Petition’s denial maintains status quo, gives advocates chance to appeal and argue marijuana’s therapeutic value
Washington, DC — Less than two months after patient advocates filed a lawsuit compelling the federal government to answer a 9-year-old petition to reschedule medical marijuana, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) today made official its denial of the petition in the Federal Register. The Coalition for Rescheduling Cannabis (CRC), which includes patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA), filed the petition in 2002 seeking to reclassify marijuana from its current status as a dangerous drug with no medical value, but never heard from the federal government until it received the denial.
In its denial of the CRC petition, the government concluded that “marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no accepted medical use in the United States, and lacks an acceptable level of safety for use even under medical supervision,” recommending that marijuana remain in Schedule I. “Although this superficially looks like a defeat for the medical marijuana community,” said Joe Elford, ASA Chief Counsel and lead counsel in the recent lawsuit. “It simply maintains the status quo,” Elford continued. “More importantly, however, we have foiled the government’s strategy of delay and we can now go head-to-head on the merits, that marijuana really does have therapeutic value.” ASA intends to appeal the government’s denial of the petition to the D.C. Circuit as soon as possible.
Notably, the petition denial was sent to legal counsel in the pending lawsuit on June 30th, one day after the Justice Department issued a memorandum to U.S. Attorneys upholding federal threats of criminal prosecution against local and state officials for attempting to pass and implement their own medical marijuana laws. “The federal government is making no bones about its aggressive policy to undermine medical marijuana,” said ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer, “And we’re prepared to take the Obama Administration to court over it.”
The denial also comes the same week as the International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS) is holding its 21st annual symposium in St. Charles, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. The symposium is sponsored in part by an array of pharmaceutical companies, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and ElSohly Laboratories, Inc., the federal government’s only licensed source of research-grade cannabis (marijuana) used in therapeutic studies. Currently, several pharmaceutical companies are asking the government to reschedule organically produced THC, the primary compound found in the marijuana plant, so they can sell a generic version of Marinol®, which is now made synthetically.
“The government cannot have it both ways, marijuana is either a medicine or it’s not.” continued Sherer. “If the government is going to sponsor a conference on medical marijuana, it should show the same deference to the millions of patients across America who simply want access to it.” ASA and its grassroots patient base has been urging President Obama since he took office to develop a comprehensive federal policy that would address medical marijuana as a public health issue.
Over the past few years since the CRC petition was filed, the two largest physician groups in the country — the American Medical Association and the American College of Physicians — both urged the federal government to review marijuana’s status as a Schedule I substance. In addition to new scientific discoveries occurring on a regular basis, numerous polls have shown that medical marijuana has the support of up to 80% of Americans.
As Senator Scott Fitzgerald now a congressman-elect he will be leaving his seat as Senate Majority Leader,. Wisconsin Senate Republicans voted Thursday to name Senator Devin LeMahieu as new Majority Leader. LeMahieu will be the new head of their caucus following an election that increased their hold on the Senate chamber by two seats.
LeMahieu was one of the 17 Senators not up for election in 2020. Of those 17 seats, 11 are held by Republicans. Senator LeMahieu was in the majority for sure, as he joined almost all seated Senators that received a failing grade during the 2019-20 session.
Northern Wisconsin NORML has had field activists and constituents attend many of Senator LeMahieu listening sessions and the best the news could get from him about the issue of marijuana reform in the past was “There is a lot of interest on both sides of the issue,” LeMahieu said. “… It is great to have these listening sessions and hear people’s opinions.”
I personally expected that Senator Roger Roth (R-Appleton) would have not only taken over the Majority Leader role, but also the role of “just say no / head in the sand” approach to marijuana reform” that Fitzgerald held tight for all these years. Only elected in 2014, LeMahieu (R-Oostburg), succeeded Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) for this prestigious position, after Fitzgerald won election to the Milwaukee-area 5th Congressional District.
Side note: Special Election coming in the Senate District 13 also as Senator Fitzgerald moves onto US Congress – can you say start educating him about the federal marijuana reform (MORE Act) now.
LeMahieu, who beat former Senate President Roger Roth, R-Appleton, for the role in a closed-caucus vote Thursday afternoon, said in a statement the Senate needs “a strong and unified team in order to accomplish what is best for Wisconsin.”
Senator Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) who was not up for election in 2020, held the Vice-Chair position on the Senate Committee that is blocking even the Republican version of a medical marijuana bill (SB 750) from a public hearing. Senator Kapenga has continuously failed his constituency on cannabis reform and earns him another session with a F rating from NORML.
