TELL CONGRESS TO PROTECT MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS! PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE 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! 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. 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 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. 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." 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." 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

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