Your PA State Senator and Assemblyperson need to hear from you if they are to support our bill, the The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act - HB1393 (House of Reps) and SB1350 (Senate). Please take a few minutes to tell them how you feel and what you think about medical marijuana and its legalization.

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Senator | Representative Senator   Alloway, Richard Argall, David Baker, Lisa Boscola, Lisa M. Browne, Patrick M. Brubaker, Michael W. Corman, Jake Costa, Jay Dinniman, Andrew E. Earll, Jane M. Eichelberger, John H. Erickson, Edwin B. Farnese Jr., Lawrence Ferlo, Jim Folmer, Mike Fontana, Wayne D. Gordner, John R. Greenleaf, Stewart J. Hughes, Vincent J. Kasunic, Richard A Kitchen, Shirley M. Leach, Daylin Logan, Sean McIlhinney, Charles T. Mellow, Robert J. Mensch, Bob Musto, Raphael J. O'Pake, Michael A. Orie, Jane Clare Piccola, Jeffrey E. Pileggi, Dominic Pippy, John Rafferty, John C. Robbins, Robert D. Scarnati, Joseph B. Smucker, Lloyd Stack, Michael J. Stout, J. Barry Tartaglione, Christine M. Tomlinson, Robert M. Vance, Patricia H. Vogel, Elder Ward, Kim Washington, Leanna M. Waugh, Michael L. White, Mary Jo White, Donald C. Williams, Anthony H. Wozniak, John N. Yaw, Gene Representative   Adolph Jr., William Baker, Matthew Barbin, Bryan Barrar, Stephen Bear, John Belfanti Jr, Robert Benninghoff, Kerry Beyer, Karen Bishop, Louise Boback, Karen Boyd, Scott Boyle, Brendan Bradford, Matthew Brennan, Joseph Briggs, Tim Brooks, Michele Burns, Frank Buxton , Ron Caltagirone, Thomas Carroll, Mike Casorio, James Causer, Martin Christiana, Jim Civera Jr., Mario Clymer, Paul Cohen, Mark Conklin, H. Costa, Paul Costa, Dom Cox, Jim Creighton, Tom Cruz, Angel Curry, Lawrence Cutler, Bryan Daley, Peter Dally, Craig Day, Gary Deasy, Daniel Delozier, Sheryl DeLuca, Anthony Denlinger, Gordon DePasquale, Eugene Dermody, Frank DeWeese, H. DiGirolamo, Gene Donatucci, Robert Drucker, Paul Eachus, Todd Ellis, Brian Evans, John Evans, Dwight Everett, Garth Fabrizio, Florindo Fairchild, Russell Farry, Frank Fleck, Mike Frankel, Dan Freeman, Robert Gabbler, Matt Gabig, Will Galloway, John Geist, Richard George, Camille Gerber , Michael Gergely, Marc Gibbons, Jaret Gillespie, Keith Gingrich, Mauree Godshall, Robert Goodman, Neal Grell, Glen Grove, Seth Grucela, Richard Haluska, Gary Hanna, Michael Harhai, R. Harhart, Julie Harkins, Patrick Harper, Kate Harris, C. Helm, Susan Hennessey, Tim Hess, Dick Hickernell, David Hornaman, John Houghton, Tom Hutchinson, Scott Josephs, Babette Kauffman, Rob Keller, Mark Keller, William Kenyatta, Johnson Kessler, David Killion, Thomas Kirkland, Thaddeus Knowles, Jerry Kortz II, William Kotik, Nick Krieger, Tim Kula, Deberah Lentz, Bryan Levdansky, David Longietti, Mark Lowery Brown, Vanessa Maher, John Mahoney, Tim Major, Sandra Manderino, Kathy Mann, Jennifer Markosek, Joseph Marshall, Jim Marsico, Ron Matzey, Robert McCall, Keith McGeehan, Michael McIlvaine, Smith Melio, Anthony Mensch, Bob Metcalfe, Daryl Micarelli, Nick Micozzie, Nicholas Millard, David Miller, Ron Milne, Duane Mirabito, Rick Moul, Dan Mundy, Phyllis Murphy, Kevin Murt, Thomas Mustio, T. Myers, John O'Brien, Dennis O'Brien, Michael O'Neill, Bernie Oberlander, Donna Oliver, Frank Pallone, John Parker, Cherelle Pashinski, Eddie Payne, John Payton Jr, Tony Peifer, Michael Perry, Scott Perzel, John Petrarca, Joseph Petri, Scott Phillips, Merle Pickett, Tina Preston Jr., Joseph Pyle, Jeffrey Quigley, Thomas Quinn, Marguerite Rapp, Kathy Readshaw, Harry Reed, Dave Reese, Mike Reichley, Douglas Roae, Brad Rock, Todd Roebuck Jr., James Rohrer, Sam Ross, Chris Sabatina Jr., John Sainato, Chris Samuelson, Steven Santarsiero, Steven Santoni Jr., Dante Saylor, Stan Scavello, Mario Schroder, Curt Seip, Tim Shapiro, Josh Siptroth, John Smith, Sam Smith, Ken Smith, Matthew Solobay, Timothy Sonney, Curtis Staback, Edward Stern, Jerry Stevenson, Richard Sturla, P. Swanger, Rose Marie Tallman, Will Taylor , John Taylor , Rick Thomas, W. True , Katie Turzai, Mike Vereb, Mike Vitali, Greg Vulakovich, Randy Wagner, Chelsa Walker Metzgar, Carl Walko, Don Wansacz, James Waters, Ronald Watson, Katharine Wheatley, Jake White, Jesse Williams, Jewell Youngblood, Rosita Yudichak, John
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Your Letter
Dear <REPRESENTATIVE NAME>,
Pre-Written Letter
