Alabama Action ALERT!!!

Medical marijuana bill introduced: time to protect Alabama’s seriously ill

Karen O’Keefe, MPP legislative analyst; April 5, 2005

Last week, Rep. Laura Hall (D-Huntsville) introduced H.B. 703, which would remove criminal penalties for the medical use of marijuana, with a doctor’s advice. But for this legislation to have a chance, your legislators need to hear from you. Please Take Action now.

If H.B. 703 passes, it would protect patients like Laura Campbell, who endures the crippling pain from arthritis and fibromyalgia. Recognizing that marijuana alleviates Campbell’s symptoms, drug dealers give her husband discounts on her medicine. But Alabama makes no such recognition and brands her a criminal.

After you choose your favorite pre-written letter and type in your address, our site will automatically e-mail your letter to your legislators … all with the click of a few buttons. The whole process takes less than two minutes, but it makes a world of difference. Also, you can print the letters and send them to your legislators through regular mail.

Or, if you prefer to call your legislators, you can click here to find their names and numbers. Click here to get talking points, or here to get more background information on medical marijuana.

Legislators truly do listen to their constituents. At least one Alabama legislator has already signed on as a cosponsor after a constituent reached out. So please Take Action now.

H.B. 703 has already gotten a flurry of press, focusing mostly on Laura Campbell’s tragic situation. Click here to read some of it. You can visit Alabamians for Caring Use’s Web site [thanks for the plug, Karen] to learn more about the local effort to pass the legislation. You can click here to read the bill itself.

Please pass this alert on to everyone you know in Alabama. With your help, this could be the last year that Alabama criminalizes MS, cancer, and AIDS patients for relieving their suffering.