The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, USA (PCUSA) voted Wednesday to support access to medical marijuana for people who have a doctor's recommendation.

The resolution was passed at the PCUSA's 217th General Assembly meeting in Birmingham, Alabama. DPA-affiliated Alabama Compassionate Care Campaign members, who include a Presbyterian minister, worked with the Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative to bring the message of compassion for seriously ill people to the General Assembly members for a full vote. The resolution was passed by consensus.

The Homestead Presbytery in Nebraska, who introduced the resolution, said, "When we see the suffering of others, we are called to stand up and take a look."

"Medical marijuana is an issue of mercy," said Rev. Lynn Bledsoe, a Presbyterian minister from Alabama who works as a hospice chaplain.  "As people of faith, we are called to stand up for humans who are suffering needlessly.  It is unconscionable that seriously ill patients can be arrested for making an earnest attempt at healing by using medical marijuana with their doctors' approval."

The resolution affirms "the use of cannabis sativa or marijuana for legitimate medical purposes as recommended by a physician," and calls for "federal legislation that allows for its use and that provides for the production and distribution of the plant for those purposes."

The Presbyterian Church, USA, is the seventh major denomination to take a position in support of medical marijuana. The others are the United Methodist Church, Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ, Union for Reform Judaism, Progressive National Baptist Convention and Unitarian Universalist Association. No denomination has come out officially against medical marijuana.