Federal Government
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Press Release: $90 Million in Federal Funds Going to CA Counties for Drug Treatment
DRUG POLICY ALLIANCE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Contact: Margaret Dooley-Sammuli (213) 291-4190
March 8, 2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â or Tommy McDonald (510)229-5215
$90 Million in Federal Funds Going to California Counties
for Drug Treatment & Probation
Advocates Applaud Investment in Crime Prevention
Top-Receiving Counties are Los Angeles, San Diego & Orange
SACRAMENTO â Californiaâs 58 counties are in line to receive almost $90 million in federal funds for community-based drug treatment and probation supervision. Local advocates applauded the investment in crime prevention, which is expected to reduce recidivism and associated criminal justice costs, and called on the Legislature to repeat the investment in next yearâs budget.
In 2010, Los Angeles County, the stateâs largest county, will receive $10.6 million for community treatment and $11.2 million for probation supervision, according to the California Emergency Management Agency, which administers the distribution of these annual federal funds. The State Legislature has yet to determine how to spend the next batch of these federal resources.
âInvesting in the front-end of Californiaâs public safety continuum is good for public safety and the budget. Alcohol and drug treatment reduces problematic drug use and prevents crime, which means fewer crime victims and lower costs throughout the criminal justice system â from policing and courts to incarceration and re-entry,â says Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance in Southern California.
As drug treatment funding is slashed and probation departments struggle to provide adequate supervision, advocates are concerned that the county-level crime prevention network is breaking down. Individuals on felony probation who do not succeed â many of them with untreated drug problems â are sent to prison at a cost to taxpayers of $49,000 per person per year. In contrast, drug treatment and probation cost a fraction of that amount.
âItâs essential that California maintain community services like drug treatment in order to prevent crime and cut costs. More federal dollars are coming to California. The question for the Legislature is simple: do we want to spend $5,000 for drug treatment and probation or $50,000 for a year in prison? Drug treatment can make the difference between success and failure for many people. Letâs keep investing in success,â Dooley-Sammuli continued.
The federal funds came to California through the Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. In the next few months, California will receive another $35 million in federal JAG funds and the Legislature will determine how to spend it. Advocates are urging the Legislature to direct these new monies to treatment and probation systems in order to prevent crime and cut costs. According to UCLA researchers, each $1 invested in Californiaâs ten-year-old, voter-approved treatment-instead-of-incarceration law, Proposition 36, cuts state costs by $2-$4.
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Veterans Affairs Continues to Forbid Doctors to Recommend Medical Marijuana to PTSD Patients
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
MARCH 4, 2010
Veterans Affairs Continues to Forbid Doctors to Recommend Medical Marijuana to PTSD Patients
VA refuses to recognize marijuana as an effective medicine, proven to relieve PTSD symptoms suffered by the men and women who defend our nation
CONTACT: Kurt A. Gardinier, MPP director of communications â¦â¦â¦â¦â¦ 202-215-4205 or 202-905-0738
WASHINGTON, D.C. â Despite widespread evidence showing medical marijuana to be a safe and effective treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs forbids all VA doctors from recommending medical marijuana to veterans, even in the 14 states where medical marijuana is legal.
        The VA policy is based on advice from the Drug Enforcement Administration, which has long-supported keeping marijuana in the Schedule I classification reserved for substances with no accepted medical use, placing it alongside substances like heroin and LSD. A 2008 study by the RAND Corporation showed that 20 percent of soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD. A 2007 study in the Journal of Traumatic Stress found that marijuana can be an effective treatment for severe PTSD symptoms.
        In New Mexico, PTSD is the most common affliction treated among those enrolled in the stateâs medical marijuana program, according to the New Mexico Dept. of Health. One such patient is Army Veteran Paul Culkin, who served in Iraq as a staff sergeant with the Armyâs bomb squad and now heads the New Mexico Medical Marijuana Patientâs Group.
        âAs a country, we are committed to providing the best equipment and weapons to our servicemen and women on the battlefield. Similarly, our soldiers should be offered the best and most effective medical treatments when we return home, but this is simply not the case,â Culkin stated. âMarijuana is a proven and legitimate medicine and the VA needs to start listening to the scientific facts.â
        According to University of Albany clinical psychologist Dr. Mitch Earleywine, âIt is an outrage that the men and women who risk their lives keeping us free are now forced to risk their own freedom to obtain a medicine they feel works best to treat their PTSD. Marijuana can be an effective medicine for some key symptoms of PTSD. There is no question that our countryâs bravest should have safe access to it.â
        To set up an interview with Paul Culkin or Mitch Earleywine contact Kurt A. Gardinier at 202-215-4205.
        With more than 124,000 members and subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit www.mpp.org.
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