An international consortium of medical cannabis organisations are demanding that humans, regardless of state or allegiance and without qualification, be able to use cannabis therapeutically. In a joint declaration, the organisations from Europe and North America refer to Article 3 of the Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948. The declaration is the beginning of a worldwide campaign on the use of cannabis for therapeutic purposes.
The declaration was published in six languages on a dedicated Web site (www.medical-cannabis-declaration.org), and it states: “Every medical doctor has the rightto treat his or her patients with cannabinoids and cannabis products according to the rules of good medical care” and “every patient has the right to access cannabis and cannabinoids for medical treatment supervised by a medical doctor, regardless of social status, standard of living or financial means.”
“The declaration is based on overwhelming scientific evidence. It takes a strong stance against the prejudices and untruthfulness of lawmakers, other political players and ‘experts’ with limited medical knowledge on the issue,” says Franjo Grotenhermen, MD, Executive Director of the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (Germany).
It is the aim of the declaration to generate worldwide support and allow organizations around the globe to adopt a more definitive position. “The joint declaration and related Web site form the nucleus of a worldwide movement regarding the human right to use cannabis for therapeutic purposes,” adds Al Byrne of Patients Out of Time (USA). The declaration is the product of knowledgeable experts from multiple countries who are working to challenge anti-cannabis forces.
Cannabis has established medical use throughout the world’s history and, coupled with the recent discovery of the role of the endogenous cannabinoid system in the human body, must be made available to all citizens of all countries. The creators of the declaration designed it to encourage and allow both organizations and individuals to join them by signing the document in support of the common goal to create a worldwide campaign to end the wrongful prohibition of therapeutic cannabis. Many scientists, doctors and other experts in the field have already offered their support by adding their signatures.
The initial signatories of the declaration are listed below. Please join us in demanding an end to medical cannabis prohibition and the inclusion of therapeutic cannabis in the national Pharmacopoeia of every country on earth:
- American Cannabis Nurses Association (ACNA), USA
- Americans for Safe Access (ASA), USA
- Arbeitsgemeinschaft Cannabis als Medizin (ACM), Germany
- Associazione per la Cannabis Terapeutica (ACT), Italy
- International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines (IACM), International
- Norsk Forening for Cannabinoidmedisin (NFCM), Norway
- Patients Out of Time (POT), USA
- Schweizer Arbeitsgruppe für Cannabinoide in der Medizin (SACM), Switzerland
- Selbsthilfenetzwerk Cannabis Medizin (SCM), Germany
- Society of Cannabis Clinicians (SCC), USA
- Union Francophone pour les Cannabinoïdes en Médecine (UFCM), France and Luxembourg
Not everyone can pay for the news. But if you can, we need your support.
Truthout is widely read among people with lower incomes and among young people who are mired in debt. Our site is read at public libraries, among people without internet access of their own. People print out our articles and send them to family members in prison — we receive letters from behind bars regularly thanking us for our coverage. Our stories are emailed and shared around communities, sparking grassroots mobilization.
We’re committed to keeping all Truthout articles free and available to the public. But in order to do that, we need those who can afford to contribute to our work to do so — especially now, because we have just 4 days left to raise $36,000 in critical funds.
We’ll never require you to give, but we can ask you from the bottom of our hearts: Will you donate what you can, so we can continue providing journalism in the service of justice and truth?