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Call
your state legislators
Find out who your state legislators are and send a letter
to them
Visit
your legislator's office and voice your opinions in person
Write a letter to the editor
More ideas on how to get involved
We cannot expect our legislators to vote the way we want them to unless we tell them what we want!
E-mail
your NY State Senate and Assembly members
Please
click here to E-Mail letters to your
state legislators. Pre-written letters are available and editable
here. Sign up there for action alerts that will help get the message to
lawmakers at key times. Tell them that it is about time New York joins
the 12 other states that have approved marijuana for medical use. Tell
them that you support A.8265 and S.5040, which would allow
the medical use of marijuana, and that they should co-sponsor the bill.
You can follow up with a phone call.
Call your NY State Senate and Assembly members
Find out who your assembly and your senate representative is by zip code which will take you to a page with all of their info. Call their office and ask to make a comment.
Write a letter to your NY State Senate and Assembly members
Below
are some model medical marijuana letters. It is a good idea to print
them on official or personal stationary if available. Feel free to insert
personal stories or other reasons for support as appropriate. Be polite
and to-the-point.
To
determine who your state assembly and state senate representatives are,
click here and
then enter your address. Please note that these are not
for your U.S. Senators Clinton and Schumer.
Senator ____________________________
Room _____ Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY12247
Dear Senator _______________________,
I am writing to express
my support for making marijuana legally available to
seriously ill patients in New York. As you may know, marijuana has proven
medical benefits for the treatment of a host of illnesses. Persons with
HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and cancer are among those who most commonly
use marijuana to treat their illness. These patients use marijuana to
treat the symptoms of their disease—such as pain, wasting syndrome
or spasticity-- but unfortunately risk arrest in doing so.
The efficacy of marijuana for medical purposes was documented in a 1999
report from the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy
of Sciences. In their report, marijuana was found to be of use to certain
classes of patients—including those outlined above—especially
when traditional therapies had proven ineffective, and at terminal stages
of their illness. The Institute also found that using marijuana for medicinal
purposes is no different than using cocaine, morphine or methamphetamines
to treat illness, all of which may be legally prescribed--even though
they are considered more harmful and more addictive.
Providing seriously ill New Yorkers with a legal avenue to marijuana to
treat their illness is a strategy that is supported by common sense and
science. I urge your support for this important legislation, and would
appreciate learning your perspective on the issue. Thank you for your
time and careful consideration.
Sincerely,
Sign & print your name
Include the address where you are registered to vote.
Assemblymember _________________________
Room ______ Legislative Office Building
Albany, NY 12248
Dear Assemblymember ___________________,
I am writing to express my support for making marijuana legally available to seriously ill patients in New York. As you may know, marijuana has proven medical benefits for the treatment of a host of illnesses. Persons with HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and cancer are among those who most commonly use marijuana to treat their illness. These patients use marijuana to treat the symptoms of their disease—such as pain, wasting syndrome or spasticity-- but unfortunately risk arrest in doing so.
The efficacy of marijuana for medical purposes was documented in a 1999 report from the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences. In their report, marijuana was found to be of use to certain classes of patients—including those outlined above—especially when traditional therapies had proven ineffective, and at terminal stages of their illness. The Institute also found that using marijuana for medicinal purposes is no different than using cocaine, morphine or methamphetamines to treat illness, all of which may be legally prescribed--even though they are considered more harmful and more addictive.
Providing seriously
ill New Yorkers with a legal avenue to marijuana to treat their illness
is a strategy that is supported by common sense and science. I urge your
support for this important legislation, and would appreciate learning
your perspective on the issue. Thank you for your time and careful consideration.
Sincerely,
Sign & print your name
Include the address where you are registered to vote.
Visit your legislator's office and voice your opinions in person
Paying a visit to your legislator's office and following up with phone calls is an excellent way to make an impression on lawmakers. Usually you will get a meeting with a staff person. They are there to communicate your thoughts to the legislator.
Below
is an example of a letter to a local and/or regional newspaper
(edit as needed for space requirements and personnal touch)
For
help with a letter to the editor click here
Dear Editor,
I am writing to express
my support for making marijuana legally available
to seriously ill patients in New York. Marijuana has proven medical benefits
for the treatment of a host of illnesses. Persons with HIV/AIDS, multiple
sclerosis, and cancer are among those who most commonly use marijuana
to treat their illness. These patients use marijuana to treat the symptoms
of their disease—such as pain, wasting
syndrome or spasticity-- but unfortunately risk arrest in doing so.
The efficacy of marijuana for medical purposes was documented in a 1999
report from the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy
of Sciences. In their report, marijuana was found to be of use to certain
classes of patients—including those outlined above—especially
when traditional therapies had proven ineffective, and at terminal stages
of their illness. The Institute also found that using marijuana for medicinal
purposes is no different than using any other prescription drug. Indeed
doctors can prescribe cocaine, morphine or methamphetamines to treat illness,
but not marijuana.
Providing seriously ill New Yorkers medical marijuana to treat their illness
is a strategy that is supported by common sense and science. It also supported
by the New York State Nurses Association, the New York State Association
of County Health Officials, and publicly by over 1,100 New York doctors.
I urge you to support this important legislation.
Please contact your local senator and assembly members today, and ask
them to put patients' needs before politics. Information on how to contact
them as well as other info is available at
www.nycompassionatecare.org
You can request to appear anonymous in print but most newspapers will want to verify who you are by phone before printing your comments.
What
Can I Do? Great Question! Become Part
of The Solution.
• Write to your representatives if you are
a NY resident
• Contact the press! Write Letters to the Editor, e-mail TV shows,
call in to radio talk shows.
•
Join our coalition; get other people/organizations
to join
•
Collecting signatures to lobby lawmakers
•
Distrubute flyers in your community
•
Send a donation to NYCC
•
Make sure your voter registration is
up to date.
•
Hold A Community Fourm or Teach-In
•
Attend A Hearing locally or in Albany
•
Set up an information table in your community
•
Organize a Fund Drive, Concert or Rally
•
Tell Us What You Can Do To Help
Change The Medical Marijuana Laws in New York!
Contact us if you need help with any of the above! We're happy to be of assistance.