I have the fortune of working in a school district in northern California in the heart of marijuana country.  In the late summer at our back to school staff inservice, our superintendent told us we had yet to have a student come in with their Proposition 215 medical marijuana prescription, but in some schools, it is happening.  According to Truthout:

But around the country today, hundreds – perhaps thousands – of high schoolers are bringing pot to school, and they’re doing it legally. Not to get stoned, but as part of prescribed medical treatment. And they don’t have to tell school authorities about it.

Visit the link below to read the rest:

http://ecochildsplay.com/2010/01/26/move-over-ritalin-medical-marijuana-in-the-classroom/

SB 616-618 would restrict the number of medical cannabis growers statewide to only ten (10), limit dispensing to pharmacists and change the Michigan Penal Code to include the language in the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act (MMA).  Sponsoring Senators or staff introduced the bills stating that the number of registered patients is out of control and must be more closely regulated and that the penalties in the Act must be entered into the penal code.

True to Senator Kuiper’s advisement before the hearing, the testimony was carefully orchestrated to flush out the Michigan Medical Marihuana Association’s agenda; and promote the Republican Senate’s interest in creating a near monopolistic growing industry, while creating a conflict with federal law that prevents pharmacists from dispensing marijuana or losing their licenses in dispensing it.

While most testimony focused on the fatal flaws in the bill package, specific testimony honed in on how important the industry has become to families, communities and residual businesses. Testimony also focused on the caregiver/patient model that is unique to Michigan.

A new, green, cottage-based industry has emerged that families have built their economic stability on. Communities have begun to flourish because of the new employment opportunities that have become available. The local businesses that feed into both caregivers’ and patients’ needs have had a similar positive impact on local economies.  Small businesses have required large investments in equipment and supplies.  These investments have yet to have been amortized.

Caregivers who grow medical quality cannabis have personal relationships with their patients.  Caregivers help patients find the most effective strain of medication and the most appropriate way to injest it to abate their individual pain.  This personalization is impossible in the monopolistic, bureaucratic model provided for in these bills. In short, the bills would take the compassion out of the industry, and allow large businesses to control pricing without conforming to the commitment that caregivers have to providing affordable medical quality cannabis.

Senator Alan Cropsey (R-DeWitt) suggested that marihuana plants can grow to tree proportions.  These marihuana “trees” could produce amounts of medicine greater than the law allows.  He was invited to learn about the typical scale of a grow operation and the size of plants that area grown in them. He and his colleagues were invited to the home-based grow facility that a caregiver operates in the Lansing area.

He also suggested that, if a patient dies, the law doesn’t provide for disposal of any remaining medical cannabis the patient had on hand.  He was assured that this is not a frequent problem and hasn’t become problemmatic on an alarming scale.

Tim Beck, one of the petition language drafters, testified that the MMA was carefully written to undermine the federal law which classifies marijuana as an illegal drug.  The committee chairman seized on this assertion because the implication is that the bill intended to create conflict between the state of Michigan and the federal government and law enforcement officers representing both levels of government.

The president of a compassion club testified that a state-run medical cannabis dispensory would compliment the caregiver system in Michigan.  His testimony was also seized on by Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members.  They were eager to develop a government-controlled system.  The concept was not well received by others at the hearing.

We learned that State Senators Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) and Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit) are very supportive of our cause.  They both spoke strongly in support of the MMA and patient/caregiver systems.

In summary, the hearing was a good training ground for our advocacy cadre.  We did well.

On January 9, the Mid-Michigan Medical Marijuana Advocacy Coalition was born.  Hosted by Gone Wired Cafe’ in Lansing, between 30 and 40 people convened to begin to discuss policy and legislative interests that have arisen since the 2008 Michigan Medical Marijuana Act was enacted.  Attendees came from several neighboring compassion clubs.

There was background information about the history of marijuana use for pain abatement, how the new law has provided for small growers to provide medicinal quality marijuana for as many as 6 patients, and how the cost of the marijuana can be controlled to be made affordable. Policy discussion focused on core interests including the lack of mental illnesses as qualifiers for state patient certification, caregiver restrictions on individuals who have been convicted of a drug felony, and privatization of the state certification process.

