A NONSENSE RESOLUTION

Casually and with virtually no debate, U.S.representatives rejected the
idea that marijuana might have medicinal application for patients who seek
relief.

It is a position that ignores evidence both anecdotal and factual.

It borders on the inhumane.

House Joint Resolution 117, passed 310-93 Wednesday, with no public
hearings, is not a new law. It's simply a "sense of the Congress"
resolution to the effect that Congress believes marijuana to be dangerous
and addictive, and that Congress is unequivocally opposed to the
legalization of marijuana for medical use.

It also directs the U.S. attorney general to prepare reports on how much
marijuana has been eradicated through federal efforts in recent years and
the annual number of arrests and prosecutions for federal marijuana offenses.

In essence, the House stuck its finger in the eye of California and Arizona
voters, who recently passed initiatives to make marijuana available to
patients with the recommendation of licensed physicians.

Even more important, it told thousands of patients and their doctors - who
believe that marijuana can alleviate their conditions, often with less
serious and dangerous side-effects than "standard" prescription medications
- - that Congress is pleased to see them continue to suffer or to obtain
relief only at the price of becoming criminals.

Perhaps it should be called the "Congress has no sense" resolution.

Even more distressing is the fact that most of the orange County delegation
voted for this resolution. Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Loretta Sanchez vote.
But Reps. Chris Cox, Jay Kim and Ron Packard, all of whom should know
better, landed on the "yea" side.

The stated intention of this resolution was to chide California and Arizona
voters and to weigh in on medical-marijuana initiative races in Alaska,
Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and possibly the District of Columbia.
The message? A Congress filled with lawyers should have a veto power when
patients and doctors are considering the medicinal use of a plant about
which the Chief Administrative Law Judge of the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration reported that "there are simply no credible medical records
to suggest that consuming marijuana has caused a single death."

The old joke is that if 'pro" is the opposite of "con," then Congress must
be the opposite of progress. Sadly, Congress sometimes makes the quip seem
more truth than joke.

Checked-by: Pat Dolan