"Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man ..." - DEA Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young
More than 1,000 Bay State doctors have spoken out in favor of protecting medical marijuana patients. Numerous organizations and the vast majority of the public support safe and legal access to medical marijuana for people with serious illnesses. Some of the many supporters are listed below.
The Public
National polls have consistently found 60% to 80% support for allowing doctor-advised, medical use of marijuana by seriously ill patients. A January 2010 ABC/Washington Post poll found 81% of American adults think that doctors should “be allowed to prescribe marijuana for medical purposes to treat their patients.”
Support in Massachusetts mirrors support found on the national level. A September 2009 Suffolk University poll found that 81% of Massachusetts’s residents support allowing “seriously ill patients to use, grow, and purchase marijuana for medical purposes if they have the approval of their physicians.”
Organizations
National Organizations
Below is a small sampling of the national organizations supporting safe and legal access to medical marijuana.
Health and Medical
AIDS Action Council
American Academy of HIV Medicine
American Nurses Association
American Public Health Association
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Lymphoma Foundation of America
National Association of People With AIDS
Religious
Episcopal Church
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Progressive National Baptist Convention
Union of Reform Judaism (formerly Union of American Hebrew Congregations)
Unitarian Universalist Association
United Church of Christ
United Methodist Board of Church and Society
State Organizations
Dozens of state organizations that have endorsed medical access to marijuana, including the state medical societies of California, New York, and Rhode Island.
Numerous health and medical organizations across Massachusetts also support allowing the medical use of marijuana. The Massachusetts Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, Cambridge Cares about AIDS, AIDS Action Committee, and the Massachusetts Hepatitis Patient Empowerment Project all support passage of HB 2160, legislation that would protect patients from arrest and prosecution for using medicine recommended by their doctor while allowing safe and legal access to medical marijuana.
In addition to the medical community, support for medical marijuana legislation can be found in Massachusetts’s legal community. The Massachusetts Bar Association (MBA) endorsed HB 2160 “because it affirms the rights of patients to be treated with medical marijuana — a drug with proven efficacy — while including important regulations to deter improper use,” explained David White, former president of the MBA. Also supporting medical marijuana are four high-ranking law enforcement officials. Sheriffs Carmen Massimiano (Berkshire County), Robert Garvey (Hampshire County), Richard Bretschneider (Nantucket County), and Andrea Cabral (Suffolk County) all publicly support both protecting patients from arrest and prosecution for using medical marijuana with their doctor’s recommendation and providing legal access to this important medicine.
In neighboring Rhode Island, which has had a medical marijuana law since January 2006, the number of endorsing organizations has continued to grow. It includes the Rhode Island Medical Society, the Rhode Island Academy of Family Physicians, the Rhode Island State Nurses Association, the State Council of Churches, the Rhode Island Psychiatric Society, the Rhode Island Public Health Association, the United Nurses and Allied Professionals, state chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, AIDS Care Ocean State, AIDS Project Rhode Island, the state chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, the Senior Agenda Coalition, Ocean State Action, and Family Services of Rhode Island.