendments. We have some concerns which we think can be addressed through the Board of Pharmacy and authorized private-sector printers. Tamper-resistant medical marijuana authorization paper must:
- not use the word "prescription" anywhere;
- not include space for a DEA license number; and
- be large enough to include the court-mandated verbage that is on the medical marijuana authorization form provided by the Washington State Medical Association.
Additionally, we are concerned about removing the right to rely on medical records to support the medical marijuana affirmative defense. This affects a large number of veterans at VA hospitals, whose doctors won't sign. This bill denies those veterans access to the defense unless they pay out of pocket to see a health care professional who will authorize their medical use of marijuana. We see no way to mitigate this, and recognize that in supporting this bill, we have made a trade that we must acknowledge and accept.
March 5, 2010 -- The Cannabis Defense Coalition is petitioning the Washington State Medical Quality Assurance Commission to add neuropathic pain to the list of conditions qualifying to use medical marijuana under RCW 69.51A.
Credible research indicates that use of medicinal cannabis is an effective treatment for neuropathic pain. We submit this petition because there is sufficient evidence to support this indication for medicinal cannabis use. Adding it will help neuropathic pain patients receive this treatment, especially those who are presently excluded by the "intractable pain" requirement that a patient has tried and failed all other standard treatments or medications before being allowed the therapeutic benefits of this cannabinoid-based medicine and the legal protections of our medical marijuana law.
We recognize that intractable pain is already covered by RCW 69.51A, and that many neuropathic pain patients qualify under the intractable pain clause. We are specifically applying for neuropathic pain without the requirement that a patient have exhausted all other standard treatments or medications. Multiple sclerosis and epilepsy are two neurological conditions that do not require patients to have exhausted the complete realm of standard medical treatments before they can qualify to use medicinal cannabis. We petition for neuropathic pain to be treated in the same way.
With our petition, we included three positive double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials of cannabis in the treatment of neuropathic pain, and a review article for the treatment of neuropathic pain with cannabinoids. We also included a report from the University of California Center for Medical Cannabis Research of their most recent legislatively mandated research, which includes discussion of the evidence supporting the treatment of neuropathic pain with cannabis, to support our petition.
Petition documents
- Neuropathic pain petition (PDF, 80k) - March 5, 2010
- Attachment 1 (PDF, 237k) - Neurology, 2007
Cannabis in painful HIV-associated sensory neuropathy: A randomized placebo-controlled trial
- Attachment 2 (PDF, 150k) - Neuropsychopharmacology, 2008
Smoked Medicinal Cannabis for Neuropathic Pain in HIV: A Randomized, Crossover Clinical Trial
- Attachment 3 (PDF, 746k) - Journal of Pain, Vol. 9
A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Crossover Trial of Cannabis Cigarettes in Neuropathic Pain
- Attachment 4 (PDF, 801k) - Neurotherapeutics, 2009
Cannabinoids as Pharmacotherapies for Neuropathic Pain: From the Bench to the Bedside
- Attachment 5 (PDF, 337k) - February 11, 2010
Report to the Legislature and Governor of the State of California presenting findings pursuant to SB847 which created the CMCR and provided state funding
On Thursday, March 4, 2010 we present a free viewing of BUSTED: The Citizens Guide to Surviving Police Encounters, created by Flex Your Rights. We'll have a discussion about interacting with the police, the recent Fry ruling and the "I'm a patient" invitation to search, and maybe even get into some role playing.
* What: Free viewing of BUSTED: The Citizens Guide to Surviving Police Encounters
* When: Thursday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m.
* Where: Cannabis Resource Center, 8456 Dallas Ave S in South Park
* Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=8456+Dallas+Ave+S+98108
Starting in February, Thursdays are Cannabis College Night at the Cannabis Resource Center. All classes are $20, with a $10 discount for CDC members, unless otherwise noted.
Cannabis Defense Coalition meets the first Monday of the month. Our next public meeting is Monday, March 1st, at the Cannabis Resource Center, 8456 Dallas Ave S, in the South Park neighborhood of Seattle. The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. and is open to the public.
* What: Cannabis Defense Coalition March Session
* When: Monday, March 1 at 7:00 p.m.
