[Osborn F Enready]

Congress Votes Against Patients Last night, the U.S. House of Representatives again thumbed its nose at compassion and common sense by rejecting the Hinchey-Rohrabacher-Farr-Paul amendment, which would have prohibited the federal government from undermining state medical marijuana laws. If enacted it would have put a stop to the federal raids on patients and caregivers in California and other states. The final vote was 165 for / 262 against. This is 2 more "yes" votes than a similar amendment received last year and a sign that support for medical marijuana is slowly growing in Congress. 150 Democrats (65% of voting Democrats) and 15 Republicans (8% of voting Republicans) voted for the amendment. Please take a few minutes today to thank or spank your Representative for how he or she voted on this important amendment. Sending a message in your own words or making a phone call will have the strongest possible impact: 1) Find out how your Representative voted. If you're not sure who your Representative is, find out by entering your zip code at the top of this page. 2) Use this directory to go to your Representative's website where you can find information on writing, e-mailing, or calling your Representative. If your Representative voted for the Hinchey-Rohrabacher-Farr-Paul medical marijuana amendment to the CJS spending bill, thank them for standing up for compassion and the will of the voters. If your Representative voted against the amendment, express your disappointment and encourage your Representative to vote for the amendment next year. (Note: even if they voted against the amendment, it’s important to be polite when expressing your disappointment, so that they consider your views in the future). Though there is a lot to say about the importance of this vote, Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) summed it up best when speaking in support of his amendment: “At stake in this debate is who should be deciding what is best for patients. Should it be the patients themselves, the doctors, or should it be arbitrarily somebody in the federal government?” Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) hit a home run when he remarked: “A vote yes on Hinchey-Rohrabacher is a vote to respect the intent of our founding fathers, and respect the rights of people at the state level to make the criminal law under which they and their families will live. It reinforces rules surrounding the patient-doctor relationship and it is in contrast to emotional posturing and federal power grabs and bureaucratic arrogance, which is really at the heart of the opposition.” But it was newly elected Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN) who stole the show with a personal story: “I had a dear friend named James Mitchell, Jr. He was a navy seal, he fought in Vietnam. He got pancreatic cancer. He lived in Bethesda, Maryland. A 210 pound strapping man that you would want on your side in a fight and I’ve had on my side in a fight, this country had on its side in a fight, the Vietnam War. And when he had pancreatic cancer he smoked marijuana. And his 88 year old Irish catholic mother said to me ‘thank god for the marijuana, it’s the only thing that makes him smile or eat’ - and I watched that man go down to 115 pounds and die...I ask you to pass this [amendment] and allow states to have rights and people to have some relief in their dying days.” I’m optimistic that we will change federal marijuana laws in coming years. All we need to do is pass medical marijuana in more states, get more voters to contract their members of Congress, and continue to educate the American people on this issue. Sincerely, Bill Piper Director, Office of National Affairs PS: Support is growing significantly in Congress on some other issues, such as reforming the crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity and repealing the federal law that denies student loans to people convicted of drug offenses. Stay tuned for some exciting alerts on these and other issues in the coming weeks. Contact the Drug Policy Alliance: Drug Policy Alliance 70 West 36th Street, 16th Floor New York, NY 10018

And yet again, Congress fails to recognize states rights, and individual rights for patients.

Isn't it time we demanded the end of the failed "War on Drugs"?