LEE BACKS BILL TO EASE POT LAWS

San Francisco -- Two Bay Area congresswomen joined a half-dozen
fellow House members Wednesday in proposing to end federal
prosecution for marijuana possession.

The proposal, unveiled at a Washington, D.C., news conference, would
eliminate federal criminal penalties for adults who possess up to 100
grams of marijuana - about 3.5 ounces - or give an ounce of pot to
someone else without charge.

While the government shouldn't encourage marijuana use, it should
allow people to "make their own choices as long as they are not
impinging on the rights, freedom or property of others," said Rep.
Barney Frank, D-Mass., lead author of the bill, HR 5843.

This is the first marijuana decriminalization measure introduced in
Congress since 1978, said the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws. The organization said 830,000 Americans were arrested
on marijuana charges in 2006, 88 percent of them for personal
possession and use.

Co-sponsors of the legislation include Reps. Barbara Lee of Oakland,
Zoe Lofgren of San Jose, four other Democrats and one Republican, Ron
Paul of Texas. CNN quoted Lee as calling government policy on
marijuana "inhumane" and "immoral" and as saying she has many
constituents who are harassed or arrested for using or growing
medical marijuana.

California, in a 1996 voter initiative, was the first of 12 states to
legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes. Federal law,
however, classifies marijuana among the most dangerous drugs, with no
legitimate use, and the government has won Supreme Court rulings
allowing federal agents to shut down medical marijuana dispensaries
and prosecute patients and their suppliers. Both those cases
originated in Oakland.

On its Web site, the Drug Enforcement Administration declares:
"Legalization of marijuana, no matter how it begins, will come at the
expense of our children and public safety. It will create dependency
and treatment issues, and open the door to use of other drugs,
impaired health, delinquent behavior, and drugged drivers."