Congress Votes To Continue Prosecuting State-Authorized Medicinal Cannabis Patients

Congress Votes To Continue Prosecuting State-Authorized Medicinal Cannabis Patients (NORML)

June 28, 2006 - Washington, DC, USA


Washington, DC: State-authorized patients and their caregivers who use or possess medical cannabis will continue to be subject to federal arrest and prosecution, after the House of Representatives rejected a proposed amendment today that sought to bar the US Department of Justice (DOJ) from prosecuting patients who use cannabis medicinally in accordance with the laws of their states.

The House voted 259 to 163 against the bi-partisan measure, sponsored by Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Maurice Hinchey (D-NY). The 163 House votes in favor of the patient-protection provision was the highest total ever recorded in a Congressional floor vote to liberalize marijuana laws. Of those who voted in support of the Hinchey/Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment, 18 were Republicans (a gain of three votes from 2005) and 144 were Democrats (a loss of one vote from last year). The House's only Independent Congressman, Vermont Representative Bernard Sanders, also voted in favor of the amendment.

"For the fourth year in a row, Congress had an opportunity to stop wasting taxpayers' dollars arresting seriously ill patients who possess and use medical cannabis in compliance with state law," NORML Executive Director St. Pierre said. "Instead, 259 members of Congress chose today to prosecute patients."

Speaking on the House floor in favor of the amendment, co-sponsor Maurice Hinchey said, "This amendment has to do with two simple things: being compassionate for people who are suffering and dying ... and the right of states to govern medical practice, not this Congress."

Representative Dana Rohrabacher added that it is a "travesty" for the federal government to intervene in states that have voted in favor of the medicinal use of cannabis.

Also speaking in favor of the provision were co-sponsor Reps. Sam Farr (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Barbara Lee (D-CA), David Obey (D-WI), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) Congressmen John Boozeman (R-AR), Steve King (R-IA), Tom Latham (R-IA), John Mica (R-FL), John Peterson (R-PA), and Frank Wolf (R-VA) spoke in opposition to the amendment.




I really want to be optimistic about legalization happening in my lifetime...but days like these with such harsh rulings by Congress and the UN, I doubt it.