This morning, Senate Drug Caucus Chair Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) are holding a hearing entitled, “Is the Department of Justice Adequately Protecting the Public from the Impact of State Recreational Marijuana Legalization?” While the subject of the hearing may be a reasonable area for the Drug Caucus to examine, the hearing will mark the second time that Grassley and Feinstein have held a hearing on cannabis without looking into the medical benefits of the entire plant. Making matters worse, there is not any witnesses scheduled to testify today who can speak to the medical benefits, as the witness roster bears a heavy anti-cannabis bias. This demonstrates that protecting safe and legal access to cannabis therapy is a low priority of the two senators. Senator Grassley could address this issue directly by bringing the CARERS Act to a hearing and vote

Patient advocates need to make that medical cannabis - including THC - becomes a priority to these two senators and their their colleagues. You can help reshape the conversation by tweeting at Senators Grassley and Feinstein during and after today's hearing by engaging them on Twitter using the hashtag #TimeForCARERS. Below are some suggested tweets to use. 

As you engage on Twitter, please remember to be respectful in your tone. We know how frustrated and angry patients are feeling towards to Members of Congress who are holding up the CARERS Act, we must remain even tempered, as rude confrontations will only make it more difficult to bring CARERS to a vote. 

Chairman Grassley: @ChuckGrassley

Vice Chair Feinstein: @SenFeinstein

Hashtag: #TimeForCARERS

• 2M patients in 23 states & DC rely on safe access to cannabis/THC for their conditions, so why hasn’t @ChuckGrassley held a hearing? #TimeForCARERS
• @ChuckGrassley @SenFeinstein re: harms of marijuana, please consider this peer reviewed doc w/374 scholarly cites http://american-safe-access.s3.amazonaws.com/criticalreviewweb.pdf
• Recent poll found 78% of @ChuckGrassley’s constituents support safe/legal access to medical cannabis #TimeForCARERS http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/health/2016/03/01/iowa-poll-medical-marijuana-draws-78-percent-support/81126478/
• @ChuckGrassley Mortality rate of those w/traumatic brain injury "significantly decreased" by THC use #TimeForCARERS http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25264643
• Message from @ChuckGrassley to #MMJ patients based witness roster of Drug Caucus hearing = “keep waiting” but patients can’t wait #TimeForCARERS
• @ChuckGrassley 52 opioid deaths in IA in 2014, JAMA article suggests that could have been 25% lower w/medical cannabis. #TimeForCARERS
• Medical cannabis states have about seen about 25% fewer opioid ODs, so why aren’t @ChuckGrassley @SenFeinstein holding a hearing? #TimeForCARERS
• Some doubt the #MMJ state 25% fewer opioid ODs study, but even if not the exact %, many lives can be saved @ChuckGrassley it’s #TimeForCARERS
• @ChuckGrassley support for medical cannabis is over 80% including conservatives/rural Americans, it’s #TimeForCARERS http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2014/images/01/08/cnn.orc.poll.marijuana.colorado.pdf
• @ChuckGrassley & @SenFeinstein Keeping cannabis in Sch. I undermines the integrity federal law while preventing research. It’s #TimeForCARERS
• @ChuckGrassley @SenFeinstein Cannabis effectively treats chronic pain & must be part of opioid plan #TimeForCARERS http://www.jpain.org/article/S1526-5900(15)00837-8/pdf
• @SenFeinstein 20 years after CA passed its MMJ law and still no hearing looking into the benefits of medical cannabis? @ChuckGrassley it’s #TimeForCARERS
• @ChuckGrassley @SenFeinstein aren’t sure if cannabis hasn’t been studied enough? Take a look here http://www.cannabis-med.org/studies/study.php #TimeForCARERS

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