USA - get the DEA to stop blocking medical marijuana research, right now

[Heretic.Ape.]

Contact your congressman quickly, the deadline is september... was it 7th... well, soon!
from dcrnet

Make your voice heard! Let your Congressional Representative know what you think about medical marijuana research. Right now is a unique window of opportunity to end the federal government's decades-long stranglehold on research into marijuana's potential as an FDA-approved prescription medicine. On May 15, 2007, DEA Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner issued an Opinion and Recommended Ruling to DEA in favor of Prof. Craker's application to grow research-grade marijuana at the University of Massachusetts--Amherst. Prof. Craker's facility would end NIDA's decades-long monopoly on the supply of marijuana that can be used in FDA-approved research, and is the focal point of the struggle to bring medical marijuana before the FDA to evaluate whether it meets federal standards for safety and efficacy as a prescription medicine.
Unfortunately, DEA is under no obligation to accept the ruling. Unless there is a groundswell of support from the public and Congress, it is highly doubtful that DEA will do the right thing.
On May 16, a "Dear Colleague" letter by Reps. John Olver (D-MA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) was sent to all members of the US House of Representatives, urging each member to sign their Congressional Sign-On Letter to DEA Administrator Karen Tandy urging the DEA to accept the recent non-binding ruling by DEA Administrative Law Judge Mary Ellen Bittner in favor of MAPS and Prof. Craker. Current Representatives who have signed on are as follows:
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI)
Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY)
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA)
Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA)
Rep. Julia Carson (D-IN)
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN)
Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL)
Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA)
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA)
Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)
Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA)
Rep. George Miller (D-CA)
Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA)
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
Rep. James Oberstar (D-MN)
Rep. Ed Pastor (D-AZ)
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)
Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ)
Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ)
Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D - IL)
Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA)
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL)
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
Rep. Mary Bono (R-CA) also sent a separate letter to DEA in support of Prof. Craker's application.

What you can do:
1. Contact your representative in Congress and let them know that you would like them to assist Professor Craker by joining Representatives John Olver (D--MA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R--CA) in signing the Congressional sign-on letter being sent to DEA's Deputy Administrator. Individualized letters and phone calls are the best ways to get the attention of your legislators. E-mails are helpful, but phone calls and especially personal letters or faxes carry significantly more weight. No matter what, always be courteous and succinct.
To reach your Rep. by mail, write to: The Honorable (full name)/House Office Building/United States House of Representatives/Washington DC 20515
To reach your Rep. by phone, call the congressional switchboard at: (202) 224-3121 or (800) 962-3524.
(Sample phone script: Hi, my name is (your full name), and I live in (your town or city). As a constituent of Representative (name here), I would like to encourage him/her to sign John Olver and Dana Rohrabacher's Congressional Sign-on letter to DEA in support of Professor Lyle Craker's application for a Schedule I license to produce research-grade marijuana for FDA- and DEA-approved clinical studies. I would like to see the controversy over medical marijuana resolved through privately-funded FDA-approved research, and Prof. Craker's case is the focal point of the struggle to evaluate whether medical marijuana meets the FDA's standards for safety and efficacy. Thank you for your time and consideration.)
1. To send an automatic email to your Representative, click here.
2. Urge organizations that you're a member of to join the other political, medical, science, public health, and religious groups who are signing on to a letter of support being sent to DEA's Deputy Administrator. (For more information about the organizational sign-on letter effort, contact lauren@maps.org)
3. Forward this message to those in your sphere of influence to alert them to action! This is a matter which is of great importance. Enough political and public support may give DEA the confidence to license Prof. Craker's facility and end the federal government's obstruction of long-suppressed medical marijuana research.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Good man, you preformm a nice lil service round these parts.

[Felonious Skunk]

Has anyone ever determined why the DEA is not bound to follow judicial rulings? What is the point of these rulings then?

Who in the DEA in fact overrules the administrative judges like Mary Bittner and Francis Young?

Karen Tandy? What collapse of checks & balances allows this to happen?

[Heretic.Ape.]

^ I'll give you a nice shiny gold star if you look into that and report back to us

[Felonious Skunk]

::grumble::