National Medical Cannabis Unity Conference 2013...

Bridging the Gap Between the Public and Policy

NATIONAL MEDICAL CANNABISUNITY CONFERENCE 2013

Convening Sponsors

Cannabisin MedicineA Primer for Health Care Professionals

Accredited Cannabinoid Education

Friday February 22, 2013, 2-6 pm

Washington, DC

May!ower Renaissance Hotel1127 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036

2.75 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM

An expert overview of the clinical use of cannabis.

Providing health care professionals with up-to-date

clinical information on the therapeutic potential of

cannabis and the endocannabinoid system.

Learn more and register online:

www.ccic.net/USACME

Jointly sponsored by:

In collaboration with the

Society of Cannabis Clinicians

Supported by an unrestricted

educational grant from the

Americans for Safe Access

Foundation

I _____________________________ (your name) Feb 22, 2-6pm, Mayflower Hotel

Headquarters 1300 ClayStreet, Suite 600, Oakland, CA 94612National Office 1806 Vernon Street NW, 1st Floor, Washington DC 20009

888-929-4367www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org

AMERICANS FOR SAFE ACCESS PRESENTS

CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION

Defending Medical Marijuana Patients and Caregivers(4 hour CLE credits)

This four-hour legal seminar in Washington, D.C. will focus

on medical marijuana law in the jurisdictions of California,

Maryland, and the District of Columbia, as well as the issues

of federalism that surround medical marijuana.

The course will be held Friday, Feb 22 from 2-6pm at the

Mayflower Renaissance Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave NW,

Washington, DC 20036

The primary areas of law that will be discussed at the seminar include: the

legal definition of a qualified medical marijuana patient; the exceptions

to the criminal law for qualified patients; civil rights of medical marijuana

patients, such as employment, housing, and child custody; and distribution

systems of medical marijuana in the respective jurisdictions.

Also to be discussed are: federal rescheduling of marijuana; the federal

government’s various responses to medical marijuana in the states, such

as criminal prosecutions, raids and forfeiture actions; and the court’s

treatment of federalist issues, such as the Commerce Clause, the Tenth

Amendment, federal supremacy and federal preemption.

The course is $150. The course is FREE for public defenders from D.C. and

Maryland, or for anyone registered for ASA’s National Medical Cannabis

Unity Conference.

Please visit SafeAccessNow.org/DC-CLE to register for CLE

Register for the conference at ASANationalConference2013.com

Americans for Safe Access National Unity Conference 2013

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FRIDAY

7:00 am (Promenade Foyer)—Registration opens

9:00 am-9:30 am (Grand Ballroom)— Keynote byDr. John Schwarz

9:30 am-10:00 am (Grand Ballroom)—A Historyof Medical Cannabis Research and theEndocannabinoid System featuring Dr. SunilAggarwal and Dr. Mark Ware. Overview of the historyof medical cannabis research and the endocannabi-noid system.

10:00 am-10:30 am (Grand Ballroom)—Cannabis,The Exit Drug featuring Philippe Lucas and AmandaReiman

10:30 am-11:00 am (Grand Ballroom)—Is MedicalMarijuana a Thing of the Past? Featuring WendyChapkis.

11:00 am-11:30 am (Grand Ballroom)—AnIntegral Frame for MMJ Organizations featuringRegina Nelson.

11:30 am -1:00 pm (Grand Ballroom)—TheScience of Medical Cannabis featuring Dr. DonaldAbrams, IACM, Dr. Mark Ware, The CanadianConsortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids(CCIC), Dr. Jahan Marcu, Dr. Sunil Aggarwal, ASABoard member, Dr. Michelle Sexton, ASA Board, andMary Lynn Mathre, Patients Out of Time. Panelists willcomment on presentations of the day, highlight scien-tific findings, and comment on future research direc-tions in medical cannabis and cannabinoid medicine.

1:00 pm-2:00 pm (State)—Lunch

2:00 pm-6:00 pm (East)—Poster Exhibitions fea-turing work by Dr.Jahn Marcu, Dr.Sunil Aggarwal, Dr.Michelle Sexton and Dr. Robert Melamede

2:00 pm-6:00 pm (Promenade Ballroom)—Continuing Medical Education Course (CME)

2:00 pm-6:00 pm (Chinese)—Continuing LegalEducation Course (CLE)

3:30 pm-5:30 pm (Grand Ballroom)—ASA mem-bers meeting

6:30 pm -8:30 pm (State)—ASA reception

SATURDAY

8:00 am (Promenade Foyer)—Registration opens

9:00 am -9:30 am (Grand Ballroom)—Welcomefrom Steph Sherer. Founder and Executive Director ofASA

9:30 am-10:45 am (Grand Ballroom)—MedicalCannabis Policy in the US: A History ofResistance featuring Valerie Corral, Women's Alliancefor Medical Marijuana, Stephen DeAngelo Harborside,Joseph Casias, Joseph Casias vs Walmart, Don Duncan,ASA and Mary Lynn Mathre, Patients Out of Time.Behind every progress in the medical cannabis move-ment is a tale of courage and persistence. This panelwill explore current medical cannabis policy in the USas well as an historical overview of patient advocacythat has made this progress possible.

10:45 am-11:00 am—Break

11:00 am-12:15pm (Grand Ballroom)—International Medical Cannabis Policy featuringPhilippe Lucas, Boaz Wachtel, Tjalling Erkelens andGeorge Pappas. Several countries around the globeare developing medical cannabis programs for theircitizens. This panel will provide an overview of currentinternational medical cannabis policy, with detailedreports on Canada, Israel and the Netherlands.

12:15 pm-1:30 pm (State)—Lunch

1:30 pm- 4:15 pm Stakeholder Meetings:

2:45 pm-3:00 pm—Break

STAKE HOLDER GROUPS

(TBA)—Patient Advocacy featuring Steph Sherer,ASA, Darrell Rogers, Alliance for Natural Health USA,and Bill McColl, Aids United. This stakeholder meetingis for those in the medical cannabis movement thatself-identify as a patient or patient advocate. Thismeeting will include presentations from patient andconsumer advocacy organizations about the role ofpatient advocacy in passing federal laws and a discus-sion about the role of patient advocates in the med-ical cannabis movement.