Republicans elected Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield), Senate President replacing Senator Roth as President. The Delafield lawmaker was unopposed, after Sen. Alberta Darling withdrew her name from consideration following the majority leader vote, according to her office.
The Senate Republicans went two for four on the last two caucus positions. Testin and Bernier have both showed interest in marijuana reform, while Feyen still wants to hear from law enforcement and doctors and Van Waggaard has the power to pull in medcial marijuana like he did with CBD with a simple letting down of his prohibitionist guard.
Sen. Pat Testin, R-Stevens Point, was elected president pro tempore; Sen. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, and Sen. Van Waggaard, R-Racine, won their re-elections for assistant majority leader and caucus chair, respectively; and Sen. Kathy Bernier, R-Lake Hallie, became caucus vice-chair, according to WisPolitics.com. — source
As our newly elected Wisconsin State Senators and Assembly Representatives take their oath of office and begin their legislative cycle we need to keep marijuana reform on the agenda throughout the process. The first step of a new legislative cycle is communication from you, the constituent.
LeMahieu said he was considering whether to convene a lame-duck session in November or December to take up legislation that the Assembly has passed but that the Senate didn’t get to before the coronavirus pandemic emerged this spring.
LeMahieu said he liked some of those bills but wanted to talk to his colleagues before deciding what to do.
When the senators meet — whether it’s this year or in January — they could consider lots of things, but not highly likely it will be marijuana reform.
Senate District 24 (MAP) is comprised of Portage County and areas of Wood County, Waushara County, Adams County, Jackson County and Monroe County.
###
Paul Piotrowski (D – WI) = LEGALIZE, TAX, AND REGULATE, DECRIMINALIZE, MEDICAL USE
I am in favor of immediate legalization of medical marijuana. After we have accomplished that, we should take a look at how neighboring states and others have legalized recreational use and how to go about both expungement of criminal records and regulation of dispensaries. – source
Candidate in race for State Senate District 24
Biography: Father | Grandpa | Navy Vet | Retired Police Officer Candidate for WI’s 24th State Senate District Lifelong Wisconsinite, Gardener ??? and Baker ??
Contact Paul Piotrowski @ Email: piotrowskiforsenate@gmail.com
Graduate Marinette High School, 2006; B.S. in Political Science, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, 2011.
Sales professional for Wisconsin-based wine distributor.
Member: Stevens Point Elk Lodge 641; Ignite Leadership Network of Portage County.
Elected to Senate 2016. Leadership positions: Majority Caucus Vice Chair, 2019, 2017.
Member of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse, Council on, Building Commission, Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, State Council on and Legislative State Supported Programs Study and Advisory Committee
In an effort to cut costs, it appears Wisconsin may becoming soft on crime.
The State Public Defender’s Office is seeking alternatives to certain crimes. These changes would save the State over $7.7 million in the next biennial budget.
According to “Overview of State Agency Major Request Items”, a document put together by the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the Public Defender’s Office is looking to amend several crimes to become mere ordinance violations. One of those crimes…drug possession.
This is the exact wording of the proposal…
“Amend s. 961.41 of the statutes to provide that all first and second offense drug possession violations, other than for methamphetamine, involving 25 grams or less be reduced to an ordinance violation provided there is reasonable doubt that the individual was not manufacturing, distributing or delivering the drug.”
But it doesn’t stop there. The Public Defender’s Office wants to make further corrections to drug laws by making third time drug possession a misdemeanor charge.
“With low risk offenders, evidence based decision making shows they don’t need much intervention and that was the overlying theme to these issues,” Randy Kraft, Communications Director for the State Public Defender’s Office said.
Lieutenant David Poteat, Director of the Brown County Drug Task Force, calls the changes absurd.
“To say that they’re low risk offenders I don’t think is realistic. If you look at heroin in particular, that is tied to so much of our property crime in the area, it’s unreal. So people using heroin are also ones stealing from stores, stealing from homes, breaking into cars. It’s connected to so much other crime than just that,” Poteat stated.
The changes will not only cut down on 7,000 cases annually, but will reduce costs by an estimated $713,000 in 2013-14 and $1,426,000 in 2014-15.
“The justice system we have in Wisconsin does come at a price tag to our taxpayers,” Randy Kraft commented. “For us to fix some areas that need an increase in funding, we also have to identify issues where it would save monies as well.”
Kraft says in order to advance other programs, “the only way the agency could submit the increases was to identify corresponding decreases.”
Poteat disagrees.
“The Sheriff’s Department has a budget as well. Each department has to do their part to maintain that budget and keep costs down. We try to operate as efficiently as possible, but you cannot do that at the risk of the public.”
