By Irena the Croatian

This update brought to you by The League of Gonzo Journalists. More updates available on The Gonzo Muckraker.
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Would you please take one minute to call your congressperson and ask him or her to vote for the medical marijuana amendment that the U.S. House of Representatives will be voting on as soon as the evening of Tuesday, June the 27th?

It's easy: Just call the Capitol switchboard operator at (202) 224-3121. Give the operator your zip code and ask to be connected to your U.S. House member; you don't even need to know your U.S. representative's name to do this.

When the receptionist for the congressperson - not the Capitol switchboard operator - answers, say something like: "Hi, this is [name]. I live in [city], and I'm calling to ask that my representative vote for Congressman Maurice Hinchey's (pronounced Hinchee) medical marijuana amendment to the Justice Department's spending bill, which I understand will be considered on the House floor in a few days. The amendment would prohibit the Justice Department from spending taxpayer money to arrest medical marijuana patients in the 11 states where medical marijuana is legal."

Please call now: (202) 224-3121

More Information
Responding to the growing conflict between the states and the federal government over the issue of medical marijuana, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) will offer an amendment to the Science-State-Justice-Commerce Appropriations bill that would prohibit 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. 161 members of Congress voted for a similar amendment last year.

11 states have enacted effective medical marijuana laws - Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. 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.

Please urge your U.S. Representative to support the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment to the Justice Department spending bill by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Thank you,
Noelle Davis
Executive Director
Texans for Medical Marijuana

www.TexansforMedicalMarijuana.org

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Please repost this important public service notice.

Mahalo.

Posted at 1:35 PM

1 Comments

 Hank Ortuno posted at 4:44 PM  
I just saw on TV med mj has no positive medicinal effects! Why legalize it?

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