(TBA)—Drug Policy Reform featuring Neil Franklin,Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, Aaron Houston,Students for Sensible Drug Policy, and Bill Piper, DrugPolicy Alliance. This stakeholder meeting is for thosethat self-identify as drug policy reformers and seemedical cannabis as a part of broader drug policyreform. In this meeting leaders in the drug policyreform movement will be leading a discussion about

CONFERENCE AGENDA


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the role of drug policy reformers in the medicalcannabis movement and about their role moving for-ward.

(TBA)—Medical Professionals featuring Mary LynnMathre, Patients Out of Time and Dr.David Bearman,American Alliance for Medical Cannabis. This stake-holder meeting is for medical professionals that are apart of the medical cannabis movement. This discus-sion will be centered on the issues medical profession-al face in the realm of medical cannabis as well as anoverview of current medical cannabis projects lead bymedical professionals.

(TBA)—Industry featuring Michael McGuffin,American Herbal Products Association, Dr. JahanMarcu, Green Standard Diagnostics, Inc. This stake-holder meeting will be hosted by the American HerbalProducts Association's (AHPA) Cannabis Committee.The agenda for the committee meeting will include adiscussion of the committee's recommendations toregulators on industry standards, an overview of AHPAand projects moving forward.

(TBA)—Veterans featuring Michael Krawitz, Veteransfor Medical Marijuana. This will be a discussion on thespecial needs for subcategories of medical cannabispatients that are also veterans. Part of this meeting willbe focused on developing strategies on expanding pro-tections for veterans.

(TBA)—Labor featuring Dan Rush, UFCW. This stake-holder meeting is for UFCW members and staff. Thiswill be a discussion on labors role in the medicalcannabis industry and developing strategies regardingworking within the medical cannabis industry.

(TBA)—Legal Professionals featuring Joe Elford,ASA and Alex Kreit, professor at Thomas JeffersonSchool of Law. This stakeholder meeting is for legalprofessionals and others with an interest in the legalissues surrounding medical cannabis. This meeting willinclude updates on recent federal and state cases.Strategies for defending criminal cases and achievingreform through impact litigation will also be dis-cussed.


4:30 pm- 6:00 pm (Grand Ballroom)—ExcitingDevelopments in the Medical CannabisMovement featuring Dr. Michelle Sexton, ASA BoardMember, Jill Limerourex ASA's Patients First ProgramDirector, Michael McGuffin Herbal Products Association,Dan Rush UFCW, Bianca Barnhill ASA Board Member,Joe Elford, ASA, and Tanya Blasbalg, CanadianConsortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids

(CCIC). Eighteen states and the District of Columbiahave medical cannabis laws, and more states are contin-uing to follow in this direction. ASA would like to high-light some new special projects that will impact ourwork on the federal and state level. Discussion willinclude an overview of the Patients First Program, theAmerican Herbal Pharmacopoeia: CannabisMonograph, The Cannabis Committee at the AmericanHerbal Products Association, the I Choose Cannabiscampaign, the creation of the Medical Cannabis andHemp Division of the United Food and CommercialWorkers International Union, the decision of the recentASA vs DEA rescheduling hearing, and the ContinuingMedical Education (CME) program by the CCIC.

7:00 pm-8:00 pm (Chinese)—VIP Reception

8:00 pm-10:00 pm (State)—Awards Dinner

SUNDAY

10:00 am-12:00 am (Grand Ballroom)—Stakeholder Presentations. This panel will cover thevarious medical cannabis stakeholders prospectiveincluding Patients, Veterans, Medical Professionals,Drug Policy Reform, Labor, Legal and Industry.

12:00 pm-1:15 pm (State)—Lunch in RegionalBreak outs

1:15 pm- 2:30 pm—TRAINING/WORKSHOPS

(Grand Ballroom) Training: Citizen Lobbying fea-turing Steph Sherer, ASA. Learn the ticks of the tradeof having a successful lobby meeting. Everyone whowill be lobbying on Monday needs to come to thisworkshop, where you will have the chance to practicefor your meetings with legislators on Monday.

(Chinese) Training: Strategic Messaging andSpokesperson Training featuring Kris Hermes ofASA. Workshop participants will be trained on becom-ing spokespeople on the issue of medical marijuana. Ifwe expect to be heard and understood by mainstreammedia, we need to speak and communicate our mes-sage in such a way that it stands out among today'stidal wave of information. Participants will learn theelements of a successful interview, how to effectivelyuse sound bites, and how to tie these messages to ourstrategies and goals.

(Promenade)—Workshop: Bringing MedicalCannabis Politics into the Mainstream featuringJim Greig, Voter Power Foundation, Robert Jacob,Sebastopol Vice Mayor, and Lanny Swerdlow (invited).This panel will discuss how to integrate mainstreampolitics into medical cannabis policy as well as offer anoverview of the basic infrastructures in politics, which


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includes PACs, democratic clubs, running for office,and getting medical cannabis champions elected.


2:45 pm : 4:00 pm—TRAINING/WORKSHOPS

(Grand Ballroom)—Training: Running an effectivemeeting; Facilitation and Consensus Building fea-turing Steph Sherer, ASA. One of the most overlookedskills in organizing is running effective meetings whichallow individuals voices to be heard but that alsoaccomplish objectives. This training will go over triedand true skills on successfully facilitating meetings,either in person or via conference calls, as well as run-ning a consensus process during the meeting.

(State)—Workshop: Fundraising for Grassrootsfeaturing Hunter Holliman of ASA, Tony Bowles of SFASA, and members of San Diego ASA. We all knowthat building and sustaining your organization orcampaign take money. What are the best strategieswhen it comes to grassroots fundraising? Learn thebasics of effective fundraising from experiencedactivists that you can start implementing immediatelyin your own community.

