Take Action: Ask your Congressperson to Allow Medical Cannabis Research

blumenauermedicalmarijuana-screen.jpgA bipartisan group of Members of Congress have drafted a letter seeking that the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) remove a federal barrier to medical marijuana research that no other Schedule I substance is subjected to.

Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Morgan Griffith (R-VA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Dana Rohrabacher, (R-CA) are currently seeking additional cosigners to the letter, which seeks to lift the current Public Health Service (PHS) review process that has preventing potentially groundbreaking medical marijuana research from taking place in the United States.

Established in May 1999, the PHS review process was the federal government's response to the 1998 Institute of Medicine report that called for more in depth scientific research to understand the medical value of marijuana. While the plain language of the PHS review protocol says that it is, "intended to facilitate the research needed to evaluate these pending public health questions by making research-grade marijuana available for well-designed studies," the review process has largely served to thwart research rather than facilitate it.

Request your Members of Congress to cosign a letter seeking that the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) remove the federal barrier to medical marijuana research!

Now is the time to take action. Urge your Congressperson to advance medical marijuana research by taking action to sign on to the letter to remove the Public Health Service review process! You can send pre-written letter to your US House Representatives today, by using this linked action alert.  

This will only take a moment and with your help we can truly make a difference!  The deadline to gather support is May 19, 2014.  So contact your Representatives today.