Quick Quotations
Quotations are good for giving written messages a little more "punch." Use one of these to emphasize your point. Or build your entire message around a quote. Remember, for letters to the
editor, the shorter the better. When writing to your legislator make your message more personal. Always maintain a respectful tone and try to communicate your personal feelings as a constituent who has a genuine need for medical cannabis and is paying attention to what your representatives do--or fail to do.
"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known
The evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision. It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance."
Francis L. Young, DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge, 1988
"[The AAFP accepts the use of medical marijuana] under medical supervision and control for specific medical indications."
American Academy of Family Physicians, 1989, reaffirmed in 2001
"Based on much evidence, from patients and doctors alike, on the superior effectiveness and safety of whole cannabis (marijuana) compared to other medicines for many patients suffering from the nausea associated with chemotherapy, the wasting syndrome of AIDS, and the symptoms of other illnesses
we hereby petition the Executive Branch and the Congress to facilitate and expedite the research necessary to determine whether this substance should be licensed for medical use by seriously ill persons."
American Academy of Family Physicians, 1995
"The National Nurses Society on Addictions urges the federal government to remove marijuana from the Schedule I category immediately, and make it available for physicians to prescribe. NNSA urges the American Nurses' Association and other health care professional organizations to support patient access to this medicine."
National Nurses Society on Addictions, May 1, 1995
"[M]arijuana has an extremely wide acute margin of safety for use under medical supervision and cannot cause lethal reactions
[G]reater harm is caused by the legal consequences of its prohibition than possible risks of medicinal use.
" American Public Health Association, Resolution #9513, "Access to Therapeutic Marijuana/Cannabis," 1995
"The SFMS takes a support position on the California Medical Marijuana Initiative [legalizing medical marijuana].
" San Francisco Medical Society, August 1996
"[The LFA] urges Congress and the President to enact legislation to reschedule marijuana to allow doctors to prescribe smokable marijuana to patients in need
[and] urges the US Public Health Service to allow limited access to medicinal marijuana by promptly reopening the Investigational New Drug compassionate access program to new applicants."
Lymphoma Foundation of America, January 20, 1997
"[A] federal policy that prohibits physicians from alleviating suffering by prescribing marijuana for seriously ill patients is misguided, heavy-handed, and inhumane."
Dr. Jerome Kassirer, "Federal Foolishness and Marijuana," editorial, New England Journal of Medicine, January 30, 1997
"Approved medical uses for marijuana or [THC] for treatment of glaucoma, illnesses associated with wasting such as AIDS, the emesis associated with chemotherapy, or other uses
should be administered only under the supervision of a knowledgeable physician."
American Society of Addiction Medicine, April 16, 1997
"Present evidence indicates that [cannabinoids] are remarkably safe drugs, with a side-effects profile superior to many drugs used for the same indications
"
British Medical Association, November 1997
"[We] support pharmacy participation in the legal distribution of medical marijuana."
California Pharmacists Association, May 26, 1997
"Whitman-Walker Clinic supports the valid use of marijuana, under a physician's supervision, to help alleviate AIDS wasting syndrome and nausea associated with treatment regimes."
Whitman-Walker Clinic, April 1998
"[The American Bar Association] recognizes that persons who suffer from serious illnesses for which marijuana has a medically recognized therapeutic value have a right to be treated with marijuana under the supervision of a physician."
American Bar Association, May 4, 1998
"[We] recommend
allow[ing] [marijuana] prescription where medically appropriate."
National Association for Public Health Policy, November 15, 1998
"I consider the most important recommendation made by the IOM (Institute of Medicine) panel [to be] that physicians be able to prescribe marijuana to individual patients with debilitating or terminal conditions
I believe such compassionate use is justified."
Andrew Weil, M.D., July 1999
"Cannabinoids and THC also have strong pain-killing powers, which is one reason medical marijuana should be readily available to people with cancer and other debilitating diseases."
Dean Edell, M.D., March 2, 2000
"Therefore be it resolved that the American Nurses Association will: Support the right of patients to have safe access to therapeutic marijuana/cannabis under appropriate prescriber supervision."
American Nurses Association, resolution, 2003
"It [medical marijuana] should be an option for patients who have it recommended by knowledgeable physicians."
Dr. Jesse L. Steinfeld, former U.S. Surgeon General, July 2003
"Marijuana has proven to be effective in the treatment of people with HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and those suffering from severe pain or nausea
The legalization of medical marijuana would be a step forward for the health of all New Yorkers."
New York State Association of County Health Officials, resolution, 2003
"When appropriately prescribed and monitored, marijuana/cannabis can provide immeasurable benefits for the health and well-being of our patients
We support state and federal legislation not only to remove criminal penalties associated with medical marijuana, but further to exclude marijuana/cannabis from classification as a Schedule I drug."
American Academy of HIV Medicine, letter to New York Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, November 11, 2003
"The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by illnesses like multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS or by the harsh drugs sometimes used to treat them. And it can do so with remarkable safety. Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day."
Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, M.D., "Myths About Medical Marijuana," Providence Journal, March 26, 2004
"The use of marijuana may be appropriate when prescribed by a licensed physician solely for use in alleviating pain and nausea in patients who have been diagnosed as chronically ill with life threatening disease, when all other treatments have failed;
"
The Medical Society of the State of New York, May 4, 2004
"It cannot seriously be contested that there exists a small but significant class of individuals who suffer from painful chronic, degenerative, and terminal conditions, for whom marijuana provides uniquely effective relief."
