Seniors Take on Medical Marijuana

The Seniors Union works with ASA to distribute important research information
to medical professionals, work with other senior organizations to support
patients' right to cannabis in lieu of failed alternatives, and advocate for
safe and legal access to cannabis for all seniors who need it. The Seniors
Union is open to seniors who use medical cannabis, caregivers, family members,
researchers, physicians, and other health providers who support the use of
medical cannabis.

The primary objective of this project is to renew relationships with key
condition-based organizations like AARP and other senior communities that
have traditionally kept an arms length from this issue. Specifically, we would
like senior organizations to endorse our organizational goals, and engage with
ASA to lobby Congress and administrative agencies to end federal raids, expand
therapeutic research, and create access programs for patients across the United
States. The fact that ASA shares intersecting patient populations with a
variety of condition-based organizations provides us with unique opportunities
for collaboration.

The strategy of the Medical Cannabis Seniors Union project is to underscore the
needs of medical cannabis patients: elimination of federal raids and
prosecutions, expansion of therapeutic research opportunities, and immediate
access to a safe and legal supply of cannabis. Creating new alliances with
other senior organizations will provide a broader base of support for our
goals.

To get involved in this project, please follow this link:


Sincerely,

Steph Sherer
Executive Director
Americans for Safe Access

Join us today… http://www.AmericansforSafeAccess.org/Donate



Media Release
Americans for Safe Access
For Immediate Release: August 1, 2007

Seniors Take On Medical Marijuana
Retirement Living Television segment airs today in millions of homes; Poll
shows 82% support

Washington, D.C. -- A Florida medical marijuana patient, Irv Rosenfeld, who
receives his medicine from the federal government, was interviewed by the
country’s largest television network devoted to retirement programming for a
news magazine segment that aired today in millions of homes across the country.
The program Viewpoint, produced by Retirement Living Television (RLTV), which
boasts 29 million viewers, also interviewed Dr. Bertha Madras, the Deputy
Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. And, an
RLTV promotional program, Daily Café, which aired yesterday, included an
interview with Caren Woodson, the Director of Government Affairs for Americans
for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy organization.

According to RLTV, its program Viewpoint sought to investigate “the
relationship between seniors living with chronic pain and their choice to use
medical marijuana to alleviate their constant discomfort.” In addition to
providing important and relevant information on medical marijuana to seniors by
way of its television program, RLTV also offers additional information on-line
at http://www.rl.tv. According to its website, RLTV considers itself “the new voice of
a generation under-served by the media industry,” and “the foremost experts on
aging and seniors.” RLTV is currently polling its viewers on the issue, and so
far claims that 82% support medical marijuana with a physician’s
recommendation.

Today’s RLTV Viewpoint segment is especially timely in its focus on a Los
Angeles dispensary, California Patients Group (CPG), which served more than a
thousand patients over the age of fifty. After the RLTV interview was
conducted, CPG was raided by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), had its
assets seized, and was forced to close. “This action against CPG and other
facilities in the Los Angeles area shows the extent to which the federal
government will go to undermine California’s medical marijuana law and
patients’ right to chose their medicine,” said CPG operator Don Duncan.

Dr. John Benson, one of the co-investigators at the National Academy of
Sciences, who issued the 1999 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on medical
marijuana, was also interviewed for the Viewpoint program. Dr. Benson and
others concluded in the IOM report, a million-dollar investigative report
commissioned by the Clinton Administration that, “Scientific data indicate the
potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs [medical marijuana] for pain
relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation.” The IOM
report also urged further research, a recommendation that has been ignored by
the federal government.

This is not the first time a major retirement-focused organization has taken on
the issue of medical marijuana. In December 2004, the American Association of
Retired Persons (AARP) released a report, which found that 72% of people
surveyed who were 45-years and older “agree that adults should be allowed to
legally use marijuana for medical purposes if a physician recommends it.”
Nearly one-third of those surveyed admitted that they smoked marijuana.

In order to educate both seniors, and the physicians caring for them, Americans
for Safe Access (ASA) has developed a booklet on “medical marijuana and aging”
that is disseminated to literally thousands of people nationwide. This
education is necessary due in part to the federal government position that
“marijuana has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.”
Advocates are hopeful that with the efforts of RLTV, ASA, and others, medical
marijuana can be effectively used by our country’s aging population and by all
who might benefit from its therapeutic properties.

RLTV Viewpoint promotional segment (full program available tomorrow):
http://www.rl.tv/OurShows/Viewpoint/tabid/598/Default.aspx
AARP 2004 Report:
http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess.org/AARP
Institute of Medicine 1999 Report:
http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/marimed/
ASA booklet on Aging and Medical Marijuana:
http://www.AmericansForSafeAccess/aging_booklet

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With over 30,000 active members in more than 40 states, Americans for Safe
Access (ASA) is the largest national member-based organization of patients,
medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and
legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA works to
overcome political and legal barriers by creating policies that improve access
to medical cannabis for patients and researchers through legislation,
education, litigation, grassroots actions, advocacy and services for patients
and the caregivers.