| Americans for Safe Access today filed a lawsuit (PDF) in U.S. District Court demanding that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) correct what it calls the "scientifically inaccurate... incorrect, dishonest" statement that "marijuana has no accepted medical value."
The patient-advocate group brought the lawsuit under the Data Quality Act, which requires federal agencies to "rely on sound science," the group said in a release; members cited the 800,000 annual Marijuana-posession arrests, the eleven states that have legalized medical marijuana, and the dozen considering legalization, as signs that change is necessary. "We're asking courts to look at jurisdictional issues. We're trying to change what they say, not what they do," said ASA's Executive Director, a patient named in the lawsuit, at the press conference, on the plaza in front of the courthouse in Oakland, CA. |
(2005 Americans for Safe Access rally photo by ekai)
I discovered the ASA press conference in progress in front of the Federal Building in Oakland, CA while cutting through to run an errand, and I stayed to hear the stories and what reporters asked. This isn't "my issue", but I do have friends that have been affected, both legally and medically, by the Federal regulation of marijuana access.
Under a gray (but dry) sky, about a dozen ASA supporters spoke to several local radio, TV and print journalists, under the watchful eye of several private security agents nearby.
Unlike the 2005 rally pictured above, this one featured business-suited serious-looking people carrying preprinted signs reading "Stop Holding Science Hostage... Science = Medicine," providing a sober backdrop for the real-life stories of medical-marijuana patients who brought the suit, including one who moved from Missouri to California specifically to take advantage of the 1996 citizen initiative that triggered legalization of medical marijuana here.
The ASA release notes that today's action is based on the failure of the FDA's parent agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to respond to a 2004 petition... from ASA's press release:
"The science to support medical cannabis is overwhelming, yet the government continues to play politics with the lives of patients desperately in need of pain relief," said ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer. "Americans for Safe Access is filing this lawsuit on medical cannabis to demand that the FDA stop holding science hostage to politics."
Today's filing is the outcome of a more than two-year petition process and comes on the heels of a recent University of California, San Francisco study demonstrating the effectiveness of medical cannabis in treating pain in people living with HIV/AIDS.
ASA first filed a petition to force HHS – the FDA's parent agency - to correct statements about the medical value of cannabis in October 2004. Under the DQA, agencies must respond or file for an extension 60 days from the date of the first petition filing. The government response was a statement saying that it would not act on the petition, a position it has maintained despite ASA's May 2005 appeal. Using the DQA's judicial review provisions, the Oakland-based organization is now taking its cause to the courts.
"The final answer [ASA received from HHS] was 'we're not going to answer," Ms. Sherer said at the Oakland lawsuit-anouncement event. "States are looking to the Federal government for leadership."
Having actual patients present at the event made the issue very real, and made it clear that this isn't just a tactical move by universal marijuana legalization proponents. "We're asking the courts to help us. We cannot have a sane conversation when one side is putting out misinformation," ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer, a patient herself, said at the late-morning rally.
Jacqueline Patterson, a 28-year-old cerebral palsy patient named in the DQA suit, said she saw dramatic improvements in her condition after experimenting with medical marijuana. "It's the most effective treatment," the mother of four said, noting that FDA misinformation was a factor in delaying the time it took her to experience the benefits. "My family and I had been taught the same 'addictive narcotic' story," and we didn't see it as an option."
The organization has been working on this issue for quite some time:
ASA is the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research. ASA works to overcome political and legal barriers by creating policies that improve access to medical cannabis for patients and researchers through legislation, education, litigation, grassroots actions, advocacy and services for patients and the caregivers. ASA has over 30,000 active members with chapters and affiliates in more than 40 states.
Earlier marijuana-related federal lawsuits challenged the DEA 'scheduling' of marijuana, in terms of the degree of enforcement and associated penalties, but this suit challenges the scientific, not policy communications by the government. "We would be very interested in debating the factual record in a courtroom," ASA's chief counsel Joe Elford said.
The story has made national news already, with an AP story widely carried on many TV station and newspaper websites in the past four hours.
There have been several recent dKos diaries on disability issues and rights. This seems like something that ties into that: what is the right of our government to (allegedly) lie to us about the science and medicine of cures? Are lawsuits an effective means of bringing about reform? Is it all Hillary's fault? Comment away -- bonus recs for comments at the right timestamp.