[MAPS] MAPS News 08/07: Does your denomination support marijuana
research?
Jag Davies
jag at maps.org
Wed Aug 8 16:25:30 CDT 2007
To read this in html:
http://maps.org/news
MAPS Members, Supporters, and Friends,
This August, things are -- excuse the corny summer pun -- heating up
here at MAPS.
Rep. John Olver (D-MA) has extended the deadline one final time to
September 7 for MAPS' Congressional Sign-On Letter campaign urging
the DEA to end its obstruction of medical marijuana drug development
research. The letter urges DEA to grant Professor Lyle Craker a
Schedule I license for his proposed MAPS-sponsored medical marijuana
production facility at UMass-Amherst, as recommended by DEA
Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner.
Has your Congressional Representative signed on? To find out, and to
contact your Rep., see: http://maps.org/mmj/DEAlawsuit.html#bipartisan
Another positive development in MAPS' campaign to build support for
Prof. Craker is that several major religious denominations --
including United Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church (USA) --
sent letters last month to DEA in support of Prof. Craker's
application, thanks to some great collaborative work by our allies at
the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative (IDPI).
If you value MAPS' unique and persistent approach to psychedelic and
marijuana research and reform, please consider supporting MAPS by
making a (tax-deductible) gift you feel good about: http://
www.maps.org/catalog
Let's get to the news:
1. Religious Denominations Write to DEA in Support of MAPS-Sponsored
Marijuana Production Facility
2. MAPS Laying Foundation for Future Growth
3. MAPS FY 2007-08 Budget Approved at Board of Directors Meeting
4. MAPS Providing Technical Support for Israeli Medical Marijuana
Production Facility
5. New Therapist Team for Israeli MDMA/PTSD Study
6. Ongoing Swiss MDMA/PTSD Study Applies for Changes to Protocol:
More MDMA!
7. Dr. Mithoefer's MDMA/PTSD Study Nears Completion; Therapist
Training Program Protocol in the Works
8. "Of Consuming Interest" Interviews MAPS President Rick Doblin
9. Art Fundraiser to Support MAPS Harm Reduction Project
10. Join MAPS at the 2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference
in New Orleans this December
11. Website and Registration Now Available for 2008 World Psychedelic
Forum
12. Women's Visionary Congress Builds Support for Women Pursuing Drug
Policy Reform and Psychedelic Research
13. Rest In Peace: Peter Stafford
*** For MAPS artwork, merchandise, memberships, & more: http://
www.maps.org/catalog ***
1. Religious Denominations Write to DEA in Support of MAPS-Sponsored
Marijuana Production Facility, Congressional Lobbying Continues
A broad coalition of religious denominations sent letters last month
to DEA Administrator Karen Tandy urging her agency to grant a
Schedule I license to Professor Lyle Craker for his proposed MAPS-
sponsored production facility. The denominations include the United
Church of Christ, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Methodist Church,
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, and Union for
Reform Judaism. Special thanks to our allies at the Interfaith Drug
Policy Initiative <http://idpi.us> for their help in obtaining these
letters of support, as part of their mission to mobilize religious
groups in support of alternatives to the War on Drugs. For a full
list of organizations that have written to DEA in support of MAPS and
Prof. Craker, see: http://www.maps.org/mmj/DEAlawsuit.html#4
You can help by urging organizations to which you belong to join the
other political, medical, science, public health, and religious
groups who are writing to DEA in support of Prof Craker. For more
information about organizational lobbying, reply to this email.
MAPS is also continuing to raise awareness and political leverage by
lobbying to add signatures to Reps. John Olver's (D-MA) and Dana
Rohrabacher's (R-CA) Congressional Sign-On Letter to DEA, urging the
agency to grant Prof. Craker a Schedule I license. As those of you
who have been following this case know, Prof. Craker's case is the
focal point of the struggle to bring marijuana before the FDA, to
determine once and for all whether it meets federal standards for
medical safety and efficacy.
The deadline for the Congressional Sign-On Letter has been extended
to September 7. Thirty-five Reps. have signed this letter, but there
are a lot more that will if they hear from their constituents. If you
haven’t contacted your Congressional Representative yet, your voice
is needed! Here's how to help:
http://maps.org/mmj/DEAlawsuit.html#bipartisan
2. MAPS Laying Foundation for Future Growth
On July 23-24, management consultants from The Management Center, a
nonprofit that helps progressive advocacy organizations get results
in pursuit of their missions, worked intensively with the MAPS staff
at the MAPS office in Ben Lomond, CA. The Management Center is funded
by philanthropist Peter Lewis to provide professional management
assistance to the organizations to which he contributes.