With the introduction of a medical marijuana bill in the PA Senate, now is the time to help protect patients from arrest. Please consider co-sponsoring Rep. Cohen and Senator Leach's medical marijuana bills, HB1393 and SB1350, the "Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act". Patients here in Pennsylvania need their medicine now, and they need protection from the law, now. While we as a nation discuss the end of marijuana prohibition, lets ensure that those who really need marijuana as medicine can get it legally and without fear of arrest. If there is one thing that scientists, lawyers, police, doctors, patients, politicians, hippies, and the US public can agree on, it is that marijuana is medicine, but jail is not. In May 2010, Franklin and Marshall released a poll they'd conducted (located at http://edisk.fandm.edu/FLI/keystone/pdf/keymay10_1.pdf) which showed 80% of Pennsylvanians are in support of medical marijuana with only 17% opposed. Your constituents are inclined to allow physicians to make the determination of whether or not marijuana is beneficial to their patient and their current debilitating condition, and HB1393/SB1350 will allow that to happen. On November 10, the American Medical Association adopted a resolution reversing their 70 year old position on medical marijuana, now stating that, "short term controlled trials indicate that smoked cannabis reduces neuropathic pain, improves appetite and caloric intake especially in patients with reduced muscle mass, and may relieve spasticity and pain in patients with multiple sclerosis." Read More at http://digg.com/d319dp1 A short list of conditions which cannabis has shown the ability to ease symptoms include: cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease), Crohn's disease, anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), insomnia, asthma, muscular dystrophy, and nail patella. Cannabis's most significant benefit is to those suffering from a chronic or debilitating disease or medical condition (or its treatment) that produces one or more of the following: cachexia or wasting syndrome; severe or chronic neuropathic pain diseases such as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy; severe or chronic nausea; seizures, including but not limited to those characteristic of epilepsy; or severe and persistent muscle spasms, including but not limited to those characteristic of multiple sclerosis. More recent research indicates high potential for cannabis in treating Alzheimer's Disease, Diabetes Mellitus, Dystonia, Fibromyalgia, GI Disorders, Gliomas, Hypertension, Incontinence, Osteoporosis, Pruritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Sleep Apnea, and Tourette's Syndrome. Marijuana, or cannabis, is a plant that produces cannabinoids such as Delta-9 tetra-hydrocannabinol (THC), cannabiniol (CBN) and cannabidiol (CBD). People use marijuana by smoking, vaporizing, or cooking it into food and drink in its variously processed forms. These include simply the buds (the dried, cured flowers of the female plant); the processed buds and leaves which can make pressed hashish, loose kief, hash oil, and other tinctures. Humans have used marijuana for religious, industrial, cultural, social, medical, and recreational purposes for over 5,000 years. There is no record in the extensive medical literature describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality. (5) The same can definitely not be said for any other drug prescribed by doctors or even found over the counter, including aspirin, Tylenol, and cough medicine - all of which also have legitimate medical uses. It’s literally impossible to overdose on marijuana. In fact, there is no known LD-50 in humans for marijuana (LD-50 is a term describing the median lethal dose of a given substance, or how much of a substance will kill 50% of a given population). In 1988, the DEA responded to a petition to remove marijuana from Schedule 1 and place it into Schedule 2, whereby definition it has “medical value”. DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis Young concluded in his landmark ruling: “At present it is estimated that marijuana's LD-50 is around 1:20,000 or 1:40,000.  In layman terms this means that in order to induce death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 - 40,000 times as much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette. NIDA-supplied marijuana cigarettes weigh approximately .9 grams.  A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response. (10)” A typical medical marijuana user consumes an average of 5.6 - 7.23 pounds of marijuana per year (3) (0.25 – 0.32 oz/day), well under anything resembling a lethal dose. Given that we know what parts of the brain and body the cannabinoids affect, it’s easy to conclude that marijuana is a safe and effective medicine. Judge Young concluded in the same report that:  “... [Marijuana] has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States for spasticity resulting from multiple sclerosis and other causes. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious to find otherwise. (5)” Unfortunately, this ruling was not binding, and marijuana was not re-scheduled as Judge Young ruled. It was this ruling that forced activists and patients to go the route of state-sanctioned medical marijuana laws, either through ballot initiative or legislative action. Starting with California in 1996, we now have 13 states currently running medical marijuana programs, six (6) states with medical marijuana bills that are still alive (including HB1393 here in PA), and four (4) states which held votes to expand their medical marijuana programs. (4) Over 25 million Americans now live in a state where marijuana is available to them as medicine. Something we all can agree on is that we do not want our children/teenagers using drugs unless prescribed/recommended by their physician. Advocates of prohibiting marijuana’s use as medicine frequently bring up arguments meant to scare you, such as “legalizing marijuana for medical use sends the wrong message to children,” or “legalizing medical marijuana will make marijuana more available to children.” Let us clear one thing up - children and teenagers do not look at the sick and debilitated patients using medical marijuana and think, “Gee, I want to be like that!” According to a report compiled by the Marijuana Policy Project - and updated in June 2008 - marijuana use by teenagers has gone down in every state which has instituted a medical marijuana law.