(Chinese)—Workshop: Creating Campaigns forInitiatives and State Legislation featuring MattAllen, Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, DonDuncan, ASA, Melissa Fults, Arkansans for Safe Accessand Kari Boiter. Election Day and the day the legisla-ture votes on a bill is the last day of what can takeyears to build. Hear from experienced advocates fromaround the country on building up campaigns to passstate legislation and initiatives.

(Promenade)—Workshop: Implementation andRegulation featuring Limerourex, ASA, Tim Smale,Remedy Compassion Center, Mike Liszewski, ASA, KenWolski, Coalition for Medical Marijuana New Jersey,and Rachel Kurtz. Passing a voter initiatives or a pieceof legislation is the first step in an intensive processcalled implementation and often includes developingregulations. Hear from experienced advocates aboutstrategies for success in the implementation process.


4:15 pm-5:30 pm—TRAINING/WORKSHOPS

(Grand Ballroom)Training: Citizen Lobbying fea-turing Caren Woodson, SF ASA. Learn the ticks of thetrade of having a successful lobby meeting. Everyonewho will be lobbying on Monday needs to come tothis workshop, where you will have the chance topractice for your meetings with legislators on Monday.

(Promenade)—Training: Gathering Data in your

Advocacy featuring Amanda Reiman, Drug PolicyAlliance. Gathering data is not only important for thelarger medical marijuana advocacy movement, it is anessential part of being a responsible part of the med-ical marijuana industry. Cultivators, dispensary owners,and others who work in the field should know how toevaluate their programs and improve their service topatients. This workshop will introduce participants tothe basics of survey design and data collection, includ-ing how to ask the right questions, collecting data andmaking the most of your results. Participants will havean opportunity to design their own survey around aquestion they want to answer in their medicalcannabis business.

(Chinese)—Workshop: Utilizing Social Media inyour Advocacy featuring Jonathan Bair, TalanaLattimer, ASA and special guest. Social Advocacy is theleading edge of online advocacy. New social mediatools not only allow advocacy campaigns and activiststo educate, engage and mobilize the public to partici-pate in campaigns, but they also can be used to targetpolicy makers, directly. This session will provide youwith an extensive overview of the strategies and tac-tics that can turn Twitter, Facebook and other socialmedia into tools for changing policy.

5:45 pm -6:30 pm Closing Panel

MONDAY

7:00 am-8:30 am (State)—Breakfast/ Distribute lob-bying materials and depart the Mayflower

9:30 am—Press Conference

10:30 am-1:00 pm—Free time on Capitol Hill (ifyou do not have meetings scheduled with your elect-ed though ASA you can use this time to drop by yourreps offices and see if you can meet with someone inthe afternoon)

1:00 pm - 5:00 pm—Congressional Visits (timeswill be given when you check in)


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Donald I. Abrams, M.D., is chief of the Hematology-Oncology Division at San Francisco General Hospitaland a Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Universityof California, San Francisco. He has an IntegrativeOncology consultation practice at the UCSF OsherCenter for Integrative Medicine. Dr. Abrams was onethe original clinicians to recognize and define manyearly AIDS-related conditions. He has long been inter-ested in clinical trials of complementary and alterna-tive medicine interventions for HIV/AIDS and cancer,including evaluations of medicinal marijuana. In 1997he received funding from the National Institute onDrug Abuse to conduct clinical trials of the short-termsafety of cannabinoids in HIV infection. Subsequentlyhe was granted funds by the University of CaliforniaCenter for Medicinal Cannabis Research to continuestudies of the effectiveness of cannabis in a number ofclinical conditions. He completed a placebo-controlledstudy of smoked cannabis in patients with painful HIV-related peripheral neuropathy as well as a study evalu-ating vaporization as a smokeless delivery system formedicinal. His last NIDA-funded trial investigated thepossible pharmacokinetic interaction between vapor-ized cannabis and opioid analgesics in patients withchronic pain. He co-authored the chapter on"Cannabinoids and Cancer" in the Oxford UniversityPress Integrative Oncology text that he co-edited withAndrew Weil. He is one of the editors of the NCIPDQ© CAM Cannabis and Cannabinoids website.

Sunil Kumar Aggarwal, M.D,, Ph.D., is a graduateof University of Washington's NIH-supported MedicalScientist Training Program and an Associate Memberof the New York Academy of Medicine. He completedhis internship in Internal Medicine at Virginia MasonMedical Center in Seattle and is currently a Resident atthe NYU Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine. Asa NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Dr. Aggarwal con-ducted and published studies of medical cannabis useunder the first-ever granted federal Certificates ofConfidentiality which protected 176 study subjectsrecruited from sites of cannabis delivery and medicalconsultation. He has authored or co-authored papersand book chapters on cannabinoid medical science,dosing, and human rights. He was a delegate to theAMA Medical Student Section and successfully lobbiedthe Washington State Medical Association and AMAto change their position on the federal scheduling sta-tus of cannabis and served as an expert reviewer fortheir report on medical cannabis science.

Matthew Allen has worked as an organizer on avariety of social and political issues. In 2006 Mattbegan work on changing sentencing for low-leveldrug offenders and formed a coalition in support ofdiversion-to-treatment legislation that grew to includethe National Alliance of Social Workers, Boston PublicHealth Commission, the Massachusetts Bar Associationand trade groups representing over 80 substanceabuse prevention providers. Over the past severalyears he has focused on medical marijuana reform. AsExecutive Director of Massachusetts Patient AdvocacyAlliance, he travels the state speaking with of patientssuffering from serious conditions who could benefitfrom safe access to medical marijuana, working withthem to bring their stories forward. He is currentlyearning a graduate degree from Northeastern inUrban and Regional Studies.

Bianca Barnhill was a successful model for RalphLauren and Giorgio Armani for 15 years before hercareer was cut short by a diagnosis of ColoRectal can-cer. Two years post-cancer she discovered cannabis asan alternative to the 13 medications she was taking.Since making this discovery and meeting otherpatients, Bianca has worked for her family's magazine"High Times" as a West Coast Correspondent, utilizingher mainstream network to speak out on this issue. Inthat time she has gotten Melissa Ethridge, OliverStone, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khlaifa, NAS, and DamienMarley to do interviews. As she became an activist, shefound ASA shared her personal mission to changelaws and create new rights by bringing the patientsvoice to the struggle for safe and legal access.

