Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Medical marijuana progress

It will take several posts to cover my day today. More than likely I will place material on the Orange County Register opinion blog, Orange Punch, before I am able to get all the details onto this blog, but here's a preview.

The comedian Drew Carey is working with the Reason Foundation to make a series of short films on various topics related to current challenges to liberty. The first short film they plan is on medical marijuana and they shot a good deal of the raw footage today at the Farmacy, a medicinal herbal and cannabis dispensing facility in West Hollywood. The plan now is to have this one completed by the Reason Weekend April 12-15, so they can show it to donors and friends. I have photos but haven't downloaded them to this computer (at home) yet.

Anyway, Drew Carey, who turns out to be an extremely nice guy, interviewed at least a dozen people, including the proprietors of the Farmacy, Steph Sherer of Americans for Safe Access, Marvin Chavez, William Britt (both patients and activists), several other patients -- and me, as author of the book "Waiting to Inhale: The Politics of Medical Marijuana." I donated a copy of the book to the Farmacy and gave one to Drew. I talked with him on camera about a variety of topics including the evidence for medical efficacy, why I think a clear reading of federal law would make marijuana legal for medical purposes at the federal level, and possible objections to medical marijuana. Fifteen minutes of interview will probably lead to 15 seconds in the final cut, but it was a great experience. I learned about a good deal of activity of which I had not been fully aware. More later.

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