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Drug Law Reform Community Mourns Passing of John Morgan, M.D.
2nd Largest US Medical Association Calls for Rescheduling of Cannabis
Idaho: Pot Measures May Appear Again On City BallotNew York, NY: Drug Law Reform Community Mourns Passing of John Morgan, M.D. Longtime marijuana law reform advocate Dr. John Morgan passed away Friday, February 15, in New York City at the age of 67. Dr. Morgan served on NORML’s Board of Directors from 1995 to 2004, and on NORML’s Advisory Board thereafter until his death. Morgan died after suddenly falling into a coma in the hours following an unexpected diagnosis of leukemia. Friends and family, some of whom had spoken to an apparently healthy Morgan just days prior, were stunned and saddened. Dr. John P. Morgan was a physician and professor of pharmacology at the City University of New York Medical School. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1965. Following training in internal medicine (at Syracuse) and clinical pharmacology (at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Rochester), he began a career in academic pharmacology and medicine at the University of Rochester. He began his work at City College in 1977, where his teaching included the topics of pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, and drug policy. Although perhaps best known to the drug law reform movement as coauthor (along with the late sociologist Lynn Zimmer) of Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts (The Lindesmith Center, New York, 1997), Morgan had been an active force in drug law reform for decades. Dr. Morgan published approximately 100 articles, book chapters, and books on the clinical pharmacology of psychoactive drugs. More recently, his research and writing involved issues such as urine testing in the American workplace, medical marijuana, the socio-pharmacology of crack-cocaine, alcohol prevalence during national prohibition, and physician prescribing practices. In a statement announcing his death, NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said, "John was a wonderful man, scholar, brilliant educator, author, researcher, lecturer and good friend to anyone who extended their hand to him. Every single man and woman in this country and around the world who cares about replacing prohibition-oriented policies with science/public health-based policies owes a man like John Morgan immense thanks and praise." A memorial service for Dr. Morgan will be held at 2:00pm, Saturday, February 23 at City College on 140th Street and Amsterdam in Manhattan. It will be in the Faculty Dining Hall in the North Academic Center at Amsterdam and 138th street (map). The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations in his name be made to support Stem Cell or Multiple Sclerosis research at Mt. Sinai Hospital. Call the hospital's Development Office at (212) 659-8500 or use their online gift form at http://www.mountsinai.org/msh/ways_to_give_ms.jsp. Sacramento, CA: 2nd Largest US Medical Association Calls for Rescheduling of Cannabis The American College of Physicians (ACP), the nation’s largest organization of doctors of internal medicine and the second largest medical association in the country, called for easing the federal prohibition of marijuana in a position paper released Friday, February 15. The ACP asked the federal government to review the inclusion of marijuana as a Schedule I drug, a classification it shares with drugs such as heroin and LSD. Schedule I substances are declared to have no medical use and a high potential for abuse by the federal government. Since its inclusion as a Schedule I drug in 1970, the scheduling of cannabis has been constantly challenged. The conflict between federal law and the twelve states where medical cannabis statutes have been enacted have made many doctors avoid recommending medical cannabis as a treatment. Dr. David Dale, president of the ACP, said that contributed to the ACP’s action: "We felt the time had come to speak up about this. …We’d like to clear up the uncertainty and anxiety of patients and physicians over this drug." Officials at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy panned the ACP’s move. "What this would do is drag us back to 14th century medicine," said Bertha Madras, the ONDCP deputy director for demand reduction. "With the ACP now supporting rescheduling, the ONDCP can no longer claim that medical cannabis is not supported by science or the practitioners of modern medicine," NORML Executive Director Allen St. Pierre said in response. With this action, the ACP joins the American Nurses Association, the American Public Health Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and many other medical associations calling for cannabis to be made a legal medicine. Hailey, ID: Idaho: Pot Measures May Appear Again On City Ballot Hailey voters will likely have an opportunity this May to once again decide on a series of municipal initiatives seeking to liberalize the city’s marijuana law enforcement policies. Hailey’s City Clerk’s office reported this week that it had certified four marijuana initiatives to appear on a special May 27 ballot. All four initiatives had been previously decided by voters in November, when Hailey residents endorsed language legalizing the use of medical cannabis and hemp, and called on police to make marijuana law enforcement its lowest priority. In January, Hailey city council members took legal action to nullify all three voter-approved provisions 窶� claiming that they conflicted with federal law. The sponsor of the initiatives, the Liberty Lobby of Idaho, has said that they would remove the measures from the May ballot if city officials agree "to implement the spirit of the original initiatives." Hailey’s city attorney has previously said that the city is not legally required to accept the outcome of voter initiatives. |
