Keep ‘em comin’, Stashers. We’re going to build the net’s biggest library of official Senator and Congressman reefer madness, to make it painfully clear that the people are far better informed on the growing truth about cannabis than the politicians are.
Thank you for contacting me to express your support for the use of medical marijuana. I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts on this issue with me.
Approving the use of marijuana for medical purposes would legalize a drug that is classified as a Schedule I drug, and has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of any disease or condition. Marijuana, along with crack cocaine, heroin, PCP, and more than 100 other drugs, have long held the Schedule I classification because they impair normal brain functions and have the potential to do tremendous damage to other bodily organs. Furthermore, these drugs carry a high potential for dangerous abuse and as a result doctors have been prohibited from prescribing them for medicinal purposes.
Seriously, Congressman, you think marijuana belongs alongside crack, heroin, and PCP? I think you’ve never been around people who do drugs vs. people who smoke pot.
I am unalterably opposed to the legalization of marijuana (or any other FDA Schedule I drug) for medicinal purposes or for recreational use. The National Institutes of Health has carefully examined all the existing pre-clinical and human data and concluded that there is no evidence to suggest that smoked marijuana might be superior to currently available therapies for glaucoma, weight loss associated with AIDS, nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy, muscle spasticity associated
with multiple sclerosis or intractable pain.
Oh. So the hundreds of patients who’ve told me that not only does cannabis work better than exisiting therapies, but it also helps reduce the need for many other side-effect laden prescriptions, I guess they are all liars, huh?
In addition, the United States Supreme Court ruled unanimously in May 2001 that the Oakland Cannabis Co-op could not mount a medical necessity defense against federal marijuana distribution laws. This case is the legal precedent by which all future federal cases will be judged. Marijuana has “no currently accepted medical use,” the Court wrote.
Federal health officials believe that public policy would be better served if science, rather than the ballot box or the courts, were used to judge the drug’s utility.
Hey, what a fabulous idea! So how about giving scientists a way to study that plant for its beneficial medical uses. Oh, what’s that – the DEA blocks all attempts at scientific research to prove marijuana’s benefits?
In closing, I do not support the legalization of recreational drugs and maintain that the United States must do everything possible to restrict the importation and domestic production of illegal drugs.
Can you feel the irony of a Congressman from a tobacco-producing state lecturing you on the health effects of cannabis?
Again, thank you for taking the time to contact me. While we disagree on this issue, I appreciate your input on this matter. If I can be of any assistance on this or any other issue, please feel free to contact me. With kind personal regards, I am
Yours truly,
J. Randy Forbes
Member of Congress