Much attention focused on Senator Wayne Kuipers SB 618 scheduled for a Senate Judiciary Committee on 19 January.  This proposal would limit the number of medical marijuana grow operations to ten (10) in the state of Michigan and require pharmacy sales, a blatant attempt to negate our victory at the Polls. Testimony will be delivered by stakeholders at the committee meeting in coordination with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others who oppose such legislation.

It was agreed that Coalition testimony will be directed toward the medical model that is the L-EMC2’s  mission and on the business opportunities that have opened up for people who are interested in horticulture and medicinal herbs. The ACLU will focus on enforcement problems that have resulted from varied interpretations of the law.

The next meeting will be held on the second Saturday of February at  11:00 AM [Gone Wired Cafe'].  There will be an analysis of the law and time for discussion.

SCANDAL AT THE MARIJUANA POLICY PROJECT

David Bienenstock and Richard Cusick
HIGH TIMES MAGAZINE
Thu, Jan 14, 2010 11:29 pm

http://hightimes.com/news/bean/6133

As part of an ongoing investigation, HIGH TIMES magazine has confirmed that at least seven full-time staff members of the Washington, DC based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) have quit their jobs in protest of an alleged incident of sexual misconduct by MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia, which took place following an informal staff “happy hour” in August of 2009.

“I left MPP because of an incident involving Rob Kampia and a female employee, and because of how that incident was handled by organization leadership,” Former Director of Membership Salem Pearce told HIGH TIMES. “This is all part of a pattern of behavior by Rob, who was known in the office for his sexually explicit comments and actions towards female employees and interns, particularly ones half his age and desirous of full-time jobs with MPP. Rob’s willingness to jeopardize the organization for sexual gratification and his desperate attempts to keep his job sickened me and made me no longer able to work for him.”

Co-founded by Kampia in 1995, MPP is the best-funded national organization working for marijuana legalization in the United States, with a yearly operating budget of $6 million. Kampia serves as both Executive Director of MPP, and a member of its Board of Directors. Reached for comment on this story by HIGH TIMES, Kampia said: “Some of it’s true, some of it’s not true… This isn’t gonna be good for anyone…[but] it sounds like you’re more interested in running a salacious story than in helping the cause, and I think that’s unfortunate.“

The incident of sexual misconduct allegedly took place on Thursday night, August 7, following a gathering of the MPP staff at the Union Pub in Washington, D.C., across the street from the organization’s national office. Within 24 hours, four staff members decided to resign. On Tuesday, August 11, Kampia sent an e-mail to the MPP staff that read, in part, “I’m very sad to let everyone know that we’ll be losing four great people over the next couple of weeks… I’m very sorry—both personally and professionally—that they’re leaving MPP. Their decisions are due to something that happened outside the office a few days ago involving me… I take this situation very seriously. This is not something that will happen again.”

Over the next two weeks, three more staff members quit, saying that it became obvious Kampia would not suffer any significant repercussions for his actions.

“Rob’s initial communication to the staff a few days after the incident made it clear that he considered the matter closed and was planning to continue with business as usual, which I could not live with.” Former Major Gifts Officer Sarah Hench told HT, explaining her decision to resign. “Rob’s behavior over the long term was inexcusable and irresponsible, and I am ashamed that I only felt empowered to address it after something very serious and egregious happened. In my opinion, he put the entire organization at risk and made it clear that MPP’s mission was not important enough for him to modify his reckless and arrogant behavior.”

According to the official MPP Employee Manual, the organization “may terminate employment at any time,” for any employee, “with or without cause and with or without notice,” a policy that “cannot be changed without the express written consent of the Executive Director.” At the time of the incident in August 2009, MPP had no written policy regarding sexual harassment, despite what several staffers described as a “culture of sexually inappropriate behavior” by Kampia in the years leading up to this incident.

“While the catalyst for my decision to leave MPP after more than three years of employment was a particular act by Rob that I thought was morally reprehensible,” Former Legislative Analyst Zane Hurst told HT, “It’s important to understand that Rob acted inappropriately toward MPP employees and interns throughout my time there. I can not in good conscience work for him or the organization as long as he remains its leader.”

