GOVERNMENT MUST CORRECT MEDICAL MARIJUANA MISINFORMATION

When the government says there is no medical use for marijuana, it's just
plain wrong, according to a petition being filed Monday under the Data
Quality Act, a little-known law that requires federal agencies to rely on
sound science.

If the patient-advocacy group filing the claim prevails, the Department of
Health and Human Services will have to change its tune on medical marijuana
and publicly admit that the drug is now routinely used for medical treatment.

Americans for Safe Access, the national medical-marijuana advocacy group
responsible for the petition, will hold a noon press conference at the
National Press Club. Reporters will enjoy a light lunch and hear from
leading researchers, medical marijuana patients, and representatives from a
few of the dozens of professional health organizations that have endorsed
changing federal rules on medical marijuana, including the American Public
Health Association and the American Nurses Association.

At issue is the government's insistence that "marijuana has no currently
accepted medical use in treatment in the United States." According to the
petition, scientific research, federal reports and patient experience all
show marijuana works for pain, nausea, loss of appetite, anxiety, and
spasticity.

Admitting marijuana has medical use would clear the way to allowing doctors
to prescribe marijuana to their patients. Currently, nine states have laws
permitting patients to legally use it, but they are at odds with the
federal prohibition that ranks marijuana as more dangerous than cocaine or
amphetamines.

Those debunking the government's claim will include Marcus Conant, M.D.,
leading HIV/AIDS clinician and researcher whose suit against the government
established the right of physicians to recommend marijuana to their
patients; Denis Petro, M.D., chief of neurology, Malcolm Grow Medical
Center of Andrews Air Force Base, a leading researcher in treating Multiple
Sclerosis with marijuana and its cannabinoid components; and Robert
Melamede, Ph.D., chair of the biology department, University of Colorado at
Colorado Springs, where he researches and teaches on the role of
cannabinoids in health and disease.

For more information about Americans for Safe Access visit
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/