Nothing is worse than seeing someone close to you suffer. The exception is when the medicine they are prescribed does not work, and the only alternative is illegal to possess. Such is the case with marijuana - it has proven effective in treating symptoms of many ailments, and research continues to show its safety and efficacy for a number of serious diseases. To learn more about medical marijuana, it's history, and other research, visit our Medical Marijuana section website.

Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana is a coalition of groups, including PhillyNORML, and their goal is to introduce a bill into the State House of Representatives and the State Senate, and lobby until it gets passed and signed by the Governor. We are working with the Pittsburgh NORML and other reform activists and local organizations throughout the state to get this passed.

Our bill is the Governor Raymond Shafer Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. The Senate version of this bill, SB1003, has been introduced and has been assigned to the Public Health and Welfare committee. The House version of this bill, HB1653, has been introduced and assigned to the Health committee.

Last session, these bills saw two hearings in the House Health and Human Services Committee, but no vote. Testimony in favor of the bill was given by physicians, law enforcement, patients, nurses, advocates, religious leaders, and veterans. Video of the testimony can be viewed online at http://www.youtube.com/pa4mmj, and transcripts can be viewed at http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/tr/transcripts/2009_0209T.pdf (12/2/2009) and http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/tr/transcripts/2010_0131T.pdf (8/19/2010).

Our main goals for the Compassionate Use Act are:

• Qualifying patients cannot get arrested for possession or personal cultivation
• The state will regulate - but not control - larger scale cultivation and sales
• Patients and caregivers will have cards identifying them as such
• Doctors can not lose their license for recommending cannabis in a valid doctor-patient relationship
• A comprehensive list of ailments for which smoked, vaporized, or orally consumed cannabis or cannabis extract (hashish or hash oil) is found to be beneficial to the patient by either curing or easing symptoms
• A procedure for adding ailments and diseases to that list

We need volunteers for this campaign to help lobby legislators. Visit our volunteer sign-up page here.

Discuss this bill on our forums.

Lawmakers for the first time have introduced legislation in Congress that seeks to end the federal criminalization of the personal use of marijuana.

HR 2306, entitled the 'Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011,' prohibits the federal government from prosecuting adults who use or possess marijuana by removing the plant and its primary psychoactive constituent, THC, from the five schedules of the United States Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Completely removing it.

Under present law, all varieties of the marijuana plant are defined as illicit Schedule I controlled substances, defined as possessing 'a high potential for abuse,' and 'no currently accepted medical use in treatment.'

The 'Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act' seeks to federally deregulate the personal possession and use of marijuana by adults. HR 2306 marks the first time that members of Congress have introduced legislation to totally eliminate the federal criminalization of marijuana since the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937.

Language in this Act mimics changes enacted by Congress to repeal the federal prohibition of alcohol. Passage of this measure would remove the existing conflict between federal law and the laws of states which have passed their own reform laws. It would allow state governments that wish to fully legalize and regulate the responsible use, possession, and production of marijuana for all adults to be free to do so without federal interference.