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Special
Press Release
April 3, 2001
NORML Foundation
1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 710
Washington, DC 20036
Washington, DC -- Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) reintroduced
legislation today in the 107th Congress to provide for the medical use of
marijuana. The bill is titled the "States' Rights to Medical
Marijuana Act."
"People who are suffering from severe or
terminal illnesses who find a
measure of relief from marijuana ought to be able to use it without being treated like criminals," Frank announced.
"This bill offers an opportunity for my conservative colleagues to
decide if they really want to
be consistent on the question of states' rights or if they think the federal government should tell states what to do."
The legislation states: "No provision of the
Controlled Substances Act [or] ... the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act shall prohibit or otherwise restrict -- (A)
the prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for
medical use, (B) an individual from obtaining and using marijuana from a prescription
or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical
use by such individual, or (C)
a pharmacy from obtaining and holding marijuana for the prescription of marijuana by a physician for medical use under
applicable state law in a
State in which marijuana may be prescribed or
recommended by a physician for medical use under applicable State
law."
The legislation reschedules marijuana from Schedule
I to Schedule II under federal law. This reclassification properly
recognizes marijuana's medical utility and enables physicians to legally
prescribe it under controlled circumstances while maintaining
restrictions on recreational use. Since 1996, nine states -- Alaska, Arizona, California,
Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington -- have
implemented laws allowing seriously ill patients to possess and use
medical marijuana under a doctor's supervision.
While these laws protect patients from state
criminal marijuana penalties, they do not shield patients from federal
prosecution, nor do they allow a state legislature to legally distribute
medical marijuana. The legislation introduced in Congress today
would afford patients legal protection under federal law, and permit
those states that wish to establish medical marijuana distribution
systems the legal authority to do so.
NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup called the
proposal a streamlined effort to get marijuana to those who require it. "Historically,
voters and state legislatures have been more receptive to the medical
marijuana issue than the federal government," Stroup explained.
"This legislation addresses this paradigm and effectively gets the
federal government out of the way of those states that wish to make
marijuana available as a medicine."
Stroup said that the Supreme Court's apparent
skepticism regarding whether patients or medical marijuana providers may
legally raise the defense of "medical necessity" in federal
marijuana cases makes the need to reform federal law more pertinent than
ever. "Judging from the questions raised by several of the
justices, it appears likely the Supreme Court may reject the medical
necessity defense in federal cases,” he said. "Therefore,
passage of this legislation by Congress is crucial. It will enact
federal protections to safeguard patients who are using marijuana
medicinally under their doctor's supervision, and will provide an
opportunity for states to establish their own legal, regulated medical
marijuana distribution systems to supply medicine to those who need
it."
Joining Frank in support of this act are Reps.
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), John Conyers (D-MI), Peter
DeFazio (D-OR), Jerrold
Nadler (D-NY), John Olver (D-MA), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Pete
Stark (D-CA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). For
more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML Executive Director,
at (202) 483-5500. For additional information, please contact Peter
Kovar at the office of Rep. Barney Frank at (202) 225-5931.
Please contact your representatives and ask them to support this
bill.
Rep. Asa Hutchinson -- asa.hutchinson@mail.house.gov
Rep. Marion Berry -- telephone 202-225-4076
Rep. Vic Snyder -- snyder.congress@mail.house.gov
Rep. Mike Ross -- 1-800-223-2220
Learn more about your Rep -- visit www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW.html
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