"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opposes a bill sponsored by Sen. Mark Madsen that would make Utah the 24th state to legalize medical marijuana, citing unintended consequences that could come with use of the drug."

http://www.sltrib.com/news/3505422-155/mormon-chur...

Clearly, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not take science into consideration when making policy and sending out the home teachers (a term used by Utah Congressmen/women when the church brings down the hammer in the political arena.)

"Tetrahydrocannabinol is a very safe drug. Laboratory animals (rats, mice, dogs, monkeys) can tolerate doses of up to 1,000 mg/kg (milligrams per kilogram). This would be equivalent to a 70 kg person swallowing 70 grams of the drug—about 5,000 times more than is required to produce a high. Despite the widespread illicit use of cannabis there are very few if any instances of people dying from an overdose. In Britain, official government statistics listed five deaths from cannabis in the period 1993-1995 but on closer examination these proved to have been deaths due to inhalation of vomit that could not be directly attributed to cannabis (House of Lords Report, 1998). By comparison with other commonly used recreational drugs these statistics are impressive."

Source: Iversen, Leslie L., PhD, FRS, "The Science of Marijuana" (London, England: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 178, citing House of Lords, Select Committee on Science and Technology, "Cannabis — The Scientific and Medical Evidence" (London, England: The Stationery Office, Parliament, 1998).

"The public health burden of cannabis use is probably modest compared with that of alcohol, tobacco, and other illicit drugs. A recent Australian study estimated that cannabis use caused 0·2% of total disease burden in Australia—a country with one of the highest reported rates of cannabis use. Cannabis accounted for 10% of the burden attributable to all illicit drugs (including heroin, cocaine, and amphetamines). It also accounted for around 10% of the proportion of disease burden attributed to alcohol (2·3%), but only 2·5% of that attributable to tobacco (7·8%)."

Source: Hall, Wayne and Degenhardt, Louise, "Adverse health effects of non-medical cannabis use," The Lancet (London, United Kingdom: October 17, 2009) Vol. 374, p. 1389.

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The men that run the LDS church claim to be inspired by God. If they are so inspired, how can they be so wrong on this topic?

I am a faithful member of the LDS church, but I have serious concerns about the uneducated stance the church is taking on this issue. I am concerned that they are becoming politically involved against something they should be seeing as God-given.

I ask you to sign this petition as encouragement for LDS church leadership to take a scientific look at cannabis and end their opposition to this valuable plant and it's many uses. This petition is not intended to threaten the church, but to open their eyes to how many church members support scientific research into the health benefit of this wholesome herb.

Please sign this petition. Not as an act of rebellion, but simply to support intelligent progress in access to cannabis.