3/18/98
Dear DRCNet reader:
Your help is needed this week to defeat a "sense of the house" resolution opposing the medical use of marijuana. H.Res. 372 states "Marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug and should not be legalized for medicinal use," and "The United States House of Representatives is unequivocally opposed to legalizing marijuana for medicinal use, and urges the defeat of state initiatives which would seek to legalize marijuana for medicinal use." While the resolution is not binding, its passage would create another political roadblock in the way of freedom from prison for medical marijuana patients. Ironically, the resolution's sponsor, Bill McCollum, was a co-sponsor of pro-medical marijuana legislation in the early 1980's.
Please call or fax your U.S. representatives and tell them that the people supporting this resolution should stop playing doctor, and that you want the government to get out of the way and let patients and doctors make medical decisions without threat of criminal punishment. Urge them to instead sponsor H.R. 1782, making medical marijuana legal under federal law, or at least to wait until the Institute of Medicine completes its scientific review of the issue this December.
You can reach your Representative (or find out who your rep is) via the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. You can leave your opinion by phone, or ask your rep's office for their fax number.
If you are from a state that has or has had an initiative legalizing medical use of marijuana, and if you have seen recent press coverage of the issue, consider writing a letter to the editor. Such states include California and Arizona (last year), and Maine, Alaska, Florida, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia. Points for your letters:
As usual, please send us copies of your correspondence or let us know what actions you have taken. And please act now, before H. Res. 372 reaches the floor! Further information on marijuana legislation is available online at http://www.norml.org/ and http://www.mpp.org/.
If you like what you see here and want to get these bulletins by e-mail, please fill out our quick signup form at http://www.drcnet.org/signup.html.
