To: The United States Senate
Senator Reid, listen to the people!
Nevada passed a medical cannabis Nevada Constitutional amendment in 2000, and almost fourteen years later, Nevadans still live in fear of heavy handed governmental intervention in our federal Constitutionally protected rights for states to manage health care issues without Washington's intervention. Our state, along with over 20 others has occupied the field in this area of law yet these protected rights are regularly trampled by the DOJ and its DEA attack dogs. You, Senator Reid, or members of the United States Senate, can introduce legislation to reschedule cannabis out of schedule I, where a growing chorus of experts emphatically state that it does not belong. According to Dr. Sanjay Gupta in an article published on March 6, "Even the head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Dr. Nora Volkow, seems to have softened her stance; she told me she believes we need to loosen restrictions for researchers."
We urge our representatives in the Senate to introduce legislation that will either remove cannabis from federal scheduling as it is demonstrably non-toxic and non-addictive, or at the very least reschedule somewhere between schedule III and V, where many medical and scientific professionals feel it would be more appropriate to allow expanded research. If you believe that introduction of this legislation is meaningless because you do not think it will pass in the House of Representatives, we ask that the Senate draft a resolution to President Obama requesting that he use his presidential authority to reschedule cannabis by executive order.
We urge our representatives in the Senate to introduce legislation that will either remove cannabis from federal scheduling as it is demonstrably non-toxic and non-addictive, or at the very least reschedule somewhere between schedule III and V, where many medical and scientific professionals feel it would be more appropriate to allow expanded research. If you believe that introduction of this legislation is meaningless because you do not think it will pass in the House of Representatives, we ask that the Senate draft a resolution to President Obama requesting that he use his presidential authority to reschedule cannabis by executive order.
Why is this important?
To provide many people, like my sister who is now battling breast cancer for a second time, the legal means to obtain medication that would allow her to eat and become healthy enough to battle this disease without throwing up after every meal while removing the fear of losing their jobs causing them to be without health care and benefits while they fight to recover.