WHEREAS, four Michigan
cities (Detroit, Ann Arbor, Ferndale, Traverse City) have now overwhelmingly
passed initiatives in support of medical marijuana; and
WHEREAS, public polls of Michigan residents have shown 70-80%
in favor of medical marijuana; and
WHEREAS, the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine
concluded, after reviewing relevant scientific literature including dozens of
works documenting therapeutic value of marijuana, that “there are some
circumstances in which smoking marijuana is a legitimate medical treatment”; and
WHEREAS, a scientific survey conducted in 1990 by Harvard
University researchers found that 54% of oncologists with an opinion favored the
controlled medical availability of marijuana, and 44% had already suggested at
least one that a patient obtain marijuana illegally; and
WHEREAS, tens of thousands of patients nationwide, people with
AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, chronic pain, and multiple sclerosis have found
marijuana in its natural form to be therapeutically beneficial and are already
using it with their doctors’ approval; and
WHEREAS, numerous organizations have endorsed medical access to
marijuana, including the AIDS Action Council, AIDS Project Rhode Island, Alaska
Nurses Association, American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM), American
Anthropological Association, American Bar Association, American Nurses
Association, American Preventive Medicinal Association, American Public Health
Association, Americans for Democratic Action, Associated Medical Schools of New
York, Being Alive: People With HIV/AIDS Action Committee (San Diego), California
Democratic Council, California Legislative Council for Older Americans,
California Nurses Association, California Pharmacists Association, California
Society of Addiction Medicine, California-Pacific Annual Conference of the
United Methodist Church, Colorado Nurses Association, Connecticut Nurses
Association, Consumer Reports magazine, Episcopal Church, Gray
Panthers, Hawaii Nurses Association, Illinois Nurses Association, Iowa
Democratic Party, Life Extension Foundation, Lymphoma Foundation of America,
Medical Society of the State of New York, Minnesota AIDS Project, Minnesota
Nurses Association, Minnesota Public Health Association, Minnesota Senior
Federation, Mississippi Nurses Association, National Association of People With
Aids, New Mexico Medical Society, New Mexico Nurses Association, New York County
Medical Society, New York State AIDS Advisory Council, New York State
Association of County Health Officials, New York State Hospice and Palliative
Care Association, New York State Nurses Association, New York Statewide Senior
Action Council, Inc., Ninth District Of the New York State Medical Society
(Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, and Ulster counties), Oregon
Democratic Party, Progressive National Baptist Convention, Project Inform
(national HIV/AIDS treatment education advocacy organization), Rhode Island
Medical Society, Rhode Island Nurses Association, Test Positive Aware Network
(Illinois), Texas Democratic Party, Texas League of Women Voters, Texas Nurses
Association, Union of Reform Judaism (formerly Union of American Hebrew
Congregations), Unitarian Universlist Association, United Church of Christ,
United Methodist Church, United Nurses and Allied Professionals (Rhode Island),
Wisconsin Nurses Association, and Wisconsin Public Health Association; and
WHEREAS, a national CNN/Time magazine poll published
November 4, 2002, found that 80% of U. S. adults “think adults should be able to
use marijuana legally for medical purposes”; and
WHEREAS, a national Gallup poll released in November, 2005
found that 78% of Americans support “making marijuana legally available for
doctors to prescribe in order to reduce pain and suffering”; and
WHEREAS, numerous other national public opinion polls have
found substantial support for medical marijuana, including surveys conducted by
ABC News, CBS News, the Family Research Council, and the Gallup Organization
between 1997 and 2006; and
WHEREAS, since 1996, medical marijuana initiatives received a
majority of votes in every state in which they appeared on the ballot: Alaska,
Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Maine, Minnesota,
Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington State; and
WHEREAS, since 2000, state legislatures in Hawaii, Vermont, and
Rhode Island have enacted effective medical marijuana laws; and
WHEREAS, the May 14, 2001, and the June 6, 2005, United States
Supreme Court rulings on medical marijuana dealt exclusively with federal law
and do not affect the ability of individual states to allow patients to grow,
possess, and use medical marijuana under state law; and
WHEREAS, the Ninth U. S. District Court of Appeals, in the case
of Walters v. Conant, upheld the right of physicians to recommend
medical marijuana to patients without federal government interference, and the
United States Supreme Court declined to hear the federal government’s appeal of
this ruling; and
WHEREAS, on September 6, 1998, after reviewing all available
medical data, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s chief administrative law
judge, Francis L. Young, declared that marijuana is “one of the safest
therapeutically active substances known” and recommended making marijuana
available by prescription; and
WHEREAS, the federal penalty for possessing one marijuana
cigarette, even for medical use, is up to one year in prison, and the penalty
for growing one plant is up to five years; and,
WHEREAS, the penalties are similar in most states, where
medical marijuana users must live in fear of being arrested; and
WHEREAS, the present federal classification of marijuana and
the resulting bureaucratic controls impede additional scientific research into
marijuana’s therapeutic potential, thereby making it nearly impossible for the
Food and Drug Administration to evaluate and approve marijuana through standard
procedural channels; and
WHEREAS, seriously ill people should not be punished for acting
in accordance with the opinion of their physicians in a bona fide attempt to
relieve suffering;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that licensed medical doctors
should not be criminally punished for recommending the medical use of marijuana
to seriously ill people, and seriously ill people should not be subject to
criminal sanctions for using marijuana if the patient’s physician has told the
patient that such use is likely to be beneficial.
Passed by unanimous acclimation, Feb 24, 2007, Michigan Democratic Party Annual State Convention, Detroit, MI
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