THE INVESTIGATION OF DR. DENNEY

(Our Tax Dollars At Work)

"I feel invaded," said Philip A. Denney, MD, on Monday. "I feel
violated and I'm trying to figure out what to do about it." He had
just received from an anonymous concerned citizen documents revealing
that two of the patients he examined last Fall were actually taking
part in an investigation of him. One was a federal agent -Steve
Decker of the Alcohol, Tobocco and Firearms Bureau- and one was a
Confidential Informant assigned by the Redding Police Department. The
documents reveal involvement by DEA agents named DeFreece and Hale,
FBI agents Modine and McQuillan (from "Operation Safe Streets," which
is supposed to focus on violent crime), and Redding PD officers
Miller and Wallace.

Denney, who has been licensed in California for almost 30 years and
has never run afoul of the medical board, has a cannabis-oriented
practice in partnership with Robert E. Sullivan, MD (whose record is
equally impeccable) with offices in Sacramento and Orange County, as
well as Redding. The infiltration of his examining room apparently
stemmed from an investigation of a Redding dispensary called Dixon
Herbs, run by a man named Ron Dixon. Ironically, Denney had some
qualms about Dixon's operation -"they rarely called to confirm
recommendations," he says, and on a few occasions Dixon hired a
doctor named Rosenthal to conduct ad hoc clinics at the dispensary,
which Denney considered "ethically problematic." Dixon Herbs folded
in December after being raided by a task force involving the same law
enforcement agencies that snooped on Denney.

Agent Decker visited Denney on the afternoon of November 9 pretending
to be Steven P. Hoffmaster. According to an "investigative narrative"
filed by RPD officer Miller, "The receptionist asked for Agent
Decker's I.D. and medical records. Agent Decker said several years
ago he had been to a hospital in Santa Clara but he did not know
which one. The receptionist called several hospitals in the Santa
Clara area. When she did not find any record of him visiting a
hospital under the alias provided, she said that was no problem, that
they would go ahead with the exam and she would continue to try to
come up with the records.

"Agent Decker said he had a brief exam by Dr. Denney. Agent Decker
told Dr. Denney his main complaint was pain in his neck. Decker had
an old scar on his neck which he told the doctor was from a
motorcycle accident, and that ever since the accident, he experiences
daily pain. Decker said the doctor looked at the scar but did not
touch or manipulate his neck in any way. After the exam, the doctor
told him he was a good candidate for a medical marijuana
recommendation. The doctor told Agent Decker that the recommendation
was good for one year and would cost $100 to renew."

Denney says, " I examine patients in good faith and it bothers me to
be treated this way. Is this not an end-run around the Conant
decision [the injunction prohibiting federal agents from punishing
doctors who discuss marijuana as a treatment option]? I was led to
believe that if I did this appropriately and I followed the rules
laid out in Conant that I would protected. And now I find out that
I'm being surreptitiously investigated by federal agents. It has a
very chilling effect, to put it mildly."

One of the documents sent to Denney refers to a DEA case number from
a previous investigation of which he was also unaware. There has
been federal involvement in the investigation and/or punishment of at
least five other California doctors.

Denney fired off the following letter to Special Agent Decker, AKA Hoffmaster:

"I have recently learned that your visit to our office on November 9,
2005, was under an assumed name and with a forged California driver's
license. Your visit, I learned, was part of a government surveillance
operation in cooperation with the Redding Police Department.

"Despite signing a document stating that all the information you
provided was true under penalty of perjury, you skillfully lied and
falsified documents in order to obtain a medicinal cannabis recommendation.

"You were such a skillful liar, I can't help but wonder how you keep
track of when you lie and when you tell the truth. It must be difficult.

"I'm also troubled by how much taxpayer money was spent on this
operation and how you justify spending any of the taxpayers money
investigating legal cannabis uers when methamphetamine abuse is such
a scourge in our community. I would hate to think of any law
enforcement officer as cowardly, but infiltrating a physician's
office certainly seems less risky than pursuing violent criminals.

"Under these circumstances I must advise that your recommendation is
invalid because it was obtained by fraud.

"If in the future you or any other law enforcement officer wishes to
visit our office, you are welcome at any time. I would be pleased to
discuss our procedures and policies regarding the legitimate use of
cannabis as medicine. There is no need to be a liar.

"Sincerely,

Philip A. Denney, MD"

Cannabinoid Blocker Blocked -For Now

The Food and Drug Administration issued an "approvable letter" Feb.
16 for the drug Rimonabant, which Sanofi Aventis intends to sell in
the U.S. as Acomplia. The FDA is requiring the company to conduct
more trials before Acomplia can be marketed for weight loss. Sanofi's
bid for approval of Acomplia as a smoking-cessation drug was turned
down outright.

Acomplia works by blocking the body's cannabinoid receptor system.
California doctors who are conversant with the beneficial effects of
cannabis have warned vociferously that blocking the endocannabinoid
system could have dangerous ramifications. Tod Mikuriya, MD, on
behalf of the Society of Cannabis Clinicians, sent the FDA a master
list of all the conditions and symptoms reportedly alleviated by the
herb itself. "It appears that our concerns were shared," he said upon
learning of the Feb. 16 decision.

Sanofi has yet to release the content of the approvable letter, which
could call for additional data requiring months or -if new clinical
trials are required-years. Sanofi publicists had been telling
financial analysts they expected a green light from the FDA this
month leading to Acomplia on pharmacy shelves by June. That's not
going to happen... The company, headquartered in France, is the
world's third biggest pharmaceutical manufacturer.