Gil Kerlikowske, the new Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, recently stated publicly to the Fresno Bee that marijuana has no medical benefit.
We reviewed this article by ASA, and posted a comment to the Opposing Views website. Additionally, we sent an e-mail (below) to Director Kerlikowske requesting that he review the studies available on the benefits of medical marijuana.
Here is the comment we posted, containing the e-mail we send to Director Kerlikowske:
Thank you to the Americans for Safe Access for putting together this article. It is our belief that Director Kerlikowske simply needs to be educated on the benefits of medical marijuana. After he does so, it is possible that he could change his stance on the importance of medical marijuana for certain types of medical conditions.
We can work together to share our views with Director Kerlikowske by sending an e-mail to www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov. It is possible that with the support of enough people, he may take the time to understand the importance of this form of medicine.
We have sent the following e-mail to Director Kerlikowske:
Dear Director Kerlikowske,
We recently came across an article quoting you as declaring that marijuana has no medical benefit.
We would like to respectfully ask that you take the time to review the following studies on the benefits of medical marijuana:
http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/geninfo/research.htm
http://www.cannabis-med.org/english/nav/home-science.htm
Please note that these are just a sampling of the medical studies available for your review.
There is a clear line between an individual that uses marijuana for medicinal use and an individual that is violating the law through illegal consumption. Patients who use marijuana for medicinal benefit are doing so because marijuana provides them a level of relief from suffering that traditional medicine does not. Medical marijuana patients are often in severe pain or chronically ill, and it makes it even more difficult for them when they are victims of discrimination in society. When people read an article quoting you as saying medical marijuana has no benefit, they will believe that medical marijuana patients are simply marijuana users and will label them as such. This assumption is incorrect, and will lead to misunderstanding and continuing discrimination.
Please take the opportunity to review the medical studies available, if only to see the validity of the studies themselves. It is possible that after reading through the research, you may change your stance on the use of medical marijuana. If you were to do so, it would help the thousands of medical marijuana patients in society today to find a level of respect by their fellow citizens that they do not experience today.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best regards,
Association of Medical Marijuana Caregivers