While the Public Defender’s Office is looking at decreasing the cost of crime, they’re also looking at increasing pay for assistant public defenders and private bar attorneys. The increase in salaries comes at a cost of over $9million.
But first State lawmakers must agree to the changes. If adopted, the law changes would become effective July 1, 2013.
We’ll drink to that
by Steve Prestegard Originally published in Marketplace Magazine on 7-16-2010.
Washington Post columnist George F. Will recalls Prohibition, and not fondly (nor should he):
Daniel Okrent’s darkly hilarious Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition recounts how Americans abolished a widely exercised private right — and condemned the nation’s fifth-largest industry — in order to make the nation more heavenly. Then all hell broke loose. Now that ambitious government is again hell-bent on improving Americans — from how they use salt to what light bulbs they use — Okrent’s book is a timely tutorial on the law of unintended consequences. …
Women campaigning for sobriety did not intend to give rise to the income tax, plea bargaining, a nationwide crime syndicate, Las Vegas, NASCAR (country boys outrunning government agents), a redefined role for the federal government and a privacy right — the “right to be let alone” — that eventually was extended to abortion rights. But they did. …
Before the 18th Amendment could make drink illegal, the 16th Amendment had to make the income tax legal. It was needed because by 1910 alcohol taxes were 30 percent of federal revenue. …
After 13 years, Prohibition, by then reduced to an alliance between evangelical Christians and criminals, was washed away by “social nullification” — a tide of alcohol — and by the exertions of wealthy people, such as Pierre S. du Pont, who hoped that the return of liquor taxes would be accompanied by lower income taxes. (They were.) …
The many lessons of Okrent’s story include: In the fight between law and appetite, bet on appetite. And: Americans then were, and let us hope still are, magnificently ungovernable by elected nuisances.
The local parallel of sorts is in the 41st Assembly District, where independent candidate Jay Selthofner of Green Lake is running on a platform of legalizing hemp cannabis, which you know as marijuana, for various uses, not all of them recreational.
He argues that pot growers could help the state economically while reducing reliance on fossil fuels, comforting patients with medical marijuana and “provid[ing] a safer choice than alcohol.”
On that last argument Selthofner appears most vulnerable.
One could reasonably ask him: “What are you smoking?”
The last thing this country needs is another mind-altering drug injested for recreational purposes. …
This is no time to get high or get drunk.
It’s time to get serious. …
The last thing Wisconsin residents need to do in the face of growing concerns is to escape by themselves in a cloud of marijuana smoke.
Is it too unreasonable to suggest that we owe it to ourselves, if not our children, to act in ways that are more, not less, mature, responsible and sober?
… I do not believe that fear gives us the right to take rights away from people who have not personally done anything harmful to our society, to other citizens, or to themselves.
It is possible for a recreational or medical marijuana smoker to be a productive and hard working member of society. Just like all drinkers are not drunk drivers, all cannabis users are not lazy people.
I think it’s quite unfair to paint all marijuana users with the same brush.
The letter goes on to make arguments without any proof (more of which can be read here) that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco and “has caused zero deaths, ever.” That part of the letter should have been deleted before it was sent; the better arguments for legalization are based on individual personal freedom, not alleged benefits. Those arguments were expressed in another letter to the editor from a “former drug and homicide prosecutor” in Chicago:
Drug prohibition is the most effective means to put more drugs everywhere — stronger drugs, dangerous, uncontrolled and unregulated drugs. The irony of prohibition is that it makes drugs more valuable, more available, less controlled, stronger and more harmful. …
How’s prohibition helping the sober among us? With prohibition, we seize drugs by the ton and prosecute drugs by the gram. Fool-hearty and bankrupting.
… Counter-intuitive as it may seem, Wisconsinites must legalize drugs to fight drugs, gangs, cartels, crime, prisons, taxes, deficits, corruption, trade imbalance and the funding of terrorism. …
Well, the ex-prosecutor is right in that his argument does seem counterintuitive. I’ve read numerous arguments for legalizing and taxing drugs that presently are illegal. You’ll note that organized crime still exists today, nearly 80 years after the end of Prohibition. The counterargument to the tax argument is that, as we are seeing with tobacco taxes, taxes that are too high encourage smuggling and other ways to avoid said high taxes. (See Will’s NASCAR reference.)
Having never inhaled, I have no dog in the marijuana legalization hunt. (There’s a mixed metaphor for you.) I know people who use the devil weed, and I can’t say I’ve ever been interested in partaking. But one need not be a fan of recreational drugs to notice similarities between the drug war of today and Prohibition 90 years ago. Dude.