David Bearman, M.D., a pioneer in the free andcommunity clinic movement, is one of the most clini-cally knowledgeable physicians in the U.S. in the fieldof medicinal marijuana. After retiring as DeputyDirector of the Santa Barbara Regional HealthAuthority in 2001, Dr. Bearman began a private prac-tice in the field of pain management. He has served asan expert witness in numerous court cases and haswritten articles for journals and magazines as well asthe book Demons, Discrimination, and Dollars: A BriefHistory of American Drug Policy. His career includespublic health, administrative medicine, primary care,pain management and cannabinology. Dr. Bearmanhas taught courses on psychoactive drugs at UCSF,UCSB and SDSU, and has worked at all levels of gov-ernment including USPHS, Director of Sutter County

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Health Department, and Director of SDSU StudentHealth Services. He has over 40 years of experienceproviding drug abuse treatment and prevention. Dr.Bearman was recently recognized by NORML with thePeter McWilliams Award for his work in promotingmedical cannabis.

Kari Boiter is ASA's 2013 Patient Advocate Awardwinner. She spent the last three years as ExecutiveLegislative Assistant to a ranking budget chair in theWashington State House of Representatives, helpingcraft several legislative proposals on cannabis. In herfree time, Kari founded Free Chris Williams, which isdedicated to an imprisoned medical marijuanaprovider who faced a 90-year mandatory minimumsentence after being convicted at his federal trial. Kariaccepted a position with the November Coalition lastfall and was recently elected President of the CannabisDefense Coalition's Board of Directors.

Wendy Chapkis. Ph.D.,is a Professor of Sociology andDirector of Women and Gender Studies at theUniversity of Southern Maine. Among her books isDying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine (co-authored with Richard J. Webb, New York UniversityPress, 2008. She is also the author of numerous arti-cles, including "The Trouble with Mary Jane's Gender:gender politics in the marijuana policy reform move-ment," forthcoming in the Humboldt Journal of SocialRelations special issue on "Current Perspectives onMarijuana and Society;" and "Cannabis, Consciousnessand Healing," which appeared in the December 2007issue of Contemporary Justice Review. Dr. Chapkis hasserved as the Vice-President of the national Society forthe Study of Social Problems and is currently on theeditorial board of Contexts, a journal of the AmericanSociological Association.

Valerie Leveroni Corral is the Director and Co-founder of the Wo/Men's Alliance for MedicalMarijuana, the longest running medical marijuana col-lective in the nation. Founded in 1993, WAMM pro-vides medical marijuana and care on a donation basisto seriously ill patients. WAMM's services have expand-ed as patient's need emerged to include bedside care,shopping, cooking, and emotional support. WAMMpropagates organic medicine in the collective garden,develops all organic products, and provides a holisticapproach to healing. Weekly meetings provide aforum for patients to connect, as well as a means tocollect anecdotal evidence on patient experiences.WAMM has developed a sister non-profit called RahaKudo, the Design for Dying Project to meet the needsof dying members. Valerie learned following an auto

accident in 1973 that marijuana could control herseizures. In 1992 Valerie was thrust into the medicalmarijuana debate as the first patient to challengeCalifornia's marijuana laws and subsequently co-authored Prop 215, the Compassionate Use Act. Shehas conducted research projects and has peerreviewed published findings in Journal of CannabisTherapeutics. She is co-plaintiff in lawsuits against thefederal government enjoined with the City andCounty of Santa Cruz, including a 2010 settlementwith the federal government allowing collectives tocontinue WAMMs work without federal interference.Valerie has advised the US Congress on marijuana poli-cy, as well as government agencies in the Middle East,the British Commonwealth and other EU countries.

Steve DeAngelo is the Executive Director ofHarborside Health Center, in Oakland, which has beenextensively covered in national and international newsmedia. He is a cannabis industry leader, movementstrategist and lifelong activist who writes and speakswidely on the subject. His accomplishments includeorganizing I- 59, Washington D.C.'s medical cannabisinitiative; Hemp Tour, which brought hemp to theheartland; and Ecolution, Inc., which produced hempgarments and accessories 1990-2000. A summa cumlaude graduate of the University of Maryland, Steve isa founding, charter member of ASA (Americans forSafe Access), is on the board of the Emerald GrowersAssociation, and starred in the Discovery Channel miniseries "Weed Wars," which is currently rolling outinternationally.

Don Duncan has served on the Board of Directorssince he co-founded American for Safe Access in 2002.As California Director, he is coordinating the grassrootsand grasstops campaign to fully implement the statesmedical cannabis laws, respond to federal interfer-ence, and build a broader and more powerful coali-tion for medical cannabis in California. Don was instru-mental in galvanizing grassroots resistance to federalraids and in seeding local self-regulatory alliances formedical cannabis providers statewide. He has workedclosely with elected officials, law enforcement, collec-tive operators, and community members in localimplementation efforts in several California cities andcounties, and is currently working with lawmakers inSacramento to adopt legislation to expand rights forpatients. Don co-founded one of the oldest and mostreputable families of medical cannabis dispensing col-lectives in California, helping to open legal facilities inBerkeley, West Hollywood, and Los Angeles. He is amedical cannabis consultant and has been featured inmajor media coverage of the issue.


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Joseph Elford is Chief Counsel for Americans for SafeAccess. After graduating from Yale Law School in1996, Joe served as a law clerk for the HonorableVaughn Walker of the United States District Court forthe Northern District of California before working incriminal defense. In 2003, after assisting in all facets ofthe highly publicized prosecution of Edward Rosenthaland, later, his appeal, Joe joined ASA as the organiza-tion's attorney. In addition to compelling theCalifornia Highway Patrol revise its policy regardingthe seizure of medical marijuana from qualifiedpatients through a civil action in 2005, Joe successfullyargued the appeal of Jovan Jackson, overturning hisconviction and establishing the legality of dispensariesunder California law. Joe has also trained publicdefenders throughout the state how to defend med-ical marijuana patients.

