Attention Ohioans: Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced! Contact Representatives To Voice Your Support

Here is what I wrote to John Domenick, Sherrod Brown, Ted Strickland, Jason Wilson, George Voinovich and Charlie Wilson:

I'm writing to urge your support for House Bill 478, The Ohio Medical
Compassion Act.

This bill seeks to enact statewide legal protections shielding those
seriously ill patients who use cannabis therapeutically with a doctor's
recommendation from criminal prosecution. At the same time, it will not
alter or interfere with already existing state laws discouraging the
non-medical, recreational use of marijuana.

The use of marijuana as medicine is a public health issue; it should not
be part of the war on drugs. According to a recent national survey of U.S.
physicians conducted for the American Society of Addiction Medicine,
nearly half of all doctors with opinions support legalizing cannabis as a
medicine.

Some 80 state and national health care organizations, including the
American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association and The
New England Journal of Medicine, support immediate, legal patient access
to medical cannabis.

Most recently, the largest association of doctors of internal medicine and
the second largest medical association in the country, the American
College of Physicians, released a policy paper in support of medical
cannabis,stating, "The ACP strongly urges protection from criminal or
civil penalties for patients who use medical marijuana as permitted under
state laws." Also, in November, the American Medical Association resolved
that marijuana's status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be
reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research
and development of cannabinoid-based medicines."

Fourteen states - Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan,
Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and
Washington - have enacted laws protecting medical marijuana patients from
state prosecution. These laws are operating primarily as lawmakers
intended and have not led to widespread abuses among adolescents or adult
recreational users.

I believe it is unconscionable to deny this effective medicine to sick and
dying patients, and I strongly urge you to support the medical use of
marijuana in Ohio and to vote 'yes' on House Bill 478, The Ohio Medical
Compassion Act.