January 26, 2010
Dear Joseph:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act. It was good to hear from you.
On June 11, 2009 Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced H.R. 2835, the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act. The bill would, among other things, provide for the medical use of marijuana in accordance with the laws of the various states, as well as move marijuana from schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to schedule II of the Act and, therefore, allow it to be available by prescription for medical purposes.
Since 1996, thirteen states have enacted medical marijuana laws. In these states, if a doctor recommends patient use of marijuana for an ailment, then it is legal, under state law, for the patient to grow and use marijuana for personal consumption. In October 2009, the Justice Department announced that it will no longer raid medical marijuana dispensaries that have been established in accordance with state law. Despite the existence of state medical marijuana laws, marijuana remains an illegal drug under federal law.
In order to meet the standard of the Controlled Substances Act, a drug must have adequate scientific evidence of its safety and efficacy. It is my understanding that there is not sufficient medical evidence of the benefits of medicinal marijuana, though I look forward to the results of ongoing research. In the meantime, I believe it would be premature to adjust current federal regulations.
You may be interested to know that I voted in favor of the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment when it was considered on the House Floor on July 25, 2007. This amendment would have prevented the federal government from arresting AIDS, MS, and cancer patients who use marijuana for medical reasons in states that have medical marijuana laws. Unfortunately, this provision failed 165-262. I voted for the amendment because, while I have not yet seen conclusive evidence indicating that marijuana is safe or effective for use in treating medical ailments, I don't believe that patients with severe, chronic diseases should be arrested and federally prosecuted for medical use of marijuana where such use has been approved by the state government in which they reside.
Please feel free to contact me in the future about this or any other issue that concerns you. If you would like to receive updates from my office, please go to my website, http://markey.house.gov/, and click on "Newsletter Sign Up."
Sincerely,
Ed Markey
Member of Congress
Comments
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Educate, Liberate and Participate - in changing these laws that are not the will of the whole people - MarijuanaLobby.org
LOLOLOLOLOLOL What a spud...not enought evidence?!? this guy needs to get out of office as he obviously cant read
Yeah, it's a catch-22:
"It is my understanding that there is not sufficient medical evidence of the benefits of medicinal marijuana" and because it's controlled by NIDA, any research conducted on CANNABIS has to be cleared by them before it is done.
And they refuse to allow any research, instead, in their own words, 'focusing on the negative' aspects.
See
blog DOT norml DOT org/2010/01/27/why-isn%E2%80%99t-there-more-medical-marijuana-research-because-the-feds-won%E2%80%99t-allow-it-that%E2%80%99s-why/
A spokesperson for the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) told The New York Times last week that the agency does “not fund research focused on the potential medical benefits of marijuana.”
Why is this admission so significant? Here’s why.
"Under federal law, NIDA (along with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration) must approve all clinical and preclinical research involving marijuana. NIDA strictly controls which investigators are allowed access to the federal government’s lone research supply of pot – which is authorized via a NIDA contract and cultivated and stored at the University of Mississippi.
In short, no NIDA approval = no marijuana = no scientific studies. And that is, and always has been, the problem."
Read through this post of mine, and the next. I posted them in reverse order to sidestep the 1000 character limit on this website.
"It’s the ‘Catch-22’ that has plagued medical marijuana advocates and patients for decades. Lawmakers and health regulators demand clinical studies on the safety and efficacy of medical cannabis, but the federal agency in charge of such research bars these investigations from ever taking place.
But it took until now for the federal government to finally admit it."
It's not a war on (some) drugs it's a war on minorities to replace outlawed slave labor with prison labor. Mexicans smoked marihuana "Devil's weed with roots in HELL!" so cannabis was outlawed; Asians smoked opium so opium was outlawed. Cocaine was blamed on 'giving negros superhuman strength' to 'rape OUR white women!' It was always 'protect the women/children' testimony at the federal hearings which outlawed these NATURALLY GROWING drugs that are SAFER THAN ALCOHOL.
Alcohol is the most dangerous drug on the planet because no other drug turns its user into a stumbling, belligerent moron but alcohol.
Read tinyurl.com/1mn
"Well, there it was, you didn't have to look another foot as you went from state to state right on the floor of the state legislature. And so what was the genesis for the early state marijuana laws in the Rocky Mountain and southwestern areas of this country? It wasn't hostility to the drug, it was hostility to the newly arrived Mexican community that used it.
Cannabis has been used medicinally since before recorded history. There is NO lack of proof of its efficacy. There is only lack of “acceptance” by “authorities”.
Google “Granny Storm Crows list”
Google US Patent 6630507
Google “Francis L Young”
Google CBD+THC+glioma
Google “WB O’Shaughnessy”
Keeping Cannabis illegal while tobacco and alcohol are dispensed freely is *MURDEROUSLY STUPID*.
[It has helped control this glaucoma patient's asthma for over forty years.]
-Richard Steeb, San Jose California
ANY questions?
Google "Top-10-Cannabis-Studies-the-Government-Wished-it-Had-Never-Funded"
Phillydrifter;
I do hope that you sent this letter to Mr.Markey.
It does no good to post on these comment boards, although I do, sometimes I cannot restrain myself..BUT I also send letters to my "representatives" ,I will even send Mr.Markey an email, advising him to educate himself ala. Francis Young,and the DEA.
Ed Markey response "It is my understanding that there is not sufficient medical evidence of the benefits of medicinal marijuana, though I look forward to the results of ongoing research." Let me start by saying sir, FDA reliability is base on a panel of doctors, scientists and experts that review data only. The results have manifested errors in passed times with things like Fen-phen and more recently with Acetaminophen.
Acetaminophen is one of the most widely used drugs in the U.S. Many patients find it easier on the stomach than other painkillers like ibuprofen and aspirin, which can cause ulcers.
But despite years of educational campaigns and other federal actions, acetaminophen remains the leading cause of liver failure in the U.S., sending 56,000 people to the emergency room annually, according to the FDA
Choice of medicines are made for Americans by the FDA but sometimes even they make poor judgment calls. Sufficient medical evidence is the word of your constituents, trust em!
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