Hawaii U.S. Attorney distorts medical marijuana law and threatens doctors

On June 6, Hawaii U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo declared the state's medical marijuana program dead in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Gonzalez v. Raich. He also threatened to begin investigating doctors who recommend marijuana to patients. Besides this being a despicable attempt by Kubo to leverage the Raich decision to intimidate doctors and patients, Kubo is dead wrong on the law.

We need you to write a letter-to-the-editor to spread the truth of what the Raich decision does and doesn't do. Just use our automated system, which will allow you to easily draft a letter and quickly send it to your local papers.

The Raich decision does nothing more than uphold the status quo. The federal government could always prosecute medical marijuana patients under federal law. But because 99% of marijuana arrests are made by state and local authorities, the state law remains highly effective … and is far from dead.

Kubo knows this, but he also knows he can play on the fears of those who suffer and are in need. We can stop him by exposing his misrepresentations.

Kubo's threat to pursue doctors is equally as toothless as his claim about the state law's effectiveness. The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Walters v. Conant that doctors have a clearly defined constitutional right under the First Amendment to recommend and discuss medical marijuana with patients. This is the law of the land in Hawaii, not Kubo's off-the-cuff statements.

Help clear up the misconceptions that have surfaced in the wake of the Raich decision. Let patients and medical marijuana advocates in Hawaii know where they stand. The opponents of medical marijuana want to use this opportunity to seed fear and doubts in the minds of patients, doctors, and the public. With your help, we can stop them.