Building on previous meetings with MAPS President Rick Doblin, PhD,
and Program Director Valerie Mojeiko, the consultants met with each
member of the MAPS staff to review our responsibilities and help us
organize key priorities for the next six-month period. The MAPS staff
developed an organizational 'Success Sheet' that thoroughly outlines
specific goals for the remainder of 2007 that must be met for MAPS'
goals to remain on track. Each staff member also completed an
individual 'Success Sheet' detailing our responsibilities and roles
in ensuring that MAPS meets its organizational goals. On July 24, the
management consultants joined MAPS' annual Board of Directors meeting
(see next item).
3. MAPS FY 2007-08 Budget Approved at Board of Directors Meeting
On July 24, MAPS held its annual Board of Directors meeting. During
the meeting, Shawn Hailey was formally elected as the fourth member
of the board, and Rick Doblin was re-elected for a two-year term as
President. Much of the four-hour meeting was spent discussing the
ambitious budget that MAPS has developed for FY 2007-08, which has
considerably more detailed project and fundraising projections than
ever before in MAPS' history. In order for MAPS to reach its
fundraising and research goals, we’ll have to facilitate an expanded
networking and teamwork process that will involve many of MAPS’
current members.
4. MAPS Providing Technical Support for Israeli Medical Marijuana
Production Facility
MAPS is currently involved as a consultant for a small, legal medical
marijuana production facility in Israel. The facility, directed by
an Israeli medical marijuana advocate, has been authorized
by the Israeli Ministry of Health to provide marijuana to over 50
patients formally approved by the Ministry. MAPS is working to
provide technical assistance to create an organic, hydroponic,
standardized production facility, which will start small and give
marijuana away for the next several months. Once a successful track
record has been established, the Ministry will determine whether to
permit the facility to produce medical marijuana on a commercial basis.
Thanks to a $10,000 donation to MAPS for the Israeli production
facility project, MAPS in bringing Canadian medical marijuana
researcher and activist Philippe Lucas, founder of the Vancouver
Island Compassion Society, to Israel in the second week in August.
Mr. Lucas is currently a Center for Addictions Research of British
Columbia graduate research fellow at the University of Victoria, and
is currently involved in a number of research projects related to
medical cannabis access and use. Rick Doblin will also be in Israel
at that time to consult during the site visit, in addition to working
with MAPS' MDMA/PTSD team (see next item).
5. New Therapist Team for Israeli MDMA/PTSD Study
While in Israel, Doblin will also be working with the Israeli MDMA/
PTSD research team at Beer Yaakhov Mental Health Center near Tel
Aviv. This study has full government approval and will be led by
Principal Investigator Moshe Kotler, MD, former chief psychiatrist of
the Israeli Defense Forces. Dr. Kotler has selected a new team of co-
therapists who will be trained by Dr. Michael and Annie Mithoefer,
RN, prior to the initiation of the study. The team that Dr. Kotler
previously selected didn’t feel comfortable delivering the
standardized therapeutic method that MAPS has developed for MDMA-
assisted psychotherapy studies, in part due to the lack of any legal
way for us to administer MDMA to the therapists to enhance their
understanding of how it works.
To learn more about the MAPS-sponsored study in Israel evaluating
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for subjects with war- and terrorism-
related PTSD, the protocol is posted on the MAPS Web site at: http://
maps.org/mdma/israel_protocol_3.16.05.pdf
6. Ongoing Swiss MDMA/PTSD Study Applies for Changes to Protocol:
More MDMA!
Dr. Peter Oehen's MAPS-sponsored study evaluating MDMA-assisted
psychotherapy for subjects suffering from chronic post traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) has treated three out of 12 subjects. Dr.
Oehen and MAPS will be submitting a new application to Swissmedic
this month to make two adjustments to the protocol. The first request
is to add two MDMA-assisted therapy sessions for non-responders. The
second request, also for non-responders, is to be able to increase
the dosage to 150 mg. and the supplemental dose to 75 mg, with dose
subject to the clinical judgement of the therapists and consent of
the subjects.
To learn more about the MAPS-sponsored MDMA/PTSD study in
Switzerland, the protocol is posted on the MAPS Web site at: http://
maps.org/mdma//swissmdmaptsd/protocol1608.pdf
7. Dr. Mithoefer's MDMA/PTSD Study Nears Completion; Therapist
Training Program Protocol in the Works
Michael Mithoefer, MD, and Annie Mithoefer, RN, have now treated
seventeen out of twenty subjects in their MAPS-sponsored study
evaluating MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for subjects with chronic
PTSD. An eighteenth subject has been successfully enrolled, and there
are 2 US military veterans with war-related PTSD who are currently
going through the screening process for the last two spots.
