OUR REPS ROCK, DUDE

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 bi-partisan 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 http://mpp.org/2005MasonDixonPoll/index.html on medical
marijuana; as well they should given the passage of most medical use
laws by initiative http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=3391. 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
http://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 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
http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/gl-94d-toc.htm
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 Marty Meehan, given his favorable vote on the
amendment, should be a co-sponsor, he needs to hear it from you.

Attorney Steven S. Epstein

Massachusetts Cannabis Reform/NORML