Active Advocacy:

MAKE A CALL FOR CHERYL

My friend Cheryl Miller passed away on June 7. Cheryl, who suffered
from multiple sclerosis, spent the last uncomfortable decade of her
life fighting for legal access to marijuana, the medicine she used to
alleviate the symptoms of her debilitating disease.

Even though many scientific studies have shown that marijuana has many
therapeutic uses, the federal government has refused to sanction its
use for patients with doctor recommendations. Nonetheless, 10 states
now have laws that offer differing degrees of legal protection to
medical marijuana users.

This discrepancy between state and federal laws has caused much
confusion, and the Bush Administration has declared war on medical
marijuana patients and providers. Attorney General John Ashcroft has
instructed the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to
strictly enforce federal laws barring the medical use of marijuana.
Consequently, patients in California and other states have been forced
to obtain their medicine from the streets, instead of from legitimate
cannabis dispensaries that are sanctioned by state and local officials.

A recent Time/CNN opinion poll showed that over 80 percent of
Americans support safe and legal access to medical marijuana for the
terminally ill and seriously disabled. The federal government's
handling of the medical marijuana issue is yet another example of
President George W. Bush's disdain for democracy.

Because federal law doesn't recognize the medical use of marijuana,
defendants in federal trials aren't even allowed to mention that they
use or grow the drug for medical reasons. This was what happened in
the widely publicized trial of Ed Rosenthal, who was deputized by the
city of Oakland, Calif. to grow medical marijuana. After a trial where
his defense was ordered by the judge not to mention the words
'medical' and 'marijuana' in the same sentence, jurors convicted him.
When they found out what they had done, a majority of the jurors
immediately called for a retrial. This, along with a huge media buzz,
pressured the judge into sentencing Rosenthal to only one day in
prison and releasing him on time served.

There is something very wrong in America when defendants in criminal
trials aren't even allowed to present all the pertinent facts of a
case.

Fortunately, there are two bills in the U.S. House of Representatives
that would end the federal government's harassment of the sick and
dying. H.R. 2233, the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act, would
reschedule marijuana under federal law and allow states to decide the
issue for themselves. H.R. 1717, the Truth in Trials Act, would
establish an affirmative defense for medical marijuana trials,
allowing the accused to introduce evidence showing that they were
acting in accordance with state laws.

Today, medical marijuana patients and supporters are visiting
congressional offices on Capitol Hill to lobby for H.R. 2233 and H.R.
1717 as part of the Cheryl Miller Memorial Project. While these
individuals are physically visiting offices in Washington, supporters
from around the country will be participating in a National Phone
Slam. Organizers hope that this tag-team effort can influence some
on-the-fence legislators to take a positive stance on the medical
marijuana issue.

Just three months before Cheryl Miller's death, she and her husband
Jim made the arduous trip to the University of Rhode Island from their
home in New Jersey to speak at the 2003 Students for Sensible Drug
Policy (SSDP) Northeast Regional Conference. Over the course of one
weekend, Cheryl impacted the lives of dozens of young people by
sharing her story.

Meeting Cheryl was a life-changing experience for me. Never before
have I been so inspired to fight for a single cause. For many people
in attendance, Cheryl's presence was an affirmation that what we are
doing is very right (and that what the federal government is doing is
very wrong).

Please find the time today to make a single toll-free call to your
representative in congress and urge him or her to support H.R. 2233
and H.R. 1717. Visit www.cheryldcmemorial.org for more details or stop
by URI SSDP's booth in the memorial union today from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. If
you haven't made up your mind on the issue of medical marijuana, ask
yourself: should Cheryl Miller have been arrested for using the one
medicine that made the last years of her life liveable?