CONGRESS LOOKS AT MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Nine days after the Supreme Court decided that Congress has the power
to prohibit the growing and possession of marijuana for medical use in
compliance with state law the House of Representatives voted 161 - 264
to reject 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. Federal elected officials are starting to hear the
public on medical marijuana; as well they should given the passage of
most medical use laws by initiative. Except for Stephen F. Lynch,
Massachusetts' nine other representatives do hear the public on this
issue as they were among the 161. With the defeat of the amendment
attention turns to H.R. 2087, The States Rights to Medical Marijuana
Act, reintroduced by Barney Frank, with Michael Capuano, James
McGovern and John Olver among the earliest co-sponsors. This bill
reclassifies marijuana as a Schedule 2 substance with recognized
medical benefits, requires the federal government stay out of the
lives of persons complying with their state's medical cannabis laws,
and permits 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 has
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 Ed Markey, given his favorable vote on the
amendment, should be a co-sponsor, he needs to hear it from you.

Attorney Steven S. Epstein

For the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform CoalitionNORML