Michael, Annie, and the MAPS staff have also been working on protocol
development for a therapist training program that will allow
therapists to undergo MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as part of their
training. The protocol will be submitted to the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) in about two months. For more on this project,
see the article by MAPS Research Associate Ilsa Jerome, PhD, in the
Spring/Summer 2007 MAPS Bulletin: http://maps.org/news-letters/v17n1-
html/mdma_therapy_training_program_development.html
8. MAPS President Rick Doblin Interviewed on "Of Consuming Interest"
MAPS President Rick Doblin, PhD, gave an extensive interview
primarily about MAPS' medical marijuana research agenda on the
Progressive Radio Network's "Of Consuming Interest." Click here to
listen: http://maps.org/media/rickdoblin-
interview_on_progressive_radio-july07.mp3
9. Art Fundraiser to Support MAPS Harm Reduction Project at Burning Man
The artist St. Even, who donated art to both the 2006 and 2007 MAPS
wall calendars, is selling a limited edition set of prints with 50%
of the proceeds going to support MAPS' harm reduction work at Burning
Man's "Sanctuary." Later this month, for the fifth year in a row,
MAPS will assist and coordinate in providing mental health services
at Burning Man's "Sanctuary," a project led by the Black Rock City
Rangers to provide a safe space for people who are undergoing
emotional or psychological crises or who need non-medical assistance.
MAPS volunteers lend their support and are trained to work with
visitors undergoing psychedelic emergencies.
For more information about St. Even's limited edition prints, please
visit: http://divinereflections.ca/theburn/
MAPS has also been raising funds for research by selling rare
original Pablo Amaringo paintings. Last week, we raised nearly $6,000
for research with the sale of Amaringo's "Machaco-Runa: Hombre
Serpiente." There is still one breathtaking Amaringo painting
remaining -- for more information and to order, please visit: http://
maps.org/catalog/index.php?cPath=24_41
10. Join MAPS at the 2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference
in New Orleans this December
This December 5-8, MAPS will be joining hundreds of other drug policy
reformers in New Orleans for the biennial International Drug Policy
Reform conference, hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). Myself
(Director of Communications Jag Davies) and Director of Development
Troy Dayton will be attending the conference to present MAPS' work.
DPA is the leading organization in the US working to end the War on
Drugs and envision new drug policies based on science, compassion,
health and human rights. We are grateful to have DPA as an ally in
the struggle to create rational alternatives to prohibition-based
policy.
For more information about DPA and the 2007 International Drug Policy
Reform conference: http://kessjones.com/conf07/
To read my review of the 2005 conference in the Spring 2006 MAPS
Bulletin, see: http://maps.org/news-letters/v16n1-html/
building_a_movement.html
11. Website and Registration Now Available for 2008 World Psychedelic
Forum
Along with Gaia Media, MAPS will be co-sponsoring the World
Psychedelic Forum, which will be held in Basel, Switzerland from
March 21-23, 2008. Gaia Media is the organization that put together
the Spirit of Basel symposium in honor of Albert Hofmann's 100th
birthday in January, 2006.
For more information and to register: http://www.psychedelic.info/
12. Women's Visionary Congress Builds Support for Women Pursuing Drug
Policy Reform and Psychedelic Research
From July 27-29, along with the Sybil Society MAPS co-hosted the
Women's Visionary Congress, a gathering of women activists, healers,
researchers, and artists who are working to re-define the use of
psychedelics in contemporary society. Transcripts and audio
recordings will be posted online at the conference Website <http://
visionarycongress.org> in the coming months. On behalf of the entire
MAPS staff, thank you to all the individuals whose efforts ensured
the Visionary Congress's success.
13. Rest In Peace: Peter Stafford
On July 20, Peter Stafford (1939-2007) died in his home in Santa
Cruz, California, where he lived for the past 43 years. Peter is
author of Psychedelics Encyclopedia and co-authored LSD: The Problem-
Solving Psychedelic (also published as LSD in Action) with Bonnie
Golightly. Peter will be missed by the psychedelic community and by
the many people whose lives he touched. A memorial is being planned
for the weekend of August 25 in Santa Cruz.
************************************************************************
**
With the support of a small base of dedicated individuals, MAPS has
been able to position itself at the center of the conflict between
scientific exploration and the politically-driven War on Drugs.
Help us translate hard-won scientific freedom into new research
results and possibilities: http://www.maps.org/catalog
Thank you for your support.
Cheers,
Jag
Jag Davies
Director of Communications
The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
MAPS :: 10424 Love Creek Road :: Ben Lomond, CA 95005
Tel. 831.336.HEAL (4325) :: Cel. 831.252.0083 :: Fax. 831.336.3665
Your Support is Needed! http://maps.org/catalog
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