NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE REFORM OF MARIJUANA LAWS

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a weekly service for the media on news items related to Marijuana

Prohibition. -by Rob Kampia, Chapter Coordinator of NORML-

July 21, 1994

- CLINTON ADMINISTRATION UPHOLDS MEDICINAL MARIJUANA BAN

In a letter to members of Congress, Dr. Philip Lee, Assistant Secretary for Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), revealed that the Clinton administration will not be reopening a program that had allowed some patients to apply for medicinal marijuana.

In January, Dr. Lee announced that HHS was reviewing the single-patient Investigative New Drug (IND) program for therapeutic marijuana.

Last week, Dr. Lee announced that sound scientific studies on marijuana's therapeutic efficacy are lacking-and that reopening the program on a temporary basis would not provide the scientific information required for opening a more permanent program.

The medicinal marijuana IND program, which was open from 1976 to 1992, provided marijuana to a few dozen patients suffering from glaucoma, cancer, AIDS, spinal cord injuries, and multiple sclerosis. When the program was closed, the 15 people then receiving the drug were allowed to continue. Only eight are still alive.

NORML's response to Dr. Philip Lee's statement is as follows:

- There has already been sufficient investigation into marijuana's therapeutic potential. After listening to years of testimony, DEA chief Administrative Law Judge Francis Young ruled in 1988 that marijuana is "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known" and ordered the DEA administrator to make marijuana medically available. The administrator refused.

- Until the required studies are conducted, reopening the IND program is a way of providing marijuana to patients in the interim.

Despite popular belief, there is no way to legally obtain marijuana for medical use in the United States (except for the eight people in the IND program, who receive monthly shipments of marijuana from the federal government). Hence, individuals currently afflicted with the aforementioned ailments must either continue to suffer or obtain marijuana illegally and risk a criminal record.

By not providing legal medical access to marijuana, the federal government is ignoring the will of the 36 states that have passed legislation recognizing marijuana's medicinal value.

[To contact Dr. Philip Lee's office in HHS, call 202-690-7694.]

- CLINTON ADMINISTRATION REVEALS 70 MILLION AMERICANS HAVE CONSUMED MARIJUANA

On Wednesday, July 20, the Department of Health and Human Services released the 1993 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, which found that "Americans' use of illegal drugs leveled off last year after 13 straight years of declines," according to the Associated Press.

The survey, which has been conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) every 2 or 3 years since 1972, found that 11.7 million Americans used at least one illicit drug in the previous month.

The survey results regarding marijuana consumption include:

- "CURRENT USE": 9 million Americans used marijuana in the previous month.

- "OCCASIONAL USE": 9.6 million used marijuana in the past year but less often than monthly.

- "LIFETIME PREVALENCE": Almost 70 million have used marijuana at least once in their lifetimes.

NORML disputes the survey's finding that fewer than 10 million people have used marijuana in the past year: The government's estimates of the quantity of marijuana being imported and grown in the United States suggest that approximately 30 million Americans consume marijuana. Also, the accuracy of any survey based on people admitting illegal activities is questionable.

Lee Brown, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, admitted that the survey might underrepresent the actual number of consumers because "it excludes the homeless, prisoners, people living at colleges, active military and those in other institutions," according to the Associated Press.

NORML holds that a survey that does not include these populations cannot accurately reflect the extent of marijuana consumption in the United States.

Additionally, until Marijuana Prohibition is repealed and people feel more free to be honest about their marijuana consumption, it will be difficult to accurately assess the extent of the use and abuse of marijuana across the United States.

[To contact the public affairs office of HHS, call 202-690-6343.]

- MICHIGAN INCREASES PENALTIES FOR MARIJUANA OFFENSES

On June 26, Michigan Governor John Engler approved Senate Bill No. 234 which increases the criminal penalties for a number of illicit drug offenses, including marijuana offenses.

An individual who manufactures, delivers, or possesses with intent to deliver marijuana (or a mixture containing marijuana) is guilty of a felony.

The new penalty breakdown is:

- less than 5 kilograms (11 pounds), or 1 - 19 plants (or seedlings) 4 years in prison; $20,000 fine

- 5 - 45 kilograms (11 - 99 pounds), or 20 - 199 plants (or seedlings) 7 years in prison; $500,000 fine

- 45 kilograms (99 pounds) or more, or 200 plants (or seedlings) or more 15 years in prison; $10 million fine

An individual who possesses marijuana (or a mixture containing marijuana) for "personal use" is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall receive up to 1 year in prison and a fine of up to $2,000.

Michigan is the home of Robert Peterson, director of Michigan's Office of Drug Control Policy, who is known for espousing rabid, right-wing prohibitionist propaganda-at taxpayers' expense. Peterson, who has admitted to doing "about everything there was to do," including LSD in the fifth grade, is now responsible for spending $75 million a year to wage war on the citizens of Michigan. Mr. Peterson also calls the medicinal use of marijuana a "scam," and claims there has been a "1000% potency increase" in marijuana since the 1970s (despite NIDA's own evidence to the contrary).

- WISCONSIN ENACTS LAW THAT ALLOWS LANDLORDS TO EVICT SUSPECTED DRUG CONSUMERS

On March 9, 1994, the Wisconsin state legislature enacted into law 1993 Senate Bill 131 which allows landlords to evict tenants on hearsay before they are convicted of-or even charged with-a drug-related crime.

The Wisconsin state Legislative Reference Bureau's analysis of the bill reads as follows:

"This bill allows landlords to evict tenants within 5 days after giving notice if the landlord receives notice from a law enforcement officer that a drug-related nuisance exists in the tenant's rental unit. The tenant has the right to contest the eviction, and the city, town or village is held harmless for errors in providing notices."

NORML finds this law appalling for a number of obvious reasons:

- The law does not require that a tenant be convicted of-or even charged with-a drug offense for a property owner to evict him or her. The police need only notify the property owner that they believe a "drug-related nuisance exists."

- The law gives the police greater power to harass those whom they suspect are involved with drug-related activity without requiring a criminal conviction.

NORML poses the question: Does Wisconsin law allow property owners to evict tenants who are suspected-or even convicted-of assault and battery, rape, or murder?

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