Tjalling Erkelens is the CEO of Bedrocan, a companythat has produced medicinal-grade cannabis undercontract with the Dutch Health Ministry since 2002.Tjalling's interest in plants began as a freelance writercovering agriculture and horticulture, and in 1984 hecofounded a company that specialized in indoor culti-vation and processing of cannabis under highly stan-dardized conditions. Tjalling's commitment to sustain-ability in cannabis production is why Bedrocan's facili-ty uses 100% wind power, and composts its cannabiswaste. He coaches a team of teenage cyclists and reg-ularly leads them on rides of 60 km or more throughthe north of the Netherlands.

Neill Franklin is Executive Director of LawEnforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). A former nar-cotics agent with the Maryland State police, Neill wasproud of his work and the hundreds of arrests hemade, but two people changed his belief in the drugwar. The first was Kurt Schmoke, former mayor ofBaltimore, who while he was in office declared thedrug war a failure because it is counterproductive andcreates excessive violence. As a result, Neill began toresearch and evaluate his own experiences in lawenforcement. Then in October 2000, not long afterMayor Schmoke's announcement, Neill had a closefriend killed while making a drug deal as an undercov-er agent in Washington, DC. He began to speak pub-licly following his friend's murder and becameExecutive Director of LEAP in 2010.

Melisa Fults is a grandmother, entrepreneur andcannabis activist in Arkansas. Melissa became involvedwith Arkansans for Compassionate Care in 2010 whilesearching for a way to help save her son's life. Afterseeing the results in her own son's life, she and hus-

band, Gary, decided to step out into the spotlight andhelp bring a medical cannabis program to Arkansas.Melissa is now part of the steering committee for thenew 2014 campaign.

Jim Greig is an Oregon medical marijuana patient, amember of the Board of Directors for Voter PowerFoundation, Director of Patient Advocacy forOregonians for Law Reform, and an ASA Organizer.During the 2010 election cycle, he was the Co-Directorfor the Regulate Medical Marijuana PAC for Measure74. Jim is a published author who is currently lobbyingto add PTSD to the Oregon approved-condition list,lower sentences for marijuana possession, and add aregulated medical marijuana supply system.

Kris Hermes is media spokesperson for ASA. Krisbrings nearly 20 years of social justice activism experi-ence to the fight for safe access to medical marijuana.He has worked in various cities around the U.S. gener-ating media and mobilizing people to effect change infederal and state policy on issues involving hunger,poverty and access to health care. Over the last fewyears, before joining ASA, he dedicated much of histime to legal activism, helping support those arrestedduring mass demonstrations and acts of civil disobedi-ence. Previously as ASA's Legal Campaign Director, Krisand the legal staff led the organization in numerousvictories that have provided greater protection forthousands of patients.

Hunter Holliman is National Field Coordinator forAmericans for Safe Access. After completing graduatestudies in Human Rights and Drug Policy, Hunterworked at a prominent medical cannabis dispensary inSan Francisco as a Community Liaison and CannabisConsultant. He was also a member of the SanFrancisco ASA Chapter Steering Committee beforerelocating to DC in late 2012 to work for ASA.

Aaron Houston is executive director of Students forSensible Drug Policy, where he oversees the work of anational staff that coordinates students on more than200 campuses around the world. Named a "Rising Starof Politics" by Campaigns & Elections' PoliticsMagazine in 2008, Aaron is a nationally recognizedexpert on drug policy and marijuana law who playeda key role in pushing the Department of Justice to for-mally issue written guidelines on medical marijuana inOctober 2009. Aaron has appeared on NBC's Todayshow, The Colbert Report, FOX News, CNN, and NPR,and his efforts on Capitol Hill were chronicled in a2007 Showtime original documentary, In Pot We Trust.Aaron attended the University of Colorado at Denver.


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Robert Jacob is Vice Mayor of the City of Sebastopol,California and the founder and Executive Director ofPeace in Medicine, a non-profit healing center andmedical cannabis dispensary with locations inSebastopol and Santa Rosa. His professional back-ground in corporate operations and project manage-ment includes managing construction of three inter-national hospitals and the successful development oftwo proprietary businesses. Robert also developed andled several non-profit organizations serving disenfran-chised youth and patients. Named in the Top 40 UnderForty list by the North Bay Business Journal , Robert isa member of the Chamber of Commerce, SebastopolRotary Club, and CERT, the Sebastopol CommunityEmergency Response Team. Robert was elected to theSebastopol City Council in November 2012 and wasunanimously selected to serve as Vice Mayor.

Michael Krawitz is executive director of Veterans forMedical Marijuana Access. A 49-year-old resident ofElliston, Virginia, Michael suffered an automobile acci-dent in 1984 while serving in the United States AirForce. Michael has been rated by the United StatesDepartment of Veterans Affairs (VA) as being totallyand permanently disabled. Michael uses marijuana totreat chronic pain and trauma associated with his acci-dent. He also uses marijuana to treat central serousretinopathy. However, because of his medical marijua-na use, he has been denied pain treatment by the VA.Michael is one of the named plaintiffs in ASA's lawsuitchallenging the DEA's denial of the latest reschedulingpetition.

Alex Kreit is an associate professor and director ofthe Center for Law and Social Justice at ThomasJefferson School of Law. After graduating from theUniversity of Pennsylvania Law School, Alex clerked forthe Honorable M. Blane Michael on the U.S. FourthCircuit Court of Appeals. He then worked as an associ-ate at Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco where hispractice focused on securities and appellate litigation.Alex's articles have appeared in numerous journals,and he is author of the casebook ControlledSubstances: Crime, Regulation, and Policy and co-author of the treatise Drug Abuse and the Law withGerald Uelmen. Alex is currently President of the SanDiego Lawyer Chapter of the American ConstitutionSociety. From 2009 to 2010 he served as chair of theCity of San Diego's Medical Marijuana Task Force, aposition appointed by the San Diego City Council.

Rachel Kurtz is the chair of the political committeefor the Coalition for Cannabis Standards and Ethics.

