| Seattle Weekly |
| Washington Governor Christine Gregoire: “Has anybody died from marijuana?” |
Washington Governor Christine Gregoire and Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee have asked the federal government to reclassify marijuana as a drug that can be prescribed by doctors and filled by pharmacists, in a move that would require the federal Food and Drug Administration to conduct new studies.
The move by the governors gives new political muscle to the debate on the legal and medicinal status of marijuana, which has been raging across an American cultural divide for decades, reports Michael Cooper at The New York Times.
“The divergence in state and federal law creates a situation where there is no regulated and safe system to supply legitimate patients who may need medical cannabis,” the governors wrote on Wednesay to Michele M. Leonhart, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
“In the year 2011, why can’t medical cannabis be prescribed by a physician and filled at the drug store just like any other medication?” Gregoire said on Wednesday, reports Vanessa Ho at SeattlePI.com.