A new statement recently signed by the United Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, the Progressive National Baptist Convention, Union for Reform Judaism, and the Unitarian Universalist Association, reads in its entirety: "Licensed medical doctors should not be punished for recommending the medical use of marijuana to seriously ill people, and seriously ill people should not be subject to criminal sanctions for using marijuana if the patient's physician has told the patient that such use is likely to be beneficial."
These denominations based their decision on past resolutions, including a recent resolution (#73) passed in 2004 by the United Methodist Church General Conference recognizing that marijuana has medical value.

Other denominations' positions follow:

Episcopal Church - In 1982 they passed a resolution in support of prescriptive access (67th Convention of the Episcopal Church (B-004a).

The statement says that "the Episcopal Church urges the adoption by Congress and all states of statutes providing that the use of marijuana be permitted when deemed medically appropriate by duly licensed medical practitioners."

United Church of Christ - Ministry for Criminal Justice & Human Rights signed on to a Coalition for Compassionate Access statement in 2002 stating "we believe that seriously ill people should not be subject to arrest and imprisonment for using medical marijuana with their doctors' approval."Unitarian Universalist Association - In their 2002 Statement of Conscience, the UUA made the following statement: "End the practice of punishing an individual for obtaining, possessing, or using an otherwise illegal substance to treat a medical condition."

Union for Reform Judaism - 67th General Assembly, November 2003.

RESOLVED TO:

1. Urge elected officials in the United States to support

federal legislation and regulation to allow the medicinal use of marijuana for patients with intractable pain and other conditions, under medical supervision;

2. Urge the Food and Drug Administration to expand the scope of

allowable Investigational New Drug applications in order to move research forward more quickly toward an approved product;

3. Call for further medical research on marijuana and its

constituent compounds with the goal of developing reliable and safe cannabinoid drugs for management of debilitating conditions; and

4. Call upon congregations to advocate for the necessary changes

in local, state and federal law to permit the medicinal use of marijuana and ensure its accessibility for that purpose.

National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Presbyterian Church (USA); Progressive Jewish Alliance; Religious Society of Friends (Philadelphia Yearly Meeting) - all signed the 2002 "8 Steps to Effectively Controlling Drug Abuse and the Drug Market" statement, which includes the following: "Respect State's Rights and Allow New Approaches to Be Tried: The federal government should work with states that have voted 14 times for reform measures over the last 3 election cycles. Reforms have included treatment instead of prison, medical use of marijuana, marijuana decriminalization, and stopping abuse of forfeiture laws. The federal government has opposed many of these reforms and taken steps to block them from being implemented. But, the states are laboratories for new approaches that should be tried and, if effective, duplicated in other parts of the United States."

(The March 2002 "8 Steps" statement was also signed by the UUA and the United Church of Christ.)
 

Religious Leadership for Compassionate Reform

“Every Day of Worship, we remind ourselves and our congregations of our covenant with God, and that the covenant includes all of God's peoples.  Through our sermons, we emphasize our religious and moral obligations to God's covenant people in need, and how we are to act for their well-being.  Sometimes God's action through us requires public and political acts.

 “We are supporters of the Arkansas Alliance for Medical Marijuana and its campaign for the people of Arkansas who face special medical needs. We believe that support of this reform is an important religious and moral act. Please join us in this compassionate effort. 

Rev. Leslie Belden
Rev. Belden received a Masters of Divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Seminary, where she worked as an intern at the Presbyterian General Assembly in Evangelism and Church Development. She has served in her Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry, the Synod’s Higher Education Ministry, and as Vice Moderator of the General Assembly’s Human Sexuality Committee in 1991. Rev. Belden is the former Associate Pastor of the First United Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville and is currently completing work on her Doctorate of Ministry. She is a member of the League of Women Voters, serves on the Advisory Board of the School of Architecture, and is the President of Fayetteville’s Ministerial Association. 

Rev. Dr. Raymond (Bud) Hearn

Rev. Hearn received his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry Degree from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, a Bachelor Arts Degree from Upsala College and Master of Arts from Montclair Teachers College. Before retirement his career included teaching and administration at the secondary school level; faculty and department chair at the University of Wyoming School of Religion; adjunct instructor at Dubuque Theological Seminary and University of Maryland. His ministerial work within the Presbyterian Church, USA included serving churches in Iowa, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and Texas. He has authored two book on prayer and meditation. 

 Dr. J. Mac McPherson

Dr. McPherson received his Masters in Theology and Doctor of Ministry at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University where he also served as Adjunct Professor. Before retirement with his wife to Hot Springs Village, Dr. McPherson’s ministry within the United Methodist Church served many congregations; he was also involved in civic and church projects with the homeless, prison system, substance abuse, medical ethics, and pastoral counseling. He currently volunteers as a court appointed special advocate for Garland County Juvenile Court. 

Religious leadership for compassionate reform is in its early stages in Arkansas. If you are a religious leader and wish to add your name to this statement of support, please contact the Alliance.