Drug
Policy Alliance (DPA), Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
(MAPS), Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), Students for Sensible Drug
Policy (SSDP), National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML),
Americans for Safe Access (ASA), Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access, and
Arizona Medical Cannabis Nurses Association:
For
Immediate Release:
Darby
Beck 415.823.5496
March 31, 2014
Arizona
State Senator Blocks Funding for Long-Sought Medical Marijuana
Research
Clinical
Trial for Veterans with PTSD Has Already Obtained Approval from U.S. Food and
Drug Administration, U. Arizona Institutional Review Board, and U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services
Wednesday,
April 2: Veterans, Military Family Members and Supporters to Rally at Wesley
Bolin Memorial Plaza
After
22 years of hard-fought efforts, the non-profit pharmaceutical company MAPS has
finally obtained approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) for a FDA clinical trial to examine the medical safety and efficacy of
marijuana. The trial would study military veterans suffering from
treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet the study’s
ability to receive Arizona state funding is in jeopardy due to State Senator
Kimberly Yee.
Arizona
has collected millions of dollars from its medical marijuana program. Under
Arizona’s medical marijuana law, that money is reserved for furthering the
provisions of the law and should include research and education – but none of it
has been spent. A bill being considered by lawmakers would give the Arizona
Department of Health Services discretion to use some of this surplus funding to
study the medical benefits of marijuana. On March 10th, the bill HB 2333,
sponsored by State Representative Ethan Orr of Tucson, passed the Arizona House
52-5, with strong bipartisan support. But State Senator Kimberly Yee (Phoenix),
who chairs the Senate Education Committee, refused to put the bill on her
committee’s agenda before the March 20th deadline – saying only that she wanted
the funds to be directed for drug abuse prevention.
“This
bill will help a lot of people. Not just combat veterans, but people with
chronic illness and pain who can’t find relief anywhere else. Whether you are
for recreational use or against it, we should at least know what marijuana does.
It’s research – that’s all we are trying to do,” said the bill’s sponsor, State
Representative Ethan Orr.
HB
2333 would allow for protected funds, which currently total more than $6M and
are collected through the sales of medical marijuana cards to qualified patients
in Arizona, to be allocated for study in a university setting “with the intent
to conduct thorough, objective clinical research on the safety, efficacy and
adverse events with marijuana.” The study would support the Arizona economy, as
it requires all studies to be conducted in state. The bill fixes a problem
facing administrators of the Medical Marijuana Act who are restricted to using
funds specifically in furtherance of the Act. HB2333 does not cost tax payers
any money – rather, it would put existing money to work for the betterment of
Arizona.
"Our
study paves the way for research that could make marijuana into a federally
approved prescription medicine for PTSD," says MAPS executive director Rick
Doblin, Ph.D. "We worked for 22 years to get permission to purchase marijuana
from NIDA's monopoly supply. By refusing
to consider HB 2333, Senator Yee is making it clear that she would prefer the
research never to happen at all."
Veterans
like Ricardo Pereyda of Tucson, who fought in combat in Operation Iraqi Freedom
2, are angry that Senator Yee wouldn’t allow the bill to be heard in her
committee. “Being able to treat multiple symptoms from post-traumatic stress
with cannabis has been instrumental in my ability to lead a full and productive
life,” said Pereyda, “Senator Yee is placing politics before science, and doing
so at the expense of our combat veterans.” Pereyda served in the U.S. Army and
Military Police Corps, and is the Veterans Liaison for Arizona
NORML.
In
response to this anti-democratic action by Sen. Yee, Pereyda is leading a
coalition effort to bring veterans, military family members and other Arizonans
who support medical marijuana research together at the Wesley Bolin Memorial
Plaza on April 2nd from 5pm to 7pm. Advocates are asking for Arizona State
Senate President Andy Biggs to bring the bill to the Senate floor for a vote,
thereby bypassing the need for a hearing in committee.
WHAT: A Rally in Support of Medical Marijuana
Research for PTSD Treatment
WHEN: Wednesday, April 2nd, from
5pm-7pm.
WHERE:
Wesley Bolin Memorial Plaza, Phoenix, Arizona
SPEAKERS:
· Emcee: Ricardo Pereyda, Iraq War
Combat Veteran, Veterans Liaison for AZ NORML
· Former State Representative, Ruben Gallego,
USMC Veteran
· Scott Cecil, Students for Sensible
Drug Policy, Arizona State University
· Heather Manus, RN, Arizona Medical
Cannabis Nurses Association
· Retired Lieutenant Police Officer Tony
Ryan, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
· Dr. Sue Sisley, University of Arizona,
Principal Investigator of PTSD Study
Dr.
Sue Sisley of the University of Arizona, who is the principal investigator of
the proposed study, is also frustrated with the inaction of Senator Yee.
"Twenty-two veterans a day are killing themselves," said Dr. Sue Sisley,
"They're not benefiting from conventional medicine. And while many are using
marijuana to help them with this debilitating disorder, they want it to be
legitimized. They want data. They want to know what doses to take. They want to
be able to discuss this with their doctors. The Obama administration is hearing
this, because allowing us to do this study does represent a major shift in
policy."
"Cannabis
medicine is natural, gentle, non-toxic, and should be available to PTSD
sufferers in Arizona,” said Heather Manus, president of the Arizona Cannabis
Nurses Association. “Many PTSD patients
in neighboring states are successfully finding relief of symptoms through the
use of cannabis.” The AZCNA has filed a petition with the Arizona Department of
Health Services on behalf of veterans and other PTSD sufferers to add PTSD as a
debilitating condition under the state’s medical marijuana
law.
“It
is unthinkable that someone would stand in the way of medical research,
particularly research could benefit military veterans, first responders, and
victims of violent crime, yet that is precisely what Senator Yee has done by
blocking HB 2333," said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe
Access.
"Our
veterans put their lives on the line for this country, and now Senator Yee says
that rather than pursuing every option to address the problems many of them
face, we should instead force these proud soldiers into an illicit marketplace,
and turn them into criminals for trying to make themselves whole. It's a
shameful way to treat our veterans, and worse, will force many not to pursue
treatment at all," said 36-year police veteran Lt. Tony Ryan (Ret), a board
member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of law enforcement
officials opposed to the war on drugs.
“Senator
Yee’s refusal to allow this medical research for veterans harms not just
veterans and their families, but all Arizonans who have loved ones who suffer
with post-traumatic stress,” said Jon Gettel of NORML. “It’s an outrage to prevent this important
research.”
Another
supporter of this event is the Drug Policy Alliance’s Freedom to Choose
campaign, which advocates for veterans’ access to medical marijuana. “Veterans
deserve the freedom to choose the safest treatment for their debilitating
conditions. When our veterans come home they deserve access to the medicine that
works for them,” said Jessica Gelay, who is the policy coordinator for DPA’s New
Mexico office and the coordinator of the Freedom to Choose campaign. “It is
unconscionable that research that could help prevent the needless deaths of men
and women who have already sacrificed so much would be blocked by one
lawmaker.”