Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2004
Subject: #292 Tell Congress To Protect Medical Marijuana Patients!
TELL CONGRESS TO PROTECT MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS!
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DrugSense FOCUS Alert #292 Thursday, 1 July 2004
Next week, possibly as early as July 6th, there will be a historic
vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. Below are the action alerts
of leading organizations. Please act!
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URGENT: Protect Medical Marijuana Patients
The Ashcroft Justice Department continues to spend millions of dollars
arresting cancer, AIDS, and MS patients who use medical marijuana –
even in states where it is legal. Next week, Congress will vote on an
amendment that would stop Ashcroft’s war on medical marijuana
patients. We need you to fax your U.S. Representative today and urge
them to support the amendment.
ACTIONS TO TAKE
1) Fax your Representative:
http://actioncenter.drugpolicy.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=19658&ms=hincheygeneral
2) Forward this alert to your friends and family.
MORE INFO
Responding to growing conflict between the states and the federal
government over the issue of medical marijuana, Rep. Hinchey (D-NY)
and Rep. Rohrabacher (R-CA) will again offer an amendment to the
Commerce-Jusitce-State spending bill that would prevent the U.S.
Justice Department from undermining state efforts to provide
terminally ill and chronic pain patients access to doctor-recommended
medical marijuana. The amendment would prohibit the Justice Department
from spending any money on arresting or prosecuting medical marijuana
patients in states where medical marijuana is legal. 152 members of
Congress voted for a similar amendment last year.
Since 1996, 11 states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii,
Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington) have adopted
medical marijuana laws. The U.S. Justice Department, however,
continues to spend millions of dollars arresting medical marijuana
patients and their caregivers – even in states where medical marijuana
is legal. At a time when violent drug cartels remain at large and
threats of terrorism continue to emerge, it is irresponsible for the
Justice Department to jeopardize public safety by wasting scarce law
enforcement resources conducting raids on hospice centers and medical
marijuana patients.
The Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment would not prevent
the Justice Department from arresting people using, growing, or
selling marijuana for recreational use. Nor would it prevent the
Justice Department from arresting medical marijuana patients in the
states that have not approved the drug for this use. It simply
prevents the federal government from arresting cancer, AIDS and MS
patients that use marijuana for medical reasons in states that have
adopted medical marijuana laws.
Substantial majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents
support medical marijuana. A 2001 Pew Research Center poll found that
73% of Americans support medical marijuana. A 2002 Time/CNN poll found
that 80% of Americans support it. The Institute of Medicine has
determined that nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety “all can be
mitigated by marijuana.” Allowing cancer, AIDS, and MS patients legal
access to medical marijuana is supported by the American Nurses
Association, American Public Health Association, American Bar
Association, the Whitman-Walker Clinic, and Kaiser Permanente, among
other groups.
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Tell Congress to Protect Medical Marijuana Patients!
The time to contact your US Representative is now!
Visit
http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?list=type&type=69
to send a letter telling Congress to Vote Yes to Protect Medical
Marijuana Patients.
Next week the U.S. House of Representatives will again consider the
Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment, which would stop the federal
prosecution of medical marijuana patients in states that have passed
laws protecting them. Even if you have already contacted your member
regarding this vote, please do so one more time.
Last year the amendment got 152 votes of support. By contacting your
representative today to ask for their support, you may help get the
remaining votes this important bill needs.
Congress knows this is important. The debate last year was emotional
and personal. And with Vermont just passing a medical marijuana law
and several other states considering it, the stakes for Congress are
getting higher.
Take a minute to send a letter. We have a pre-written letter you can
send, or you can revise it as you wish. Your representative is in
Congress to serve you, and your vote matters to them.
Hilary McQuie Campaign Director Americans for Safe
Access
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Protect Medical Marijuana Patients
The Ashcroft Justice Department continues to spend millions of dollars
arresting cancer, AIDS, and MS patients who use medical marijuana –
even in states where it is legal. Next week, Congress will vote on an
amendment that would stop Ashcroft’s war on medical marijuana
patients. We need you to fax your U.S. Representative today and urge
them to support the amendment.
ACTIONS TO TAKE
1) E-mail your Representative:
http://capwiz.com/norml2/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=5962431
2) Forward this alert to your friends and family.
