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WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. House of Representatives today voted
down an amendment that would have placed a one-year moratorium on
federal raids against medical marijuana patients, but patients and
their supporters were cheered by an all-time record vote in support
of the proposal. The amendment, supported by a broad array of
organizations, including the American Nurses Association and the
United Methodist Church, was defeated 161-264, receiving 13 more
votes than an identical proposal received last year.
The bipartisan amendment, introduced by U.S. Reps. Maurice
Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), sought to prohibit the
U.S. Justice Department -- which includes the Drug Enforcement
Administration -- from spending taxpayer money to arrest or prosecute
medical marijuana patients in the 10 states where medical marijuana
is legal: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana,
Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.
"While we're disappointed that the amendment did not pass, a
record 161 House members voted today to stop arresting medical
marijuana patients," said Rob Kampia, executive director of the
Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. "There have been only
four House floor votes on medical marijuana in the history of the
country, and this one was our best ever.
"With over four-to-one public support for ending medical marijuana
arrests, it's astounding that 264 House members would vote to spend
taxpayer money to arrest medical marijuana patients in violation of
states' rights," said Kampia, referring to a new Mason-Dixon poll
showing that 68% of voters think "the federal government should not
prosecute medical marijuana patients," while only 16% said it should.
(Full results from the poll, released yesterday, are available at
http://www.mpp.org/2005MasonDixonPoll/index.html.)
The first House vote on the issue was on a non-binding resolution
opposing medical marijuana that passed by a 311-94 margin in 1998. The
second and third votes were on the same amendment that the House voted
on today, which failed by margins of 273-152 and 268-148 in 2003 and
2004, respectively.
The medical marijuana issue reached a head last week when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the federal government has the
constitutional authority to arrest medical marijuana patients, even
in states which permit medical use. The ruling on Gonzales v. Raich
did not affect the 10 state medical marijuana laws.
In response to the ruling, White House Drug Czar John Walters
said, "Today's decision marks the end of medical marijuana as a
political issue." But the next day, the Rhode Island Senate voted 34-2
in favor of MPP's medical marijuana bill, sending it to the Rhode
Island House.
"The next step is to pass the medical marijuana bills pending in
New York and Rhode Island, enact medical marijuana laws in several
other states early next year, and then win on Capitol Hill next summer
when the House votes on medical marijuana again," said Kampia. "The
momentum is clearly on our side, and we'll keep fighting until
Congress listens to the American people and ends this cruel and
needless war on the sick."
With more than 17,000 members and 120,000 e-mail subscribers
nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana
policy reform organization in the United States. MPP works to
minimize the harm associated with marijuana-both the consumption of
marijuana and the laws that are intended to prohibit such use. MPP
believes that the greatest harm associated with marijuana is
imprisonment. For more information, please visit
http://www.MarijuanaPolicy.org.
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