Opponents to medical marijuana are trying to ELIMINATE the program established by the ballot initiative, and replace it with a system that will not work for patients!
On Monday May 6 at 10 AM in hearing room A-2 at the State House, the Joint Committee on Public Health will be holding a hearing on Senate Bill 1031 and several other proposals that would prevent patients from safely accessing their medicine. MPAA has organized patients to speak at the hearing, and now we need help generating calls in opposition to the bills.
PLEASE CALL YOUR STATE SENATOR AND STATE REPRESENTATIVE. ASK THEM TO TELL THE CHAIRS OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE TO OPPOSE S. 1031 AND THE OTHER MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILLS BEING HEARD ON MONDAY.
Tell your state legislators you are opposed to S. 1031 because:
-The restrictive list of covered conditions does not include chronic pain, ulcerative colitis, paralysis, and many other conditions.
-Limiting the number of dispensaries to 10 across the whole state is not enough to meet patient need.
-The limit of 2 ounces of medicine over one month is not enough for many patients.
-After four months of soliciting input from all stakeholders in the state, the Department of Public Health has almost finished with writing regulations for the initiative approved by the voters. Let’s let the state move forward with implementing the safest and most secure medical marijuana law in the country rather than starting all over again from scratch.
Then ask your state legislators to tell the Public Health Committee chairs Senator Keenan and Representative Sanchez not to support Senate Bill 1031.
You are looking for your “Current Elected Officials” for the “State Senate” and “State Representative.”
REMEMBER:
– Be polite and respectful.
– You are representing patients across Massachusetts when you make this call, and we will get the best results by demonstrating that we are sensible, polite, upstanding citizens that legislators will want to partner with.
-You may not reach your legislator, but leaving a message with a staff member is just as effective.
EXAMPLE: “Hi, my name is Frank Smith, and I am calling to leave a message for my state representative. I want to let her know that I am opposed to Senate Bill 1031 which is going to receive a hearing by the Joint Committee on Public Health on Monday. The bill would eliminate the medical marijuana program that was approved by the voters in November, and put in place a new system that won’t work for patients. The state has already put months of work into writing regulations for the new medical marijuana program. It doesn’t make sense to start over from scratch. Please tell the committee chairs Rep. Sanchez and Sen. Keenan to oppose S. 1031. Thank you.”
If you are able to make the call, please drop an e-mail to [email protected] so we can track which legislators have been contacted about this issue.
Thank you for your support!
