Chicago, IL: The Illinois Nursing Association (INA) supports the use of medical marijuana by qualified patients, and is calling upon Congress to reclassify cannabis so that doctors may prescribe it, according to a resolution passed unanimously by the organization earlier this month.
“It is the position of the Illinois Nurses Association to: Support the right of patients to have safe access to therapeutic cannabis under appropriate prescriber supervision; … [to] support legislation to remove criminal penalties including arrest and imprisonment for bonafide patients and prescribers of therapeutic cannabis; [and to] support federal and state legislation to include cannabis classification as a Schedule III [non-prohibited] drug,” the INA resolution states.
The INA is the thirteenth statewide nursing organization to endorse the legalization of medicinal cannabis for authorized patients. The American Nursing Association (ANA), which represents some 2.7 million Registered Nurses nationwide, overwhelmingly approved a similar resolution in favor of the therapeutic use of cannabis in 2003.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of the NORML Foundation at (202) 483-5500. Full text of the INA’s position paper: “Providing Patients Access to Therapeutic Marijuana/Cannabis” is available online at: http://www.illinoisnurses.org