Political Quotes

“As a veteran and a physician and someone who has treated veterans, I appreciate the sacrifice our men and women in uniform have made and our duty to give them the best possible care. That means care based on real science, not promise, not hope, not conjecture, not politics, not as part of an agenda, but real science. The chairman says we should wait for good science and we should wait to hear from the experts. We don't need to wait. We have heard. Dr. Nora Volkow, the head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the NIH, says medical marijuana, in the current state of medical knowledge, is not a good idea. There just isn't very good science behind what it works for and what it doesn't; so I agree, when good science is in hand, let's give doctors carte blanche to discuss that. That science isn't available. Worse than that, Mr. Chairman, this bill does nothing to advance the knowledge of science on this issue because it doesn't say we are going to sign veterans up for research so they can help other veterans answer the question of whether or not it helps. It doesn't do anything like that. It doesn't make it easier for them to enlist in research protocols to address the scientific questions. Now, the chairman of the subcommittee asked, Well, we should hear from the FDA; we should hear from DEA. We hear from all of them. They say medical marijuana is not scientifically based at this time.…”