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11/14/01
Dear DRCNet reader:
The following important medical marijuana alert has been
forwarded on behalf of the Marijuana Policy Project:
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Please forward this alert widely to your family and friends
in the United States, or tell them to visit:
http://www.mpp.org/USA/
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Last month, the DEA launched a series of attacks on medical
marijuana patients and providers in California. In
addition to raiding a medical marijuana garden in Ventura
County and a medical marijuana clinic in Cool, 30 DEA
agents also shut down the largest medical marijuana
distribution center in southern California, the Los Angeles
Cannabis Resource Center. As a result, nearly 1,000
patients suffering from AIDS, cancer, and other serious
illnesses are now being denied access to the only
medication that has brought them relief from pain, nausea,
vomiting, and other symptoms of their illnesses. These
suffering patients have also been left in fear of imminent
prosecution, as the DEA confiscated all the medical records
from the LA clinic and is contemplating bringing criminal
charges.
Local political leaders, newspaper editorial boards, the
California Medical Association, and concerned citizens
across the country are raising an outcry over the DEA's
actions. And this continuing effort to challenge the DEA's
attempt to shut down medical marijuana providers in
California just gained a new recruit: David Broder, a
moderate columnist who is one of the most respected
political commentators in the United States, has written a
column condemning the DEA's actions (see "In The News" at
http://www.mpp.org/USA/ ).
The publication of Broder's opinion piece in numerous
newspapers across the country, ratchets up the pressure on
the DEA in the face of its unconscionable attack on medical
marijuana patients. There is no better time than now to
persuade Congress of the need to change federal law so that
the long-standing conflict between state and federal
governments over medical marijuana will finally be ended.
Please visit http://www.mpp.org/USA/ to send a pre-written
letter of protest to your US representative, asking him or
her to cosponsor HR 2592, the "States' Rights to Medical
Marijuana" bill currently pending in the US House of
Representatives. This bill would change federal law so
that the DEA would no longer be able to prosecute patients
in states that authorize medical marijuana.
It only takes a couple of minutes to make your voice heard
in Congress. If you have a little more time, please also
choose a pre- written letter-to-the-editor at
http://www.mpp.org/USA/ to send to your local newspaper.
Note: There is not yet a medical marijuana bill in the US
Senate. A separate alert if and when such a bill is
finally introduced.
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