MEDIA ADVISORY
Americans for Safe Access
For Immediate Release: April 10, 2009
Federal Position on Medical Marijuana Put Before Ninth Circuit Tuesday
Federal hearing is latest battle on whether policy is based on science or
politics
San Francisco, CA -- Medical marijuana advocates will get to argue before the
federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, April 14th, the right to
challenge an outdated position held by the federal government:
"marijuana has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the
United States." The national advocacy group Americans for Safe Access
(ASA) filed a lawsuit in February 2007 demanding that the federal government
cease issuing misinformation and correct its statements on medical marijuana.
"We welcome the Obama Administration's recently stated commitment to
making policy decisions based on science, not politics," said Joe
Elford, Chief Counsel with ASA. "This case is designed to ensure that
the federal government's policy on medical marijuana is not politically
motivated."
What: Oral arguments in a case before the Ninth Circuit that challenges the
government's position on medical marijuana
When: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 9:30am
Where: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Courtroom 4 at 95 Seventh Street, San
Francisco, CA
In order to challenge the government's position, advocates are using a
little-known law called the Data Quality Act (DQA). The DQA requires federal
agencies such as Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) to rely on sound science when disseminating information
to the public. One of the main issues in the case is whether citizens have a
right to challenge government information believed to be inaccurate or based
on faulty, unreliable data.
"The science to support medical marijuana is overwhelming," said
ASA Executive Director Steph Sherer. "It's time for the federal
government to acknowledge the efficacy of medical marijuana and stop holding
science hostage to politics." On March 9, 2009, President Obama issued a
memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies stating that,
"The public must be able to trust the science and scientific process
informing public policy decisions," and calling for "transparency
in the preparation, identification, and use of scientific and technological
information in policymaking."
The original DQA petition was filed in October of 2004, aimed at forcing the
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) -- the FDA's parent agency --
to correct statements about the medical value of marijuana. After more than
two years of delay by the federal government and a refusal to act on the
petition, a lawsuit was filed in February of 2007. Despite a rejection by the
federal district court in late 2007, Science Magazine published an editorial
that year claiming that HHS had "violated its own DQA guidelines."
Preeminent legal scholar Alan Morrison, who founded Public Citizen's
Litigation Group and who currently teaches at American University's
Washington College of Law, is co-counsel in the case and will be arguing
before the court on behalf ASA and patients across the country.
"Citizens have a right to expect the government to be transparent and to
use the best available information for policy decisions," said Morrison.
"Unfortunately, so far, the government has been anything but transparent
and has failed to produce any evidence for its policy statements on medical
marijuana." In April 2006, while ASA was awaiting a response to the
petition from HHS, the FDA issued a statement claiming that it conducted an
"inter-agency review" and had "concluded that no sound
scientific studies supported medical use of marijuana..." However, none
of the alleged scientific evidence used to reach that conclusion was ever
provided to ASA or the public.
Further information:
DQA Opening Appeal Brief: http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downl … _Brief.pdf
President Obama's memorandum on scientific integrity: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_off … es-3-9-09/
DQA Background info: http://www.safeaccessnow.org/DQA
04-10-2009, 02:02 PM