Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
A federal anti-drug program has asked Rhode Island — and more than two dozen other states where medical marijuana is legal — to turn over data about patients in the program.
The move has alarmed some who question why the federal government, which has at times appeared to be antagonistic towards the drug, is interested in the information.
The National Marijuana Initiative, an arm of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, which reports to the White House, contacted the Rhode Island Department of Health in August seeking data from 2012 to 2016 on the number of patients in the program, as well as patients’ age, gender and a breakdown of the medical conditions under which they qualified.
“The question is: What do they want to do with it,” said JoAnne Leppanen, executive director of the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition. “It could be they don’t even know yet, which is also a source of concern. Up until now, the federal government has really left us alone.”
Medical marijuana has been legal in Rhode Island since 2006 with the number of patients growing rapidly. There are currently 18,427 patients, an increase of roughly 19 percent from one year ago. Roughly 64 percent of patients qualify because of severe, debilitating or chronic pain.
Ed Shemelya, coordinator of the National Marijuana Initiative, said the program is not looking for any personal information — only raw data — from all states where marijuana is legal. The aim, he said, is to look at whether marijuana use is more prevalent by the general public in states where medical marijuana programs exist.
The data, which will eventually be published on the program’s website, is not being collected in an attempt to shape federal policy, Shemelya said, adding there’s “nothing sinister about it.”
He said he couldn’t provide a timeline for when data will be published because it is dependent on when states respond. It’s expected that not all will provide the information.
Rhode Island has, said Joseph Wendelken, a spokesman for the state health department, who noted that such data is regularly requested and provided here.
Data is easy to come by on other medical conditions, Shemelya said, “but there’s a hesitation on providing data with this particular drug.”
In July, Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote a letter to Washington state officials referring to a report by the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area that he said “raises serious questions about the efficacy of marijuana ‘regulatory structures’” in the state. Among the issues he noted: one in five 10th graders in Washington state (where both medical and recreational marijuana is legal) reported riding with a driver who had used marijuana.
The National Marijuana Initiative was founded in 2003 as part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program funded by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. On its website, the initiative says its mission is to educate the public and policymakers “because every citizen deserves the truth about the health risks, public safety implications, and environmental impacts of marijuana cultivation and usage.”
In Rhode Island, the push for recreational marijuana legalization heated up this year after Massachusetts residents voted to legalize marijuana in the Bay State. The Rhode Island legalization bill eventually fizzled, and lawmakers instead created a study commission that will report its recommendations to the General Assembly in March 2018.
Matt Schweich, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the move by the National Marijuana Initiative to collect data doesn’t concern him.
“It would be very politically unpopular for the Trump administration to meddle in marijuana policies established at the state level,” Schweich said. “Elected officials in Rhode Island should be less concerned with the prospect of federal interference and more concerned with the fact that Rhode Island will soon be senselessly forfeiting tens of millions of dollars of tax revenue to Massachusetts starting next July when the first stores will open in the Bay State.”
Larry Berman, a spokesman for House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, said the House expects to announce its appointees to the study commission next week. The commission is expected to begin meeting in October.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Federal drug agency asks R.I. for medical marijuana patient data - News - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI
Author: Jennifer Bogdan
Contact: Contact - Providence, RI - providencejournal.com
Photo Credit: Craig Kohlruss
Website: providencejournal.com: Local & World News, Sports & Entertainment in Providence, RI
The move has alarmed some who question why the federal government, which has at times appeared to be antagonistic towards the drug, is interested in the information.
The National Marijuana Initiative, an arm of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program, which reports to the White House, contacted the Rhode Island Department of Health in August seeking data from 2012 to 2016 on the number of patients in the program, as well as patients’ age, gender and a breakdown of the medical conditions under which they qualified.
“The question is: What do they want to do with it,” said JoAnne Leppanen, executive director of the Rhode Island Patient Advocacy Coalition. “It could be they don’t even know yet, which is also a source of concern. Up until now, the federal government has really left us alone.”
Medical marijuana has been legal in Rhode Island since 2006 with the number of patients growing rapidly. There are currently 18,427 patients, an increase of roughly 19 percent from one year ago. Roughly 64 percent of patients qualify because of severe, debilitating or chronic pain.
Ed Shemelya, coordinator of the National Marijuana Initiative, said the program is not looking for any personal information — only raw data — from all states where marijuana is legal. The aim, he said, is to look at whether marijuana use is more prevalent by the general public in states where medical marijuana programs exist.
The data, which will eventually be published on the program’s website, is not being collected in an attempt to shape federal policy, Shemelya said, adding there’s “nothing sinister about it.”
He said he couldn’t provide a timeline for when data will be published because it is dependent on when states respond. It’s expected that not all will provide the information.
Rhode Island has, said Joseph Wendelken, a spokesman for the state health department, who noted that such data is regularly requested and provided here.
Data is easy to come by on other medical conditions, Shemelya said, “but there’s a hesitation on providing data with this particular drug.”
In July, Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote a letter to Washington state officials referring to a report by the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area that he said “raises serious questions about the efficacy of marijuana ‘regulatory structures’” in the state. Among the issues he noted: one in five 10th graders in Washington state (where both medical and recreational marijuana is legal) reported riding with a driver who had used marijuana.
The National Marijuana Initiative was founded in 2003 as part of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program funded by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. On its website, the initiative says its mission is to educate the public and policymakers “because every citizen deserves the truth about the health risks, public safety implications, and environmental impacts of marijuana cultivation and usage.”
In Rhode Island, the push for recreational marijuana legalization heated up this year after Massachusetts residents voted to legalize marijuana in the Bay State. The Rhode Island legalization bill eventually fizzled, and lawmakers instead created a study commission that will report its recommendations to the General Assembly in March 2018.
Matt Schweich, director of state campaigns for the Marijuana Policy Project, said the move by the National Marijuana Initiative to collect data doesn’t concern him.
“It would be very politically unpopular for the Trump administration to meddle in marijuana policies established at the state level,” Schweich said. “Elected officials in Rhode Island should be less concerned with the prospect of federal interference and more concerned with the fact that Rhode Island will soon be senselessly forfeiting tens of millions of dollars of tax revenue to Massachusetts starting next July when the first stores will open in the Bay State.”
Larry Berman, a spokesman for House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, said the House expects to announce its appointees to the study commission next week. The commission is expected to begin meeting in October.
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Federal drug agency asks R.I. for medical marijuana patient data - News - providencejournal.com - Providence, RI
Author: Jennifer Bogdan
Contact: Contact - Providence, RI - providencejournal.com
Photo Credit: Craig Kohlruss
Website: providencejournal.com: Local & World News, Sports & Entertainment in Providence, RI
You are correct. I did not have a picture from the actual meeting & used this to give the feeling behind the concept. You have a keen eye, my friend
