In the lawsuit filed in the Federal District Court, against the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration, the group, Americans for Safe Access, contends that the federal regulators have publicly issued false and misleading statements about the medical help of marijuana, and urges the court to order a retract.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Oakland, comes a week after the release of a controlled, clinical University of California, San Francisco, study showing that HIV patients who smoked marijuana found relief from chronic foot pain.
"We are asking the courts to weigh in on the science ... and force the government to stop making false statements about medical cannabis," said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access.
ASA is the largest national member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens promoting safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic use and research.
So far, only 11 states allow patients to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation, even though the federal government has not approved its legality or benefits.
Although the court has not reached a verdict on the case, it stated in a footnote that "it acknowledges that evidence proffered by respondents in this case regarding the effective medical uses for marijuana, if found credible after trial, would cast serious doubt on the accuracy of the findings that require marijuana to be listed."