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End the Federal Government’s Attacks on Medical Marijuana Patients and
Providers
Dear Friends:
Significant progress has been made in protecting medical marijuana
patients from arrest since Suzanne Pfeil, a paraplegic, was handcuffed
to her bed by DEA agents who raided the Wo/Men’s Alliance for Medical
Marijuana (WAMM) cooperative in Santa Cruz, California in 2002.
Support in Congress for medical marijuana has been growing, and the
federal courts have demonstrated a willingness to undermine and even
nullify harsh federal laws.
Unfortunately, the DEA continues to raid patients with serious
illnesses, including AIDS, cancer, and multiple sclerosis … despite
strong public support for medical marijuana, as evidenced by
voter-passed initiatives in eight states and the District of Columbia,
as well as national polls showing that 70-80 percent of Americans
support medical marijuana access.
It is time to end the federal interference in state medical marijuana
laws once and for all. Last July, 152 members of the U.S. House of
Representatives voted for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment*, which
would deny the U.S. Department of Justice funds to raid, arrest,
prosecute, and imprison medical marijuana patients and providers. (See
how your representative voted. http://www.mpp.org/house2003/ ) MPP is
currently building grassroots support for the amendment so that a
majority of U.S. representatives will vote for it this year.
Your help is needed. Another vote will be taken this summer in the
House, and your representative needs to hear from you now.
Taking action is easy. Simply visit our take action page. By entering
your name and address, the system will automatically prompt you to
send an e-mail to your representative, tailored to how he or she voted
last year.
http://www.mpp.org/DD/action.html
We appreciate your assistance and look forward to continuing to fight
for you and with you in the future.
Sincerely,
Gary Reams
National Outreach Coordinator
Marijuana Policy Project
* Language of the amendment (as proposed in July 2003): “None of the
funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be
used to prevent the States of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado,
Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, or Washington from
implementing State laws authorizing the use of medical marijuana in
those States.”
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Friends,
There are groups of drug war cheerleaders who are actively seeking
support of congress in opposition. For example, the Community
Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) – a private organization which
receives considerable funding from the Office of National Drug Control
Policy (ONDCP) and other government agencies – sent out the following
to various supporters.
They believe that the arrest and jailing of patients who use cannabis
as medicine with the advice of their doctor is a good health outcome.
Your tax dollars at work – against you. We know that you have the
answers to counter the lies and spin in their statement:
Oppose Amendment to Prohibit Enforcement of Federal Law Regarding
Marijuana
Background
The House is scheduled to consider amendments and vote on its version
of the Commerce, Justice, State, Judiciary and Related Agencies FY
2005 Appropriations bill next Wednesday, July 7, 2004. Congressman
Maurice Hinchey (D-22nd/NY) will again this year offer an amendment to
prohibit the enforcement of Federal law pertaining to marijuana in
States that have decriminalized the use of marijuana for so-called
“medicinal” use.
Last year the amendment was defeated 273 (against) – 152 (in favor),
however if we are to be successful in defeating this amendment again,
your Representative must hear from you that you do not support this
amendment. To see a record of how your Representative voted last year,
please go to http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2003/roll420.xml.
It is imperative that your Representative hear from you about the
importance of defeating this amendment in the FY 2005 Commerce,
Justice, State, Judiciary and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.
What you need to know [YES, CADCA really believes all of this
stuff]
Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in America—of the
approximately 20 million current illicit drug users, 14.6 million (about
75%) are using marijuana
Of the 7.1 million Americans suffering from illegal drug dependence or
abuse, 60% abuse or are dependent on marijuana
More young people are now in treatment for marijuana dependency than
for alcohol or for all other illegal drugs combined
The FDA has not approved nor has it found any medicinal value in botanical
marijuana, which is why it remains a Schedule I controlled substance.
In a policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics stating
their opposition to the legalization of marijuana, they state that
“Any change in the legal status of marijuana, even if limited to
adults, could effect the prevalence of use among adolescents.”
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The above should be enough to encourage you to act. No need for the
usual other actions we normally feature in our alerts, as we know you
will do what you can in other action areas.
********************* Just DO It!! **********************************
Prepared by: Richard Lake, Focus Alert Specialist