YOU CAN HELP CHANGE MEDICAL MARIJUANA LAW

To the editor: The Supreme Court decided earlier this month that
Congress has the power to prohibit the growing and possession of
marijuana for medical use in compliance with state law. The decision
written by liberal Justice Stevens expressed hope that through "the
democratic process, in which the voices of voters allied with these
respondents may one day be heard in the halls of Congress." Nine days
later the House of Representatives voted 161-264 and rejected a
bipartisan amendment to next year's appropriations for the Justice
Department that would have effectively reversed the Supreme Court's
decision. One hundred and sixty-one votes is the most ever received
in Congress on this issue.

Except for Stephen F. Lynch, Massachusetts' nine other
representatives were among the 161. Federal elected officials are
starting to hear the public www.mpp.org/2005MasonDixonPoll on
medical marijuana, as well they should given the passage of most
medical use laws by initiative www.norml.org. With the defeat of the
amendment attention turns to H.R. 2087, The States Rights To Medical
Marijuana Act
www.thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.2087:, reintroduced by
Barney Frank, with Michael Capuano, James McGovern and John Olver
among the earliest co-sponsors. This bill would reclassify marijuana
as a Schedule 2 substance with recognized medical benefits, force
the federal government to stay out of the lives of persons complying
with their state's medical cannabis laws, and would permit states to
grow their citizens' supply. To those who illicitly use medical
cannabis in Massachusetts this would be a blessing, because since
1991 Massachusetts law www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/gl-94d-toc.htmhas
permitted its use, but only if in the state program.

That program requires a legal source and the federal government
refuses to provide it. If you think that John Tierney, given his
favorable vote on the amendment, should be a co-sponsor, he needs to
hear it from you.

Steven S. Epstein, Esq.

Georgetown