HIV Medicine Association of the Infectious Diseases Society of America; American Medical Students Association; Lymphoma Foundation of America; Dr. Barbara Roberts; and Irvin Rosenfeld, Amicus Curiae brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court (in the case of Gonzales v. Raich), October 2004
"There is sufficient evidence for us to support any physician-patient relationship that believes the use of marijuana will be beneficial to the patient."
Rhode Island Medical Society, 2004
" [The] CMA continue[s] to support scientifically rigorous research, including all FDA-approved Phase II and Phase III clinical trials and examine the current science concerning the therapeutic role of cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals"
California Medical Association, October 30, 2006
"[The] CMA continue[s] to support the ability of physicians to discuss and make recommendations concerning the potential benefits or harm to the patient of smoked herbal cannabis consistent with state and federal law and oppose criminal prosecution of patients who possess or use smoked herbal cannabis for medical reasons upon the recommendation of a physician"
California Medical Association, October 30, 2006
"We must make sure that the casualties of the war on drugs are not suffering patients who legitimately deserve relief."
Scott Fishman, president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine, February 2006
Cannabis will one day be seen as a wonder drug, as was penicillin in the 1940s. Like penicillin, herbal marijuana is remarkably nontoxic, has a wide range of therapeutic applications and would be quite inexpensive if it were legal."
Dr. Lester Grinspoon, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Los Angeles Times, May 5, 2006
"In states where patients are permitted to use marijuana medicinally for serious and/or chronic illnesses and a patient's physician has recommended its use in accordance with that state law and that state's medical practice standards, the patient should not be subject to federal criminal penalties for such medical use."
HIV Medicine Association, October 30, 2006
"Well-designed and scientifically rigorous research, including all FDA-approved Phase II and Phase III clinical trials that lead to investigation into the potential therapeutic role and commercial licensure of prescription marijuana should be encouraged, and that production facilities that meet all regulatory requirements should be licensed by the DEA to produce pharmaceutical-grade marijuana for use exclusively in federally approved research."
HIV Medicine Association, October 30, 2006
"Not everybody needs marijuana for medical illness. But for those who really do, it's very helpful. As more and more states are taking medical marijuana New Mexico just did it the other day eventually it will just be overwhelming. And it will happen. But I'm shocked that it's taken this long."
Dr. Thomas Ungerleider, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at UCLA and member of President Nixon's National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse, "3rd Degree," interview, LA City Beat, March 29, 2007
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"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known
It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between [suffering patients] and the benefits of this substance."
Francis L. Young, DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge, 1988
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What religious groups say:
The Episcopal Church urges "the adoption by Congress and all states of statutes providing that the use of marijuana be permitted when deemed medically appropriate by duly licensed medical practitioners."
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The Presbyterian Church supports "the use of cannabis sativa or marijuana for legitimate medical purposes as recommended by a physician."
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The Union of Reform Judiasm passed a resolution to "advocate for the necessary changes in local, state and federal law to permit the medicinal use of marijuana and ensure its accessibility for that purpose."
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The Unitarian Universalist Association issued a resolution in support of ending "the practice of punishing an individual for obtaining, possessing, or using an otherwise illegal substance to treat a medical condition."
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The United Church of Christ has stated, "We believe that seriously ill people should not be subject to arrest and imprisonment for using medical marijuana with their doctors' approval."
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The United Methodist Board of Church and Society has said, "Licensed medical doctors should not be punished for recommending the medical use of marijuana to seriously ill people, and seriously ill people should not be subject to sanctions for using marijuana if the patient's physician has told the patient that such use is likely to be beneficial."
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How to write an Op-Ed
Opinion-editorial pieces are longer than letters to the editor, and there is more competition for space. Check with the paper you are writing for regarding the length of their Op-Eds. Anyone can submit an Op-Ed, but by developing a relationship with the media you might see yours printed more often. If you need help we can review your message, offer suggestions and help you submit it.
Watch for opportunities to write on medical marijuana. If you can use a professional title that suggests authority, do so. If you work for an organization, ask for permission to sign the op-ed as a representative of that organization.
You may send your op-ed to papers far from where you live, but avoid sending it to two newspapers in the same region. "National" newspapers like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor and USA Today generally do not accept op-eds that are also being offered to other papers. You can, however, submit the same piece to three or four local dailies in different regions, greatly increasing your chances of being published.
Assure the op-ed editor in your cover letter that the piece has not been submitted to any other paper in their market. If, on the other hand, you sent it to only one paper, let that paper know you are offering them an exclusive.
In writing op-eds, avoid excessive rhetoric. State the subject clearly. You are trying to persuade a middle-of-the-road readership. If you rely on facts not commonly found in mainstream media, cite your sources. Use a source like Drug War Facts to assure accuracy.
Try to think of a catchy title. If you don't, the paper will be more likely to run its own, which may not emphasize your central message. (Even if you do write your own headline, don't be surprised if it appears under a different one.)
Be prepared to shorten and re-submit your article as a letter to the editor in case it does not get accepted as an op-ed.
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