According to former and current employees, attempts to bring concerns about Rob’s previous pattern of behavior to upper management proved futile, and in the wake of the August 2009 incident, Kampia focused on maintaining his own position of authority, rather than addressing employees’ concerns .

“Prior to this incident, I had confronted Rob about his advances toward one of my employees,” According to Ms. Pearce. “He dismissed my concerns and refused to stop hitting on his employees. After the incident, and even after nearly 20% of the staff quit in protest, it became apparent that Rob and his second in command, Alison Green, were planning to sweep this all under the rug.”

Eventually, after a resounding vote of no confidence in Kampia’s leadership by the organization’s department heads, the matter reached MPP’s Board of Directors, but it remains unclear what, if any, information they received about Kampia’s role in the original incident, subsequent staff departures, and an institutional attempt to cover it up. More than five months after the incident in question, aside from a promise that Kampia will “obtain remedial sensitivity and behavior modification training,” current and former employees are left to wonder what price, if any, he will pay for behavior several described as “predatory.” Once former employee said “sending Rob to sensitivity training is like trying to teach an elephant to tap dance.”

“My decision to leave MPP over the incident involving Rob and a female subordinate in August was painful, but ultimately it was the only choice I felt I could make given a pattern of predatory behavior on Rob’s part.” MPP’s former Assistant Director of Communications told HIGH TIMES. “Even seen in the most charitable light, Rob’s conduct—in this one instance, as in many other questionable encounters—indicates that he either doesn’t understand or he doesn’t care how his behavior affects others, especially those he holds authority over as Executive Director of MPP. As long as Rob and his reckless behavior are tolerated, he’ll be a burden to his own talented, dedicated staff and a disaster waiting to happen for the marijuana policy reform community as a whole.”

~

I can’t begin to count the ‘friends’ and ‘allies’ I’ve lost because I’m a hard-assed  jerk regarding personal behaviors ~ Transparency, Diligence, Mission all matter, and this is the fourth decade in which I’ve managed to stand firm, watching these people march themselves – and, if they can, us – right off the cliff into oblivion. Never a thought or care to the damage they do those of us worthy of our history and tradition, is there.

Grrrr!  – rdw

Merced, CA — The Merced Superior Court ruled late last week that the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) must pay $69,400 in attorneys fees to Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the nation’s largest medical marijuana advocacy organization. The fees award stems from a lawsuit brought by ASA in November 2008 against the DMV for its policy of unjustly revoking drivers’ licenses of qualified medical marijuana patients. The suit was filed on behalf of Rose Johnson, a 53-year-old medical marijuana patient from Atwater, whose license was revoked by the DMV because of her status as a patient.

The DMV established a formal policy February 2009 to treat medical marijuana like any other prescription drug.  Thursday’s ruling by Merced Superior Court found that, “As a result of the Plaintiff’s efforts, there was a substantial change in the DMV regarding its policy and behavior in the treatment of medical marijuana,” and that, “Administrative Officers were operating under the inaccurate and mistaken belief that medical marijuana use was illegal.” Merced Superior Court Judge Brian L. McCabe concluded in his ruling that, “The Plaintiff [appeared] to be the catalyst in effectuating change in both the DMV’s formal, public policy on the subject and the agency’s adherence to the policy.”

“The new DMV policy is a significant departure from how the agency approached medical marijuana in the past,” said ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford, who represented Ms. Johnson in her claim against the DMV. “We expect it will help prevent further unwarranted license suspensions and revocations by the DMV.”

As part of the policy change earlier this year, the DMV Driver Safety Procedure Manual was revised to include reference to medical marijuana, stating that “use of medicinal marijuana approved by a physician should be handled in the same manner as any other prescription medication which may affect safe driving.” The manual states that the existence of medical marijuana use “does not, in itself, constitute grounds for a license withdrawal action.”

Despite Ms. Johnson’s clean driving record — not having caused an accident in 37 years — the DMV revoked her license in July of 2008. According to the DMV, Ms. Johnson’s license was revoked “because of…[an] addiction to, or habitual use of, [a] drug,” thereby rendering her unable to safely operate a motor vehicle, even though no evidence existed to substantiate this claim. In January, as a result of the lawsuit and a positive driving test by Ms. Johnson, the DMV reinstated her license and issued the new policy before the case had a chance to go to trial in Superior Court.