Jill Lamoureux is the Patients First program directorfor Americans for Safe Access. Formerly a cannabisbusiness operator in Colorado, she was the only indus-try representative to serve on the medical marijuanaadvisory committees for both the ColoradoDepartment of Public Health and Environment andthe Colorado Department of Revenue. Jill has present-ed on cannabis operations, financing and regulationin multiple venues including finance conferences, con-tinuing legal education courses, law review panels,and most recently at RAND's public policy workshop.As director of ASA's Patients First program, Jill isfocused on bringing patient issues to the regulatoryarena and providing training for operators and bestpractice guidelines for policy makers.

Talana Lattimer is the Social Media Director atAmericans for Safe Access, where she builds socialadvocacy campaigns to impact policy initiatives. Shehas served as a media trainer and public speaker forvarious social change organizations. Before joiningASA, Talana worked for the Association for Career andTechnical Education (ACTE), where she developed andexecuted social media strategies and multimedia proj-ects. Talana also worked on media and communica-tions campaigns for the Terry McAuliffe gubernatorialcampaign, the Department of Commerce, MargueriteCasey Foundation's Equal Voices for AmericaCampaign, and American University. She has been aproducer for CNN, CBS News, XM Sirius Satellite Radio,Black Entertainment Television, and others.

Mike Liszewski is Policy Director at Americans forSafe Access. After a few years of working in thefinancial and education technology industries, Mikebecame a community organizer for BannerNeighborhoods in southeast Baltimore where hedeveloped programs for elementary and middleschool-aged youth. As a law student at University ofthe District of Columbia, he helped lead a successfullobbying campaign that defeated a "gang injunction"bill, represented D.C. high school students in discipli-nary and special education matters, and clerked for DCCouncil Committee on Health as it was consideringB18-622, the District's medical cannabis law. Mikeserved as a student member of SSDP's Board ofDirectors (2010-2012) and the ACLU-NCA (2010-2011).Shortly before joining ASA's staff, he co-drafted theoriginal version of what was eventually passed andsigned into law in D.C. as the Good SamaritanOverdose Prevention Amendment Act of 2012. AsPolicy Director at ASA, Mike has worked with patientsand legislative offices at the state, local and nationallevel to create laws for safe access to medical cannabis.


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Philippe Lucas, M.A., is a Research Affiliate with theCenter for Addictions Research of British Columbiaand a founding Board member of theMultidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic StudiesCanada and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. In1999 Philippe founded the Vancouver IslandCompassion Society, one of Canada's longest runningnon-profit medical cannabis dispensaries. His researchinterests, projects and publications include the thera-peutic use of cannabis, Canada's federal medicalcannabis program, and the use of cannabis, ibogaine,and ayahuasca in the treatment of addiction.Currently, he is a Primary or Co-Investigator on a num-ber of studies examining cannabis substitution theory,and Coordinator and Co-Investigator of an observa-tional study of ayahuasca-assisted treatment for addic-tion and stress. Philippe has testified before theCanadian Senate and House of Commons on cannabis-related issues, advised the Israeli Ministry of Health ontheir medical cannabis program, given expert testimo-ny before the BC Supreme Court, and is a recipient ofthe Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for hiswork on medical cannabis and drug policy reform.

Jahan Marcu, Ph.D., is the Vice-Chair of theAmericans for Safe Access Multidisciplinary ScientificAdvisory Board. Dr. Marcu is currently investigatingthe pharmacology of cannabinoid receptors at TempleUniversity. He received his Ph.D. for studying the struc-ture and function of the CB1 receptor, and the role ofthe endocannabinoid system in bone. Before earninghis Ph.D., Jahan worked at the California PacificMedical Center Research Institute studying the anti-cancer properties of compounds from the cannabisplant, the findings of which were published in theJournal of Molecular Cancer Therapeutics. He is a fre-quent speaker on cannabinoid science and a con-tributing author or editor of several publicationsincluding: O'Shaughnessy's: The Journal Of CannabisIn Clinical Practice, projectCBD.org, the West CoastLeaf newspaper, the Philadelphia Examiner, and thesensible science blog at freedomisgreen.com. A court-qualified cannabis and synthetic cannabinoid expert,Jahan has served as a volunteer for Americans for SafeAccess since 2003.

Mary Lynn Mathre, MSN, RN, is President ofPatients Out of Time, a 501c3 non-profit organizationshe co-founded in 1995 to educate health care profes-sionals and the public about the therapeutic use ofcannabis (www.medicalcannabis.com). She has been aregistered nurse for more than 35 years since begin-ning her career in the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps. Her prac-tice was focused on medical-surgical nursing and nurs-

ing education until becoming interested in medicinalcannabis while working on her Master's thesis in 1985;she changed to an addictions specialty in 1987 and is acertified addictions registered nurse (CARN). Sheserved as the Director of NORML's Council onMarijuana & Health from 1986 to 1992 and onNORML's Board of Directors from 1988 to 1994. She isthe editor of Cannabis in Medical Practice: A Legal,Historical and Pharmacological Overview of theTherapeutic Use of Marijuana (1997) and co-editor ofWomen and Cannabis: Medicine, Science andSociology (2002). A founding member and presidentof the newly formed American Cannabis NursesAssociation, she has authored numerous articles, draft-ed cannabis resolutions for several professional organi-zations, served as an expert witness on medicinalcannabis at legislative hearings and in court cases,appeared on numerous radio shows and presented atnumerous regional, national and international confer-ences on medicinal cannabis.

