By Steph Sherer, Executive Director, Americans for Safe Access
While U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder delivered a commencement speech for UC Berkeley law school graduates last Saturday, an airplane hired by Americans for Safe Access (ASA) flew overhead with a banner that read “Holder: End Rx Cannabis War #Peace4Patients”. The action was in response to recent attacks on medical cannabis by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) targeting the San Francisco Bay Area. But this was also the launch of ASA’s “Peace for Patients Campaign” aimed at ending the war on medical cannabis patients.
Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have passed laws allowing patients to access medical cannabis under the recommendation of their doctor. Over one million people in the US are legally using medical cannabis, and 84% of Americans support the use of medical cannabis. Yet the federal government continues to use precious resources to wage a war on these medical cannabis programs, and in its path, disrupts the lives of patients, displaces workers, tramples on state and local governments, and takes individuals away from their families.
The US House of Representatives and Senate will be mulling over the budgets for the DOJ and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) this summer, and they have the power to stop these agencies from spending resources to carry out this war. But they need to hear from the 84% that support medical cannabis if we expect them to do it. That is where YOU come in.
We need your commitment over the next few months to spread the word about the need to end the war on patients. Join the “Peace for Patients Campaign” by calling on Congress to stop the war on patients and resolve the conflict between federal and state laws once and for all.
Thank you for helping.
