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June 2, 2006 manage my subscription text version

	Electing Compassionate Reps in New Mexico Supporters of Drug Policy Reform are Making an Impact Study Shows Marijuana Smoke Does Not Raise Cancer Risk Electing Compassionate Reps in New Mexico New Mexico's entire House of Representatives is up for election in 2006, meaning that voters have an opportunity to elect officials who will support medical marijuana legislation. Medical marijuana bills passed the state Senate in both 2005 and 2006, but were held up by a handful of opponents in the House. The Drug Policy Alliance Network (DPAN), DPA's lobbying arm, is now working to make sure voters know where the House candidates stand on this issue in time for the June 6 primary. DPAN sent a questionnaire to all the candidates in contested primaries about their positions on medical marijuana. Those who responded affirmatively agreed to the statement, "Yes, if elected, I would vote to support limited access to medical marijuana for the sick and dying patients of New Mexico when recommended by their medical provider." However, many candidates have not yet returned the questionnaire. Medical marijuana supporters in New Mexico are now calling the candidates who have not responded to let them know that this is an important public health issue and ask where they stand. "Supporters of legal access to medical marijuana have been incredibly involved during the legislative sessions in New Mexico. They have become comfortable calling their legislators, writing letters, and even visiting them at the Capitol. This is the next step - taking action to choose who those legislators will be. It is critical that we elect a compassionate majority to the House," said Reena Szczepanski of DPAN in New Mexico. After the June 6 primary, DPAN supporters will ask the final candidates to support medical marijuana. DPAN will obtain positions on medical marijuana from the final candidates in each contested House district, and publish another scorecard before the November general election. Alerting voters to the positions of the candidates will help to ensure that the makeup of the new House of Representatives accurately reflects the wishes of the vast majority of New Mexicans, who support access to medical marijuana for sick and dying patients. Read More Supporters of Drug Policy Reform are Making an Impact In the last few weeks, drug policy reformers across the country have contacted Congress on several different issues. They have not let up, and the efforts are yielding positive results! A study last month showed that anti-marijuana commercials may cause young people to develop more positive attitudes toward marijuana. Thousands of people have faxed their members of Congress to urge them to stop wasting tax dollars on those ads. Congress is now deciding how much money to allocate in the budget for the ads, and the strong opposition is bolstering Drug Policy Alliance Network's lobbying efforts to advocate for cuts. Reformers also spoke out by the thousands against a provision in the House ONDCP Reauthorization bill that would make it easier for the federal government to unleash dangerous and uncontrollable mycoherbicides in Latin America. When Senators introduced their own version of the bill, it did not contain the risky mycoherbicide scheme. This is a huge step forward. At some point the House and Senate will have to reconcile their different bills, and when they do there will be another opportunity to take action on this issue. Thousands of people faxed Congress in support of medical marijuana as well. DPAN has received a lot of positive feedback from Congressional staffers on this campaign, which is building support for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment that Congress will most likely vote on in late June or July. Look for updates in the coming weeks on this important campaign to keep cancer and AIDS patients who use medical marijuana out of federal prison. Change would not be possible without these consistent efforts to let members of Congress know that drug policy issues are important! If you are not yet a member of the DPA Action Network, you can join to make yourself heard on federal, state and local drug policy issues. Read More Study Shows Marijuana Smoke Does Not Raise Cancer Risk A study presented at a meeting of the American Thoracic Society on May 24 found that smoking marijuana, even heavily, does not increase the risk of cancer. The study was headed by Dr. Donald Tashkin of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Tashkin, who has studied the effects of marijuana on the lungs for years, had expected the study to reveal that heavy marijuana use results in elevated cancer risk. Past studies have yielded varied results on this question, but most were conducted on a small scale and possibly affected by bias. The large-scale UCLA study focused on 2,200 people, about 1,200 of whom had lung, oral, laryngeal or esophageal cancer. The study used personal interviews to collect information about lifetime marijuana, tobacco and other drug use, as well as information about family history of cancer, diet and other possible factors. The result was that people who smoked marijuana, even those who smoked heavily for years, were at no greater risk of developing cancer than those who did not smoke. In contrast, people who smoked more than two packs of cigarettes per day were 20 times more likely to develop cancer than those who smoked nothing. Tashkin said that past studies have shown marijuana smoke to contain many of the same carcinogenic chemicals found in cigarette smoke. The findings of the study now have researchers considering the possibility that marijuana may have a protective effect against cancer, perhaps deterring tumor growth. Read More			"This study refutes yet another drug war fallacy: that marijuana smoke causes cancer. One by one, the myths and outright lies about marijuana are falling by the wayside due to sound science devoid of politics. We can now clearly see that the most negative consequences of marijuana revolve around the fact that it is illegal." --DPA executive director Ethan Nadelmann on a recently-presented study indicating that marijuana smoke does not increase the risk of lung cancer. FACT: The large-scale study found that even heavy users of smoked marijuana had no greater risk of developing lung cancer than people who did not smoke at all. In contrast, people who smoked two packs of cigarettes per day were twenty times as likely to develop cancer. � Why the Government Marijuana Monopoly Doesn't Work � RIP Esequiel � Dealers 'Lurk in the Shadows of the Web' � Read the Blog Support the Drug Policy Alliance's work to promote drug policies based on science, compassion, health, and human rights. � Donate Now � Action Alert: Make Sure Candidates Support Medical Marijuana (New Mexico Only) � Action Alert: Urge New York Senate to Vote for Reform (New York Only) � Historical Take on Ford Foundation Controversy � More News The State of Marijuana Education - New York Event Mark your calendar now! DPA executive director Ethan Nadelmann and It's Just a Plant author Ricardo Cortes will be hosting a discussion on the current state of marijuana education, July 26 at 7 p.m. at the Housing Works bookstore in New York City. The discussion will touch on the recent study showing that anti-marijuana ads may actually increase marijuana use among teenagers, and will include a reading from the book by the author. � Read More � Rockefeller Drug Law Reform: What Happened and What Should Happen Now � HIV/AIDS and Drug Use in Burma/Myanmar � The Punitiveness Report - HARD HIT: The Growth in Imprisonment of Women, 1977-2004 � More Library Picks Don't Miss the Deadline to Fight the War on Drugs! The new grants cycle is getting underway! If you have a proposal that fits within the guidelines of our Advocacy Grants Program - Promoting Policy Change cycle, make sure to email it to us by 8 p.m. EDT on June 15th, 2006. Only emailed applications will be accepted. � Read More The William Moses Kunstler Fund Racial Justice Awards Ceremony Join DPA's executive director, Ethan Nadelmann, and others in honoring luminaries in the fight to end racial injustice including Danny Glover, Amy Goodman and Harry Belafonte at the William Moses Kunstler Fund For Racial Justice, Inc. ten year anniversary celebration. June 4, 2006 New York, NY More Info XVI International AIDS Conference AIDS 2006 will be one of the most important scientific gatherings in the fight against AIDS, as well as a unique opportunity for science, government, community and leadership from around the world to advance our collective response to the epidemic. August 13-18, 2006 Metro Toronto Convention Centre (MTCC) Toronto, ON, Canada More Info � More Events Drug Policy Alliance 70 West 36th Street, 16th Floor New York, NY 10018 For subscription problems please contact Jeanette Irwin, Director, Internet Communications jirwin@drugpolicy.org 202.216.0035
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