Crucial medical marijuana vote next week in Rhode Island'act today

This coming week will be a decisive one for medical marijuana patients in Rhode Island: On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on S.B. 710, which would protect medical marijuana patients from arrest in Rhode Island. This will be the first vote on medical marijuana in the state in recent memory.

But legislators are hearing from people who claim that marijuana has no medical value and that they shouldn't pass this legislation. We need you to act now. Contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee today. Tell them that Rhode Islanders support protecting the state's seriously ill residents from arrest. Unfortunately, we have a small e-mail list in Rhode Island, and we had a low response rate to our last request to contact state legislators.

So, it is essential that you write to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who will vote on this legislation next week. Legislators truly do listen to their constituents. According to former U.S. Congressman Billy Evans (D-GA), "Legislators estimate that 10 letters from constituents represent the concerns of 10,000 citizens. Anybody who will take the time to write is voicing the fears and desires of thousands more."

Please, let committee members know that it makes no sense to criminalize the sick and dying for using an effective medicine. After you've written your legislators, we need you to write your friends, your colleagues, your family members, and anyone else you know. Please, ask them to use our automated system to write committee members. Let them know that their letters could help tip the scales, so that patients do not have to face arrest while battling their diseases.

You can also e-mail karen@mpp.org to find out what else you can do in these crucial next few weeks.

Especially at this time, legislators are paying careful attention to what is being said about this issue. Please be one of the voices they hear.