Advocates assert that the DMV policy of suspending and revoking the licenses of medical marijuana patients was widespread, occurring in at at least 8 California counties, including Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Glenn, Merced, Placer, Sacramento, and Sonoma. License revocations by the DMV, which have been based on a person’s status as a medical marijuana patient, are often rationalized by calling drivers “drug abusers,” despite providing no evidence to support the claim.

http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=5868

–

I know from my work with ASA [dues-paid] in California that they had engaged this issue and was waiting for decision. Michigan drivers who must also medicate with cannabis can be more assured of their right to drive so long as they take care as they do with other medications.

FWIW, none of the counties in which the DMV revoked licenses are what I would call ready to accept medical cannabis, even a decade after California law flipped. There are few if any dispensaries in these counties and they are not population centers.

ASA is clearly the most effective advocacy group we have in California, but have yet to establish such effectiveness elsewhere. Their legal work is top-drawer; it is in their political organizing that they have muc yet to learn.

~ rdw

==| REFERENCE

Merced [CA] Superior Court ruling:

http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/DMV_Fees_Ruling.pdf

DMV policy change re medical marijuana:   http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/DMV_Policy.pdf

ASA lawsuit v. [CA] DMV:

http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/DMV_Writ.pdf

* 12,400 applications received since April 6, 2009.
* 6,844 patient registrations issued.
* 2,856 caregiver registrations issued.
* 2,163 applications denied — most due to incomplete application or missing documentation.
* An average of 70 applications are received each day.

* Applications are reviewed within 15 days of receipt. Incomplete applications are denied and applicants are then notified of denial by certified and regular mail.

* Complete applications, change forms and reapplications for previous denials are then processed in the date order in which they are received. If a denial letter is not received, then the application is deemed valid. The statute currently allows for a copy of the application submitted to serve as a valid registry identification if the card is not issued within 20 days of its submission to the department. At this time, we are unable to process the valid cards within the statutory time frame with the resources available to us. Currently the staff is working on processing valid applications received mid-October. We are reviewing and revising our processing methods in order to more efficiently process the valid cards. We anticipate processing to significantly improve by the end of the calendar year.

* The staff is diligently working to process the applications and is having difficulty responding to all the voicemails left on the Medical Marihuana Registry phone line. We appreciate your patience and ask that applicants refrain from calling to inquire about the status of the application unless your application was submitted prior to the end of September.

Forms & instructions here : http://www.michigan.gov/mdch/0,1607,7-132-27417_51869_52139—,00.html

Gone Wired Cafe [2021 East Michigan Ave, Lansing]: 11:00-2:00.

Free, open to public, accessible.

Be prepared to discuss legislative and policy priorities: Mental health parity, Canadian provider model and any other items we need to discuss as we begin to formulate our legislative and regulatory strategies. Although I will facilitate this discussion and try to keep it focused, we will have lots of opportunity for both targeted and open discussion ( in that order). Anyone interested in working on development of clear and consensus priorities and timetable for implementation of our strategy please try to attend.

Also begin to think about how many different ways we can advocate for our position and how you might contribute to various methods.

Mary

* If you’re a visitor, you are free to look around the site and access public pages – ABOUT US / CONTACT US / MEMBERSHIP / EVENTS

* Access to all other pages on the site requires you to register as a user on the site.

Updates for members:

* There is a hydroponics class planned in January. Visit the Member Ad page for more details

General meeting of patients, providers, vendors, friends of the mid-Michigan’s growing medical cannabis community. Orientation and support for new & prospective patients & caregivers ~ the Clinics have been busy and there are lots of new patients in mid-Michigan. Growers are clipping as we speak, and with Holidays coming its time to make sure your needs are met. Quick meeting tonight with lots of time to socialize.

Vendors welcome but please check in prior to meeting with convener R D Winthrop who will facilitate. Private business should be conducted upon conclusion of meeting promptly at 7:00 pm.

* We’re putting together an early January membership kickoff and hope to have some quality acoustic entertainment lined up but need a host site.

* Will be convening meetings on Westside, Roundtables on Horticulture, Edibles, and Public Policy, and beginning an Enterprise work group.

Once again, thanks to Colleen Davis for hosting us.

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