* Where: Cannabis Resource Center, 8456 Dallas Ave S in South Park
* Map: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=8456+Dallas+Ave+S+98108
The Cannabis Resource Center is located at the foot of the South Park Bridge. Nearby Metro routes include: 60, 131, 132, and 134.
Meeting agenda: http://cdc.coop/wiki/index.php/Meetings
On February 18, 2010, Olympia city council member Joe Hyer was arrested by agents from the forfeiture-funded and citizen-feared Thurston County Narcotics Task Force for allegedly selling pot. An acquaintance of Hyer had contacted the task force and reported that he was able to procure cannabis from the council member, and that he was ready and willing to wear a wire and go "undercover" in a month-long, taxpayer-funded marijuana investigation cum political vendetta.
The unchecked use of confidential criminal informants -- so-called snitches -- is out of control in America. Self-motivated accusers -- often times working off their own criminal charges -- are allowed to secretly accuse and entrap others, with little concern given to the character or credibility of the accuser. Law enforcement are funded and motivated by asset forfeiture laws -- the seizure of real property such as homes and cars.
All this money, all this time, all of our law enforcement resources going to pot. All this tragedy and betrayal. All of these lives in pieces. All because of a medicinal flower.
The CDC is seeking to uncover the identity of the confidential informant and political operative who sought retribution against Olympia City Council member Joe Hyer by making him the focus of a taxpayer-funded marijuana investigation and prosecution. If you have any information about this person, please contact CDC at info@cdc.coop or 888-208-5332.
Olympia area activists: please post these notices around town. We placed a classified ad in the Olympian saying the same, but the Olympia refused to run it.
February 2010, Seattle, Washington -- The Cannabis Defense Coalition has opened a volunteer-run cafe in South Seattle. Serving breakfast on weekends from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. one can enjoy a lazy weekend morning with a healthy dose of activist chatter, all while sippin' on a simple cup of coffee, or diggin' into pancakes and swine.
CDC Cafe
Sat/Sun 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.
8456 Dallas Ave. S.
Seattle, WA 98108
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=8456+Dallas+Ave+S+98108
Food worker permit
Last week, the Sensible Washington campaign to legalize marijuana got their first batch of printed petitions, and has hit the streets.
This week, the campaign started out by issuing a public response to the ACLU of Washington for refusing to endorse the initiative (and worse, according to Sensible Washington, for posting the "private" email sent by the campaign).
"Sensible Washington is disappointed that the ACLU of Washington is refusing to support I-1068. We believe that in so doing the group is ignoring the wishes of many of its members and contradicts its years of support for marijuana drug reform. We find it especially ironic that the organization which initially promoted legalization and reform in Washington State should retreat from its last 10 years of work on that front."
Below we are including the message from the ACLU of Washington, which caused the Sensible Washington board to focus their energy on the group. We are posting this because it is not readily available online, and the Sensible Washington article quotes it in part.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
7PM - $5 suggested donation
Radical Russ Belville
NORML Outreach Coordinator, activist extraordinaire
Our first monthly lecture series guest is confirmed! Lecture night is the fourth Wednesday of the month, and this month -- Wednesday, Feb 24 -- we will be hearing from "Radical" Russ Belville, outreach coordinator for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, host of the NORML Daily Audio Stash, and Associate Director of Oregon NORML.
* What: Cannabis Lecture Series: Russ Belville
* When: February 24, 2010, 7-9 p.m.
* Where: Cannabis Resource Center - 8456 Dallas Ave S, Seattle
The federal TIGER grant was awarded, and the South Park Bridge did not receive funding.
Feds award Seattle $30 million to fix the Mercer Mess
That means we are staying in South Park at the old County Line building for the forseeable future. I spoke with bridge project manager Tim Lane this morning and he doesn't know the timeline on the bridge, or the fate of our building, and he was off to a meeting about those very subjects.
Even if the county is tearing down the bridge, there's no need to tear our building down, so I suspect that we may be there as long as we like. The county is supposed to take ownership of our property at the end of the month, and almost all of the boats and boat people have moved out of our back yard. So we will need to negotiate a (cheap) lease with the county, or just squat it out, after this month.
And then, we'll have to start dreaming and fundraising the future of the Cannabis Resource Center. Set your mind's dial for brain storm!
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