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Marijuana Policy Project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 3, 2003
3:23 PM
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CONTACT: Marijuana Policy Project
Bruce Mirken, 202-462-5747 x113
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Medical Marijuana Becomes Presidential Campaign Issue Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana Begins Organizing in New Hampshire
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| MANCHESTER, NH
- June 3 - With the medical marijuana issue already drawing attention on the presidential campaign trail, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) has joined with New Hampshire residents in an unprecedented effort to press the candidates to take a stand on behalf of patients.
Headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire, site of the nation's first presidential primary, MPP-supported Granite Staters for Medical Marijuana (GSMM) has already begun organizing medical marijuana patients
and supporters. "We are currently hosting a series of town hall meetings
around New Hampshire," said GSMM Campaign Coordinator Aaron Houston. "These meetings are energizing patients and activists and offering information about how to confront the presidential candidates with medical marijuana questions."
The Bush administration has conducted an all-out war on medical marijuana patients, arresting seriously ill people using marijuana legally under the laws of eight states to treat the symptoms of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other serious illnesses, along with those patients' caregivers. The raids have sparked national outrage and sharply critical editorials in The New York Times, Baltimore's The Sun, and other newspapers.
Most of the Democratic field has not taken a clear position on the issue. This week, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio became the first Democratic candidate to stand up for patients, telling the San Francisco
Chronicle on May 29 that he supports legal access to medical marijuana "without reservation. ... I have known people who have had cancer and who have been in horrible pain. Anything that can alleviate their suffering should be available." In the same article, U.S. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina indicated that he accepted the Bush administration's policy of arresting patients and caregivers.
Vermont Gov. Howard Dean killed a medical marijuana bill that was on the verge of passage in 2002, ignoring pleas from the medical community,
AIDS patient groups, and others. U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut co-sponsored a Senate anti-medical marijuana resolution in 1998.
GSMM's Web site -- http://www.GraniteStaters.com -- includes a variety of resources for voters concerned about medical marijuana, including a Voter Guide with details about the candidates' actions and statements to date, as well as information about how to contact the various campaigns.
GSMM will be holding town meetings this week in the Manchester and Nashua areas. For information, call Aaron Houston at 603-669-2962, or e-mail aaron@granitestaters.com.
With 12,000 members nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP works to minimize the harm associated with marijuana -- both the consumption of marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such
use. MPP believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is imprisonment. To this end, MPP focuses on removing criminal penalties for marijuana use, with a particular emphasis on making marijuana medically available to seriously ill people who have the approval of their doctors.
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