William D. "Bill" McColl is the political director ofAIDS United and has been an advocate on behalf ofcriminal justice reform, alcohol and other drug treat-ment and reform issues and the HIV/AIDS communityfor 18 years. His most recent work encompasses imple-mentation of health care reform, strengthening theMedicaid, Medicare and the Ryan White CARE Act sys-tems, ending the ban on federal funding for syringeexchange and implementation of the NationalHIV/AIDS Strategy. Prior to joining AIDS United, Billworked to shape national policies on syringeexchange, treatment instead of incarceration, anddrug policy reform as the national affairs director atDrug Policy Alliance. As director of government rela-tions and later executive director of NAADAC: TheAssociation for Addiction Professionals, he worked onalcohol and substance abuse parity legislation andstate level licensing issues. A native of Michigan andformer Air Force officer, he earned his law degree atthe University of Maryland School of Law where hewrote the first major law review article on drugcourts. Michael McGruffin has served as the President of theAmerican Herbal Products Association (AHPA) since1999 and a member of the Board of Trustee's for 10years prior. He is a leading expert on dietary supple-ment regulation who has been published in scholarlyand scientific journals, including the Food and DrugLaw Journal and Clinical Pharmacology &Therapeutics. Michael has served as Managing Editorof AHPA's Botanical Safety Handbook (1997) andHerbs of Commerce, 2nd edition (2000). He has repre-sented the herbal industry at state and federal hear-


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ings on regulatory issues and served as a member ofthe FDA's Food Advisory Committee Working Groupon Good Manufacturing Practices for DietarySupplements (1998-99), the FDA's Food AdvisoryCommittee's Dietary Supplements Subcommittee(2003-5) and currently serves on California's Office ofEnvironmental Health Hazard Analysis Food WarningWorkgroup and the Advisory Board of the USC Schoolof Pharmacy Regulatory Science Master's DegreeProgram. He also serves on the boards of theAmerican Herbal Pharmacopoeia, the AmericanAssociation of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine,and United Plant Savers.

Robert Melamede, Ph.D., is a tenured associate pro-fessor at the University of Colorado at ColoradoSprings and is CEO and President of the publicly trad-ed company Cannabis Science. Robert serves onnumerous boards including The Phoenix TearsFoundation, The World AIDS Institute, SensibleColorado and The Unconventional Foundation forAutism.

Regina Nelson is a Ph.D. student at Union Instituteand University concentrating on Leadership studiesand interdisciplinary research within the medicalcannabis movement. She holds a B.A. in CulturalAnthropology from Vermont College (1998) and anM.L.S. in Leadership from the University of Oklahoma(2002). Regina's dissertation work involves challeng-ing the structure of evidenced-based medicine. She isa founding officer of Cannabis Patients Union, apatient organization that encourages collective action,links community resources, and seeks to reintegratecannabis into society.

George Pappas is Representative for North Americafor Bedrocan, BV, the Dutch medical cannabis compa-ny. A long-time activist, he has worked with groupssuch as Students for Sensible Drug Policy andAmericans for Safe Access. A resident of Chicago,George focuses on medical cannabis programs inNorth America, and wants to contribute to helpingthe programs here continue to mature.

Bill Piper is director of national affairs at the DrugPolicy Alliance, responsible for developing and imple-menting strategies for ending the federal war ondrugs. He lobbies Congress in support of cutting drugwar waste, preventing drug overdoses and the spreadof HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, protecting state medicalmarijuana programs from federal interference,reforming draconian sentencing laws, and re-prioritiz-ing federal law enforcement agencies. Bill appears fre-

quently on radio shows and OpEd pages and has beenquoted in dozens of regional and national newspa-pers. He is the author of DPA's 2008 report, "A Four-Pillars Approach to Methamphetamine: Policies forEffective Drug Prevention, Treatment, Policing andHarm Reduction," and co-author of DPA's 2003 report,"State of the States: Drug Policy Reforms, 1996-2002."Prior to joining the DPA, Piper was director of researchfor the Initiative and Referendum Institute, a nationalnonprofit working to preserve and expand the rightsof voters. Before that, he worked for U.S. Term Limits,the largest grassroots organization working to enactterm limits on elected officials. A graduate of IndianaUniversity, he has more than twelve years of politicalexperience in Washington, D.C.

Amanda Reiman, Ph.D., is the California policy man-ager for the Drug Policy Alliance, where she leadsDPA's marijuana reform work in California, and a lec-turer in the School of Social Welfare at the Universityof California-Berkeley, where she teaches Drug andAlcohol Policy, Substance Abuse Treatment, andSexuality and Social Work.. She has conducted numer-ous studies on medical marijuana dispensaries,patients and the use of marijuana as a treatment foraddiction. She served as the first chairwoman of theMedical Cannabis Commission for the City of Berkeleyand has consulted with various cities and states on thedevelopment of medical marijuana policy. A Chicagonative, Amanda holds a BA from the University ofIllinois-Chicago, a Master's Degree in Social Work fromthe Jane Addams College of Social Work, and a PhD inSocial Welfare from the University of California,Berkeley.

Darrell Rogers is the Campaigns andCommunications Director with the Alliance for NaturalHealth USA. He has worked in government relations,public affairs, and nonprofit management for twelveyears. A native of New Jersey, he has a BA fromWilliam Paterson University and a Masters in AmericanGovernment from The Catholic University of America.Darrell was previously a public affairs specialist with anoted Washington, DC political consulting firm.

Dan Rush is the National Director for the MedicalCannabis and Hemp Division of the United Food andCommercial Workers International Union (UFCW)which has 1.3 million members. Dan is the spokesper-son for the Californians to Regulate MedicalMarijuana and the board secretary of the Coalition forCannabis Policy Reform (CCPR). In 2010 he establishedUFCW5's Cannabis Division and organized the veryfirst union members in the medical cannabis industry.


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Dan is a native of Oakland, California, a CentralCommittee Delegate of the California DemocraticParty, and an expert on statewide ballot initiatives. Hecoordinates the annual National Labor-CommunityAwards in San Francisco, the largest event of its kindin the United States.

Michelle Sexton, N.D., is a Naturopathic Doctor,herbalist, educator and clinical cannabis researcher.She completed a postdoctoral fellowship focused onthe endogenous cannabinoid signaling system (eCS) inthe Departments of Pharmacology and Psychiatry andBehavioral Medicine at the University of Washington.On an award from the National Center forComplimentary and Alterative Medicine (NCCAM), shecompleted a clinical study measuring novel immunemarkers in Multiple Sclerosis and the effect ofcannabis use on these markers. She practices clinicallyand is research faculty at Bastyr University ResearchInstitute. She previously owned a company that pro-vided chemical analysis of cannabis varieties grown inWashington State and is a technical advisor to theAmerican Herbal Pharmacopoeia on the developmentof a cannabis monograph.

