LdyLunatic
02-03-2006, 12:21 PM
Charleston, SC -- A Charleston-based grassroots organization announced today it has launched a statewide petition drive to persuade South Carolina legislators to allow licensed physicians to prescribe marijuana to their sick patients.
The online petition drive, dubbed Compassionate Care, is being sponsored by South Carolinians for Drug Law Reform, a nonprofit organization (501 [c] 4) with supporters across the state.
The petition can be found on the organization's web site -- http://www.scdruglawreform.org/
"The Compassionate Care initiative is simple," said Todd Chas, SCDLR's vice president and project director for the petition drive. "We know that public opinion overwhelmingly supports the use of medical marijuana in cases where it has been prescribed by a licensed physician.
Our statewide petition drive will make it clear to our elected representatives that compassion and common sense dictate that it is time to stop punishing patients who suffer from debilitating illnesses. South Carolinians can raise their voices in support of an end to unnecessary suffering and unjust imprisonment by signing our online petition and spreading the word about our Compassionate Care initiative."
Chas said surveys show that more than 70 percent of all South Carolinians - 70 percent of all Americans, for that matter-- want doctors, not politicians, to decide whether their sick patients should have marijuana. (The South Carolina General Assembly and governor legally recognized the medicinal value of marijuana in 1979 when it passed the South Carolina Controlled Substances Act.)
Chas also said eleven states (none in the Southeast) already have adopted medical marijuana laws, and numerous national medical and other organizations have voiced their support.
States that already have medical marijuana laws on their books are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island,Vermont and Washington. Medical marijuana bills were also introduced recently in Michigan, Wisconsin, and New Mexico. National organizations that have endorsed access to marijuana include the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians American Bar Association, American Public health Association, National Association of Attorneys General, National Nurses Society on Addictions and the New England Journal of Medicine.
The online petition drive, dubbed Compassionate Care, is being sponsored by South Carolinians for Drug Law Reform, a nonprofit organization (501 [c] 4) with supporters across the state.
The petition can be found on the organization's web site -- http://www.scdruglawreform.org/
"The Compassionate Care initiative is simple," said Todd Chas, SCDLR's vice president and project director for the petition drive. "We know that public opinion overwhelmingly supports the use of medical marijuana in cases where it has been prescribed by a licensed physician.
Our statewide petition drive will make it clear to our elected representatives that compassion and common sense dictate that it is time to stop punishing patients who suffer from debilitating illnesses. South Carolinians can raise their voices in support of an end to unnecessary suffering and unjust imprisonment by signing our online petition and spreading the word about our Compassionate Care initiative."
Chas said surveys show that more than 70 percent of all South Carolinians - 70 percent of all Americans, for that matter-- want doctors, not politicians, to decide whether their sick patients should have marijuana. (The South Carolina General Assembly and governor legally recognized the medicinal value of marijuana in 1979 when it passed the South Carolina Controlled Substances Act.)
Chas also said eleven states (none in the Southeast) already have adopted medical marijuana laws, and numerous national medical and other organizations have voiced their support.
States that already have medical marijuana laws on their books are Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island,Vermont and Washington. Medical marijuana bills were also introduced recently in Michigan, Wisconsin, and New Mexico. National organizations that have endorsed access to marijuana include the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Family Physicians American Bar Association, American Public health Association, National Association of Attorneys General, National Nurses Society on Addictions and the New England Journal of Medicine.