MMJ Week, Tuesday: Do Your Homework – Know the Issues

Dear ASA Supporter,

There is a lot of important information out there about cannabis as medicine. Did you know there are over 17,000 published scientific articles on cannabis and “cannabinoids” since 1996? Did you know that DEA Judges have now twice ruled in favor of medical cannabis, and DEA Administrators have twice ignored the rulings? Can you recite ASA’s Federal Policy Recommendations? Spend a day reading and learning about why this issue is so profound.

According to the widely respected magazine, The Economist, “If cannabis were unknown, and bioprospectors were suddenly to find it in some remote mountain crevice, its discovery would no doubt be hailed as a medical breakthrough.” (Economist, May 5, 2006).

There’s a reason for all this excitement. Cannabis may soon be considered one of the defining medical discoveries of our generation. For 40 years, efforts to recognize the plant's medical properties have been denied, ignored, and suppressed - all because of a negative stigma. To fully understand this issue, you should know the science, the law, and the politics.

Learn about the science. Read about Dr. Mechoulam’s discovery of the human endocannabinoid system in the 1990’s and why major pharmaceutical companies are developing their own “cannabinoid” research departments. Read about some of the most important studies of today which show promise in the use of cannabis to treat an extraordinarily wide array of conditions.

www.safeaccessnow.org/researchdatabase
www.medicalcannabis.com/reference.htm
www.safeaccessnow.org/additionalresources

Learn about the law. Understand what court cases over the years have ruled for or against medical cannabis. Know why states have the right to enact medical cananbis laws, but the federal government also has the right to interfere with them. Read about the DEA’s own Administrative Law Judge Francis Young, who ruled, “It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record.” And read about the most recent DEA ruling, released by another DEA Judge in 2007, which demanded that DEA lift barriers to cannabis research. Understand how DEA Administrators ignored the rulings and acted directly contrary, putting cannabis research back over 20 years.

DEA Judge Francis Young Ruling
DEA Judge Bittner Ruling
Landmark Decisions in Medical Cannabis Law

Learn about the politics. Did you know that even before 1996, 35 states had some form of medical cannabis law on the books, but that they were all unworkable due to legal loopholes? Learn the "in’s and out’s" of medical cannabis laws in 13 states – and which ones are tentatively considered “the 14th and 15th medical cannabis states”. Learn all this and more here:

Medical Cannabis Laws in 14 States
ASA’s Federal Policy Recommendations

And when you're done, you'll be even better prepared to become an ASA Ambassador!

Sincerely,

George Pappas
Field Coordinator
Americans for Safe Access

Americans for Safe Access is the nation's largest organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.