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Dear friends,

"Marijuana is dangerous and has no medicinal benefit,” President Obama’s drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, told an audience in California last month.

That’s some pretty classic drug war rhetoric for someone who announced just a few months earlier that the United States is no longer fighting a war on drugs.
 
The Obama administration is sending mixed messages on medical marijuana.  The president has repeatedly said that science should trump politics and has advocated regulating medical marijuana like any other prescription medicine. Did he forget to tell his drug czar?

Ask President Obama where he really stands.

Obama’s Attorney General has said the federal government will not arrest patients and providers following their state’s medical marijuana law. Yet, his drug czar continues to say marijuana has no medical value, and those who own or work in medical marijuana dispensaries still live in fear of being raided by federal law enforcement simply for providing doctor-recommended medicine to sick people.

The administration owes us an explanation.  Where exactly does the White House stand on medical marijuana?  

A key House committee recently urged the administration to finally define its medical marijuana policy in no uncertain terms.  Now, the White House needs to hear from you too.

Write to President Obama today and urge him to make a clear statement on medical marijuana.  Tell him that people shouldn’t be denied the medicine they need because of backwards drug war politics.

If President Obama is serious about putting science before politics, he needs to make clear that his administration won’t fall back on the same old drug war lies about medical marijuana. And he needs to make sure his drug czar gets the memo.

Sincerely,

Bill Piper
Director, Office of National Affairs
Drug Policy Alliance Network