Steph Sherer is a medical marijuana patient and co-founder and Executive Director of Americans for SafeAccess. She has over eleven years of experience servic-ing and managing non-profit businesses and commu-nity organizations, including event planning, consult-ing, fund development, public relations, and projectmanagement. She has worked with community devel-opment, education, social justice, human rights, peace,social change, and youth programs. Steph is a nation-ally recognized activist whose community awardsinclude the San Diego Peacemaker of the Year Awardin 2003. She is a guest lecturer at University California,Berkeley and George Washington University, DC.

Tim Smale, M.B.A., is the co-founder and ExecutiveDirector of Remedy Compassion Center in Auburn,Maine. He has 30 years domestic and internationalexperience with non-profit and for-profit organiza-tions, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies,including a leading medical cannabis consultingorganization. He has a BBA from the University ofToledo and an MBA from Bowling Green StateUniversity. After rising to high levels of managementat Dana Corp. and Pilkington plc, in 1998 Tim wasnamed CEO of a national non-profit, The IndependentGlass Association where he introduced new programsand services and managed national conventions. Laterhe joined The Dwyer Group, a leading franchisingcompany in seven different industries, serving as

Director of Business Development and FranchiseSystems Manager. After more than twenty years ofsuffering migraine headaches, he discovered cannabishelps his pain and nausea tremendously and oftenstops a serious migraine. What he learned about thesafety, efficacy, and history of medicinal cannabis ledTim and his wife, Jenna, to open Remedy CompassionCenter in 2011 to serve patients in Maine as part ofthat state's successful, highly regulated program. Timalso serves on various American Herbal ProductsAssociation committees developing recommendationsfor regulators and actively supports ASA. Dr. John Schwarz is the co-founder of 'SuperstringTheory' and a Theoretical Physics professor atCalifornia Institute of Technology.

Boaz Wachtel is an Initiator (1995-2013) and co-strategist with Israel's Ministry of Health (MOH) ofIsrael's Medical Cannabis program that currentlyincludes over 11,000 patients served by eight specialistphysicians authorized to issue licenses and eightlicensed cultivators. A researcher on addiction, harmreduction, and cannabis, he has published more thantwo dozen articles, papers, and book chapters. He wasa founding member of the 'Israeli Foundation forDrug Law Reform' (1994) and a public representativeto the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) Drug Committee"Examining the legal status of Cannabis." He submit-ted to the MOH the cannabis 'Drug Master File' (safetyand efficacy data) and has since represented patientsto the MOH. He was a co-producer with MaripharmHolland of "The Medicinal Uses of Cannabis" from2000-2002, and an organizer with MOH of theMedical Cannabis Education Seminar for Doctors in2007. In 2009, he became a founding member of theCentralized National Medical Cannabis distributionCenter in Abarbanel Hospital. He has been a Memberof the Board of the Israeli AIDS committee since 2006and is a Member of the Steering Committee ofENCOD, the European Coalition for Just and EffectiveDrug Policies. He is a founder and former Chairman(1999-2006) of Israel's Green Leaf Party, which won1% of the national vote in 1999, 1.2% in 2003 and1.4% in 2006. Boaz is a Certified Clinical ResearchAdministrator with Israel's MOH and Bar-IlanUniversity, and is a certified Consultant with the EUResearch & Development Program at Tel AvivUniversity. He served as Assistant Army Attaché' in theIsraeli Embassy in DC from 1983-1988.

Mark Ware, M.D., is the executive director of thenon-profit Canadian Consortium for the Investigationof Cannabinoids (CCIC). He is also Associate Professorin Family Medicine and Anesthesia at McGill University


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and Director of Clinical Research of the Alan EdwardsPain Management Unit of the McGill University HealthCentre. He practices pain medicine at the MontrealGeneral Hospital and the Montreal NeurologicalInstitute. He teaches clinical pain management, includ-ing pharmacology, complementary approaches tochronic pain and the neurobiology of pain.

Ken Wolski, R.N., M.P.A., is executive director of theCoalition for Medical Marijuana - New Jersey, a found-ing Board member of the American Cannabis NursesAssociation, and was the 2012 Green Party candidatefor U.S. Senate in New Jersey. Ken's 36 years as a regis-tered nurse includes work in Intensive Care Units,Coronary Care Units, and 22 years in the state prisonsystem.

Caren Woodson, consults on business developmentand regulatory matters. She has over ten years' experi-ence as working on medical marijuana law and policyand has advised policymakers at all levels of govern-ment about successful regulatory systems for medicalcannabis. She was previously the chief lobbyist forAmericans for Safe Access and served as a legislativeanalyst for the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) inWashington, DC. She holds a Masters in Public Policyfrom The American University in Washington, DC, anda BA in Political Science from the University ofNevada-Las Vegas. She and her husband occupyOakland, California and serve as core members of theSan Francisco Chapter of Americans for Safe Access(SF-ASA).

MAYFLOWER HOTEL FLOORPLAN


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Join Us for ASA's Medical Cannabis Lobby Day! Monday, February 25


Americans for Safe Access National Unity Conference 201322 2222


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Special thanks to our additional sponsors


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AMERICANS FOR SAFE ACCESS

~ 2013 HONOREES ~

Medical Cannabis Journalist of the YearRyan Grim

Cannabis Researcher of the YearJahan Marcu, Ph.D.

Medical Cannabis Patient Advocate of the YearKari Boiter, Washington

Medical Cannabis Patient Lobbyist of the YearJim Greig

Medical Cannabis Patient Campaigner of the YearMatthew Allen

Elected Official of the YearMayor Bob Filner, San Diego

ASA Chapter of the YearSan Francisco

Copyright 2013, Americans for Safe AccessAmericans for Safe Access National Unity Conference 2013

www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org

1806 Vernon Street NW, Washington, DC 200091300 Clay Street, Suite 600, Oakland, California 94612

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