Write a Letter to the Editor About Medical Cannabis

*Tuesday: Make Your Voice Heard*
*Write a Letter to the Editor About Medical Cannabis*

Yesterday, ASA called on you to "Join the Movement," and today we're
asking you to take your involvement to the next level by making your
voice heard. Write a Letter to the Editor about medical cannabis to
educate your community about the issues patients and doctors face every day.

On Monday, February 12th, /Neurology/ published a long overdue study by
Dr. Donald Abrams, which indicates that smoked marijuana effectively
reduces chronic pain for people living with HIV/AIDS. The study builds
on other international evidence and a 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM)
report, /Marijuana and Medicine, Assessing the Science Base/
<http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/marimed/>. For more information
about this study and why it is significant, please read ASA's press
release at the bottom of this message.

Please write a Letter to the Editor today about this study or about
another medical cannabis issue. Read on for ways to take action.

/*Ways to Make Your Voice Heard*/

1. *Use ASA's LTE Action Page*
<http://www.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/asa/pickMedia.jsp?letter
_KEY=658>
to write a Letter to the Editor about the Abrams research: After
clicking here you will be asked pick your state, then you can choose
from newspapers in your area, and finally you will be taken to a page
with talking points, but please personalize your letter. Editors do not
appreciate receiving several of the same messages so be sure to make
yours unique!

2. *Write an LTE About Other Medical Cannabis Issues:*
<http://www.mapinc.org/resource> If you would like to participate in a
team effort to reach more newspapers with your personal comments about
this weeks' medical cannabis-related news and opinion coverage, please
contact Steve Heath <mailto:heath [at] mapinc.org> and the MAP Media Activism
Center <http://www.mapinc.org/resource>.

3. *Join the Movement:*
<http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/MMJWeekMonday> In the past day,
hundreds of supporters have joined the movement by donating to ASA
<http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/donate> and/or filling out our
online activist survey
<http://www.safeaccessnow.org/modinput4.php?modin=9>. There are
thousands more of you who support ASA, but have not taken action yet.
Please join the movement today - donate
<http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org/donate> and/or fill out the
activist survey <http://www.safeaccessnow.org/modinput4.php?modin=9>. It
only takes a couple minutes and will renew your commitment to the
medical cannabis movement.

4. *Spread the Word:* Forward this message widely to friends,
co-workers, and family to encourage them to join you in the national
movement to protect safe access!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Saltzman
Field Coordinator
Americans for Safe Access

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
*
*New Study of Medical Cannabis Shows Scientific Value
for Patients with Neuropathic Pain*
/National HIV/AIDS and Advocacy Groups, Experts and Study Participant
Join to Call For Congressional Hearings/

(Washington) - February 12 - National HIV/AIDS and advocacy groups
including the National Association of People With AIDS (NAPWA) today
called for congressional hearings in response to a new study from the
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) on medical cannabis and
neuropathic pain, published in the peer reviewed journal /Neurology./
The study is the first of its kind in the U.S. in nearly 20 years to
indicate the medical efficacy of cannabis.

"This study validates the experience people living with HIV/AIDS and
their doctors have reported for years--- medical cannabis provides
much-needed relief from pain and suffering." said NAPWA Executive
Director Frank Oldham Jr. "That is why we are joining Americans for Safe
Access to call on Congress to address cannabis for its medicinal value."

An estimated 3-4 million people in the U.S. suffer from neuropathic
pain, and as many as 37% of people living with HIV/AIDS use cannabis to
treat neuropathy and other symptoms associated with the disease.

The UCSF study was a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 50
patients who had an average of six years of neuropathic pain. The pain
reduction in the group receiving the medical cannabis was twice that of
the placebo group.

"I have been living with HIV/AIDS for 21 years and owe my life to the
benefits of medical cannabis," said UCSF study participant Diana Dodson.
"It reduces the pain and side-effects such as nausea and stomach pains
that are caused by the drugs I need to take in order to stay alive. But
I need the government to grant me safe access to my medicine."

The study builds on other international evidence and a 1999 Institute of
Medicine (IOM) report Marijuana and Medicine, Assessing the Science Base.

"This study demonstrates the potential effectiveness of medical cannabis
to treat the chronic pain of people living with HIV/AIDS," said Dr.
Barbara T. Roberts, Director of Medical and Scientific Affairs for
Americans for Safe Access and former Senior Policy Analyst at the White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy. "In addition to people
living with HIV/AIDS, there are thousands of vets returning from Iraq
who will spend decades coping with neurological pain. By implementing
the recommendations of the IOM report, the federal government would be
exploring more options for their long-term treatment of neuropathic pain."

The groups are calling on Congress to hold hearings on the IOM report to
adopt its recommendations to allow patients and researchers to have
access to medical cannabis.

"It's time for Washington to stop playing politics with patients' lives
and advance this important scientific discovery," said Steph Sherer,
Executive Director of Americans for Safe Access. "The study is a wake-up
call for Congress to hold hearings to investigate therapeutic use and
encourage research."

###


With more than 30,000 active members with chapters and affiliates in
more than 40 states, Americans for Safe Access is the largest national
member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists
and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for
therapeutic uses and research.