(7) All states have reported overall decreases - exceeding 50% in some age groups. MPP’s report is included with this testimony for your consideration. It’s pretty clear that medical marijuana laws do not increase teen marijuana use – they decrease it. Marijuana use becomes de-glamorized in the eyes of young people because of its new context. In addition, since 1992 a synthetic version of THC called Dronabinol (a.k.a. "Marinol") has been available as medicine, approved by the FDA, as an anti-emetic and appetite stimulant for patients undergoing cancer chemotherapy or suffering from AIDS. Marinol is 100% THC; it contains no other cannabinoids; however, the Institute of Medicine found, it is not as effective as whole-plant inhaled cannabis. “It is well recognized that Marinol's oral route of administration hampers its effectiveness because of slow absorption and patients' desire for more control over dosing. ... In contrast, inhaled marijuana is rapidly absorbed.” (6) In 1996, after California passed Proposition 215, the Clinton Administration commissioned the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine to report on medical marijuana. In 1999 they released their report, entitled "Marijuana and Medicine - Assessing the Science Base." (6) In that report, they came to the conclusion that marijuana has significant potential as medicine on a number of ailments, that "except for the harms associated with smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range of effects tolerated for other medications," and that "the short-term immunosuppressive effects are not well established but, if they exist, are not likely great enough to preclude a legitimate medical use." The report also concluded that, "Scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs, primarily THC, for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation; smoked marijuana, however, is a crude THC delivery system... ... Because of the health risks associated with smoking, smoked marijuana should generally not be recommended for long-term medical use. Nonetheless, for certain patients, such as the terminally ill or those with debilitating symptoms, the long-term risks are not of great concern. Further, despite the legal, social, and health problems associated with smoking marijuana, it is widely used by certain patient groups.” (6) President Clinton’s administration unfortunately did not act on this report, and marijuana has remained Schedule 1 to this day. Research continues, including lines recommended by the IoM report. With the advent of vaporization, the problems associated with smoking vanish. In comparison with smoking, vaporization offers a number of advantages. Most important is the lack of combustion gases such as carbon monoxide. Just as important is the fact that it is just as effective as smoking. According to a study conducted by Dr. Donald Abrams, “Vaporization of marijuana does not result in exposure to combustion gases, and therefore is expected to be much safer than smoking marijuana cigarettes. The vaporizer was well tolerated and preferred by most subjects compared to marijuana cigarettes. The Volcano’s device is an effective and apparently safe vehicle for THC delivery, and warrants further investigation in clinical trials of cannabis for medicinal purposes.” (9) In addition, just as with smoking, patients are able to control their dose via titration, stopping once they feel the desired effect. This ability to directly control how much of an effect you want is something that pill medications - such as Marinol - sorely lack. The cultivation of marijuana is a highly complex subject when one strives to do it correctly. We cannot expect police to understand the intricacies of a grow op; however, we do need to be able to expect that they can determine if a grow op falls under state law. Because of the myriad ways of growing cannabis, a person could harvest as little as 1/4oz per plant, up to 1lb per plant. Patients and caregivers are not always able to use one method over another, for reason such as plant genetics, environmental factors, space limitations, etc. More importantly, if they happen to need more plants than are allowed to harvest the amount of marijuana they need for their condition, they could be opening themselves up to legal penalty. It’s the same if they misjudge a harvest and get more than they thought they would. A 6 plants and 1 oz usable material limit is not nearly enough.   