Image
Dear Editor, Iowans for Medical Marijuana will be holding a public forum on Saturday, September 23, in the auditorium of the State Historical Building just west of the State Capitol Building. The topic will be medical marijuana legislation in Iowa and in the United States. We have three speakers so far, (1) Marty Ryan, Legislative Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa; (2) George McMahon (one of five remaining patients in the United States and a resident of Iowa who has been receiving 300 marijuana cigarettes per month from the federal government for the past 15 years); (3) and State Representative Ed Fallon who received 25% of the votes for Governor in the last primary election in June 2006. We invite you to participate in a discussion of state and federal policy regarding the medical use of marijuana and the recent decision in Iowa v. Bonjour, No. 160 / 03-0309, SUPREME COURT OF IOWA, 694 N.W.2d 511 (Iowa 2005) (http://www.iowanorml.org/Modules/NewsManager/ShowNews.aspx?NewsID=48). Marijuana was outlawed by the federal government in 1970 because it contains a psychoactive drug called THC. Since that time, THC has been found to be a safe and effective medicine, much safer than drugs made from other plants such as cocaine or morphine. THC was moved from Schedule I to Schedule II by the DEA in 1986: 51 Fed. Reg. 17,476, and THC was moved from Schedule II to Schedule III by the DEA in 1999, 64 Fed. Reg. 35928. Cocaine and morphine are in Schedule II as are the plants they are made from. Marijuana remains in Schedule I despite the fact that the only reason it was put there no longer exists. The last time the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) (the official agency charged with reviewing marijuana's status by the statute which created marijuana's current scheduling) held a scheduling hearing on marijuana, the DEA chief administrative law judge held that, "There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality." DEA Docket No. 86-22, Sept. 6, 1988, at page 56. "A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about 15 minutes to induce a lethal response." Ibid. at. 57. "In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug-related toxicity." Ibid. at 57. The judge went on to say that eating marijuana is safer than eating raw potatoes or aspirin, and "it is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death." Ibid. at 58. "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man." Ibid. at 58-59. Attached is the flyer from the 2000 Medical Marijuana Conference hosted by the University of Iowa Medical School and Nursing School.  We want to know when the legislators are going to follow the lead of the University of Iowa and create legislation that will assist people using this plant for medical purposes. I'm also enclosing a flyer I handed to Jeff Lamberti and Leonard Boswell at yesterday's congressional candidate debate at the UAW. Please help us promote this forum.  If you know any legislators that would be willing to participate on one of our state or federal panels, please invite them to participate. Thank you! Carl Olsen, Iowans for Medical MarijuanaGeorge McMahon, Bode, Iowa (one of five people currently receiving marijuana from the federal government)

Barbara Douglass, Storm Lake, Iowa (one of five people currently receiving marijuana from the federal government)

 

Print this flyer and give it to candidates for U.S. House of Representatives For a conference Brochure click here. [PDF]
Image

Support the River Cities' Reader

Get 12 Reader issues mailed monthly for $48/year.

Old School Subscription for Your Support

Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!

Click this link to Old School Subscribe now.



Help Keep the Reader Alive and Free Since '93!

 

"We're the River Cities' Reader, and we've kept the Quad Cities' only independently owned newspaper alive and free since 1993.

So please help the Reader keep going with your one-time, monthly, or annual support. With your financial support the Reader can continue providing uncensored, non-scripted, and independent journalism alongside the Quad Cities' area's most comprehensive cultural coverage." - Todd McGreevy, Publisher