== We’ll drink to that
by Steve Prestegard
Originally published in Marketplace Magazine on 7-16-2010
Jeffrey Smith says it’s time for Wisconsin to put aside its fears and loosen its grip on the use of marijuana.
“Our best weapon is the truth,” said Smith, a Brillion resident. “We need to get past all of the old stereotypes. It’s getting past all 70-plus years of all-out lies about what the plant is and what it can do.”
Smith is a paraplegic. He said marijuana provides relief for his muscle pain. And he wants state lawmakers to approve bills this week that would allow marijuana use by those with certain debilitating medical conditions and create a state registry of those who qualify.
Time is of the essence – the bills will die if a vote isn’t taken by the end of the legislative floor period for general business on Thursday.
Opponents say Wisconsin would be ill-advised to loosen restrictions on marijuana. They see it as the first step of a slippery slope.
Appleton’s Donna Daniels, coordinator of Wisconsin Families in Action, is concerned that the growing advocacy for medical marijuana could be creating some confusion on a drug that’s still illegal and far more potent and dangerous than the marijuana of decades ago.
“There’s a need to step up education, and not just to young people, but to parents as well,” she said.
Last month, the state Department of Justice announced seven Fox Valley arrests after an investigation into a drug ring they say distributed hundreds of pounds of marijuana and $4 million worth of cocaine. Weeks later, the justice department announced two arrests and seizure of 116 marijuana plants at homes in Sauk and Columbia counties.
Meanwhile, residents statewide have attended rallies supporting bills that would legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. Activists held an educational event at the Appleton Public Library earlier this month. The “THC Tour” has moved throughout the state to build support for medical marijuana bills and another bill that would lift a prohibition on the manufacture of industrial hemp.
One would have to look no farther than California to get a sense of the concerns of opponents of those bills. There, voters will decide in November on whether the state would become the first to make marijuana legal for recreational use.
By most accounts, Wisconsin isn’t in the same place.
The medical marijuana bills have stalled in the Legislature after a December hearing.
Dr. Darold Treffert, a psychiatrist from Fond du Lac and member of Wisconsin’s Controlled Substances Board, joins those who see medical marijuana paving the way to full legalization.
He pointed to the explosion of medical marijuana dispensaries in California and the ease by which people can obtain permits for use.
“They have more dispensaries for marijuana than there are Starbucks,” he said.
Polls: Attitudes Shift
While they are far from having a consensus, activists say they’re finding more open ears than they had even a few years ago.
Jay Selthofner, field director for Wisconsin’s chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said tides are changing. The long-illicit plant moved from taboo to a place where people are at least willing to engage in discussion on its use.
“The time has come,” he said. “It’s not that we’re doing anything different. People aren’t afraid to speak out about it anymore.”
Polls suggest a culture shift on the issue, though viewpoints on marijuana differ by degree of restrictions.
A poll released by the Pew Research Center this month found 73 percent of Americans favored having their states allow use and sale of marijuana for medical purposes. A majority of Americans, however, still believe recreational use should remain illegal, according to an October Gallup Poll.
Margins, though, are becoming narrower.
In 1995, just 25 percent of those surveyed by the Gallup organization responded in favor of fully legalizing marijuana. In October, 44 percent supported legalization.
Polls and surveys suggest an aging baby boomer population may have a role on shifting opinions.
An even 50 percent of those questioned in the October Gallup Poll from ages 18 to 49 favored legalization. Just 28 percent of those 65 and older would support legal marijuana, according to the poll.
That gap is just as evident in terms of historical usage.
A 2008 federal survey found 9.3 percent of those 65 or older used marijuana at least once in their lifetimes. By comparison, more than 57 percent of those ages 45 to 49 reported having used the drug.
Supporters say old views have been the biggest impediment.
Gary Storck, of Madison, a longtime advocate for legalizing medical marijuana, attributes tarrying among lawmakers to misinformation spread through decades of anti-drug campaigns.
Society had been close to legalizing marijuana as late as the 1970s, he said.
He recalled one of his friends being caught by police with marijuana in 1969. Police then said they figured marijuana would be legalized within a couple of years.
Storck said it’s hard to believe it’s still an issue, particularly for medical applications.
“It’s nothing to be feared,” he said.
The Medical Issue
Wisconsin’s bills, if enacted, would make it the 15th state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes.
Michigan enacted a medical marijuana law in 2008. Lawmakers in Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa also have had bills to consider.
Wisconsin’s proposals have brought passionate responses from both sides.
Doctors aren’t necessarily opposed to the idea of using the active ingredient in marijuana for medical applications, Treffert said. It is effective in certain situations.