If we are to create a realistic, successful medical marijuana program that avoids the mistakes of other states, we must be smart about it. Chris Conrad (director of Safe Access Now, author of Hemp: Lifeline to the Future and Hemp for Health, and curator of the Hash-Marijuana-Hemp Museum in Amsterdam) has come up with an excellent set up that both gives patients and caregivers a large margin of possession and gives law enforcement a deceivingly simple method for determining if a complex grow operation falls under state law. Instead of a single, static plant limit, we recommend using canopy size to predict yield. A fully flowered marijuana sensimilla (seedless) plant, on average, yields only 28% usable marijuana (buds) - the rest is low potency leaf, stem, and branch waste. Factors such as indoor vs outdoor grow op, the strain’s flowering period and sensitivity to environment, pests, and others all affect the final yield.   “The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted scientific research with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the University of Mississippi, published in the 1992 DOJ report, Cannabis Yields. Both seeded and sinsemilla plants of several seed varieties were measured. The NIDA data in Table 3 includes leaf with the bud, and therefore requires an additional adjustment to arrive at the true garden yield below. Canopy is a term used in agriculture to describe the foliage of growing plants. The area shaded by foliage is called the canopy cover. The data on this page are based on the higher yielding, more potent seedless buds, sinsemilla. The federal field data show that, on average, each square foot of mature, female outdoor canopy yields less than a half-ounce of dried and manicured bud (Table 4), consistent with growers’ reports and gardens that have been seized by police as evidence and I have later weighed and examined. All other things being equal, a large garden will always yield more than a small one, no matter how many plants it contains. This is true for skilled and unskilled gardener alike. Restricting canopy will therefore limit any garden’s total bud yield, no matter which growing technique is used or how many plants make up the combined canopy cover. Most patients can meet their medical need with 100 square feet of garden canopy.” (3) Therefore, since on average patients smoke 6.63 pounds per year, we recommend that patients and caregivers be given a 6 pound possession limit. We recommend that we use a canopy area limit of 100 ft2 instead of 6 plants. By using canopy area instead of a single, static plant limit, all law enforcement has to know is how to use a tape measure to determine if a grow op falls within state law. More detailed information on how these numbers were achieved can be found in Chris Conrad’s publication “Cannabis Yields and Dosage - A Guide to the Production and Use of Medical Marijuana” (3), which is included with this testimony. Dozens of state and national organizations have voiced support for medical marijuana. A full list can be found at http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3390. If you want to learn more, Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana has a great website with a ton of useful information about medical marijuana, which can be found at http://www.pa4mmj.org/cannabis/medical. Marijuana is medicine, but jail is not. Let us put Pennsylvania ahead of the curve. You are the only ones who can do it, and this is your opportunity. I urge you to co-sponsor either HB 1393, or the version in the Senate. The Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, will give patients in Pennsylvania the relief that they deserve. References: (1) “Cannabinoid receptor 2 (macrophage) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CB2_receptor (Accessed November 30, 2009). (2) “Cannabinoid receptor type 1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid_receptor_type_1 (Accessed November 30, 2009). (3) “cannabisyieldsdosage-rgb.pdf (application/pdf Object).” http://www.safeaccessnow.net/pdf/cannabisyieldsdosage-rgb.pdf (Accessed November 30, 2009). (4) “Feature: Medical Marijuana in State Legislatures -- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly | Stop the Drug War (DRCNet).” http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/609/medical_marijuana_state_legislatures (Accessed November 30, 2009). (5) “Judge Young - Part 4.” http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/YOUNG/young4.html (Accessed November 29, 2009). (6) “Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base.” http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=6376 (Accessed November 30, 2009). (7) “TeenUseReport_0608.pdf (application/pdf Object).” http://www.mpp.org/assets/pdfs/general/TeenUseReport_0608.pdf (Accessed November 30, 2009). (8) “The FDA Approval Process.” http://people.musc.edu/~cooperjc/FDAapproval.htm (Accessed November 30, 2009). (9) “vaporizer_epub.pdf (application/pdf Object).” http://www.maps.org/media/vaporizer_epub.pdf (Accessed November 30, 2009). (10) “What is the lethal dose of marijuana?.” http://www.druglibrary.org/SCHAFFER/LIBRARY/mj_overdose.htm (Accessed November 29, 2009).
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