Protect Medical Marijuana Patients

We urge you to co-sponsor and support HR 5842, the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act. This bill would protect cancer and AIDS patients who use marijuana for medical use from arrest, let states set their own medical marijuana policies, and re-schedule marijuana so doctors can prescribe it. Twelve states have legalized marijuana for medical use (Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington). Unfortunately, the U.S. Justice Department continues to arrest medical marijuana patients and their caregivers, despite overwhelming evidence that marijuana has enormous medical value.

For decades, the federal government has classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug, a classification that is supposed to be for drugs that have "a high potential for abuse" and "no currently accepted medical use". Other Schedule I drugs include heroin and LSD. In contrast, cocaine and methamphetamine are Schedule II drugs, and both are available for medical use. There's overwhelming evidence that the federal government's scheduling of marijuana should be changed. Allowing cancer, AIDS, and Multiple Sclerosis patients legal access to medical marijuana is supported by the American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, American Bar Association, Kaiser Permanente and the Institute of Medicine, among other groups.

Yet the U.S. Justice Department continues to spend millions of dollars arresting medical marijuana patients and their caregivers -- even in the twelve states where medical marijuana is legal. At a time when violent drug cartels remain at large and threats of terrorism continue to emerge, it is irresponsible for the Justice Department to jeopardize public safety by wasting scarce law enforcement resources conducting raids on cannabis dispensaries and medical marijuana patients. Please co-sponsor and support HR 5842.