Many in the medical community, however, are opposed to legalizing a medicine outside of the traditional Federal Drug Administration approval process. One pill based on marijuana’s active ingredient is already on the market. Another drug is going through trials, Treffert said.
“Physicians have been cast as sort of mean to people – that we’re not compassionate,” he said. “That’s not it at all.”
Treffert fears doctors would be pressured into marijuana prescriptions even when they don’t believe it’s the right treatment. He has just as much concern that medical marijuana would mean greater availability of marijuana for recreational users.
Supporters point to those who’ve gained relief as evidence of its benefit.
Selthofner talked about a young cancer patient who was bedridden and couldn’t keep food down. After talking with a friend, she tried marijuana. She was able to eat and get out of bed.
Storck discussed an Iraq War veteran who found marijuana has eased severe post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Selthofner said those who’ve talked to their doctors and found marijuana worked better than and without the side effects of other medicines shouldn’t be cast as criminals, he said.
He knows not everyone is convinced.
“It’s not for everybody,” he said of marijuana. “No medicine is for everybody.”
Debate Increasing, Use Isn’t
The debate on marijuana hasn’t occurred in a vacuum.
Kathy Verstegen, a nurse at Kimberly High School, said students aren’t ignorant of the issue.
The Kimberly Area School District has one of the most comprehensive drug prevention programs in the region, which includes random drug testing for students who have parking spots or participate in extracurricular activities.
Verstegen conducts those tests. She’s listened to students voice opinions supporting legalization. Sometimes they want to be heard, but she suspects they many times want information.
“That’s always my opportunity to go back to the basics on marijuana and talk about the detriment and that it can ruin a young life,” she said.
One survey suggests the debate hasn’t muddied health messages directed at teens.
The Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey released in December showed declines in recent years in the number of high school students who reported marijuana use.
The percentage of students who smoked marijuana at least once in their lives was its lowest last year in the 12-year period included in the report at 34.2 percent. The percentage who used marijuana within 30 days of the survey dipped just more than one percentage point from 2007 to 18.9 percent last year. It was the second-lowest percentage in the 12-year comparison.
Treffert isn’t certain downward trends will continue
A federal study released in January said consistent declines among high school students have leveled off, as perceived risks associated with regular marijuana use has declined.
He said the medical marijuana debate has a role in how young people perceive the danger of the drug.
Changing attitudes haven’t meant a change in police encounters among adults.
Brad Dunlap, commander of the Lake Winnebago Area Metropolitan Enforcement Group Drug Unit, said marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug in the region, though there’s nothing from an enforcement standpoint to suggest its use is on an upswing.
“There are certainly spikes, but we see a fairly consistent number of arrests from year to year,” he said.
In Outagamie County, adult arrests for marijuana possession averaged 330 per year from 2004 through 2008. In that five-year period, the highest number of possession arrests came in 2008 with 351, state statistics show. Winnebago County’s arrest rate also maintained consistency during that period. The county saw a five-year average of 329 annual arrests. Its highest year for arrests was 2005 with 352 arrested.
Debate Continues
Appleton’s Daniels said she knows what she’s up against. She attended a hearing on medical marijuana where she was the lone voice among more than 100 to speak against the bills. It’s an uphill battle, and one that starts with parents. It’s more vital than ever for parents to learn the risks out there and pass their values onto their children.
“Today’s world isn’t like it was when we were teenagers,” she said.
Smith said those in favor of lifting restrictions on hemp and marijuana have plenty of reason for confidence.
“We’re making strides,” he said.
[sidebar]
MARIJUANA BY THE NUMBERS
4 Days remaining before Wisconsin medical marijuana bills would die should they fail to come up for a vote in the legislature.
14 States that currently have laws allowing for medicinal use of marijuana
15.2 Percentage of Americans aged 12 or older who used marijuana within a month of a 2008 federal survey
34.2 Percentage of high school students in 2009 who reported having tried marijuana in their lifetimes
24,211 Fans through Saturday of a Facebook Web page supporting medical marijuana in Wisconsin
Phil Anderson is a Libertarian running under the Republican party, as he addresses in his WI EYE Interview. He pledges not to change his libertarian views and goals. His campaign has included cannabis reform as a priority and part of of his criminal justice reform.
On September 3, 2020, WisconsinEye senior producer Steve Walters interviewed Phil Anderson (R-Fitchburg) who is running for the 47th Assembly District in the upcoming general election.
At the 3:50 mark, Phil Anderson starts talking about his continued support of legalizing cannabis in Wisconsin.
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