With the eyes of the world turning to Massachusetts, site of next week's Democratic Convention, a coalition of state university researchers has launched two lawsuits against the federal government (read the suits here and here), claiming the feds are stymieing medical-marijuana research in the state. The lawsuits specifically target the Drug Enforcement Administration, HHS, NIDA and the National Institutes of Health.

"There is an urgent need for an alternative supply of marijuana for medical research," Lyle Craker, director of the Medicinal Plant Program at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, the main force behind the lawsuits, told the Associated Press.

Craker's co-plaintiffs are Rick Doblin, president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, and Valerie Corral, co-founder of the Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana in Santa Cruz, CA.

The Drug Policy Alliance has strongly supported the right of the UMass researchers to conduct their research. More than 3,600 faxes have been sent to the drug czar's office through the Alliance website since we launched a campaign to support the research last August. If you want to add your voice to those supporting the right to conduct medical-marijuana research, click here to send a free fax to drug czar John Walters.