Amendment to halt federal raids on marijuana clinics wins 152 House votes
Friends:
On Wednesday, the House measure that would have put an end to federal raids on medical marijuana clinics failed by a vote of 152-273.
According to sources in the drug reform community, Capitol Hill offices were inundated with "tens of thousands of faxes, phone calls and e- mails" as a result of the last-minute lobbying campaign by Libertarians and others around the country.
The amendment to the appropriations bill funding the Commerce, Justice, and State departments, sponsored by U.S. Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), would have prevented the DEA and the Justice Department from spending any money to investigate or raid medical marijuana patients and providers in states where medical marijuana is legal.
And although the measure lost, there is cause for optimism:
* 67 percent of Democrats voted for the amendment.
* 15 House Republicans supported it.
* The number of "yes" votes was 62 percent higher than the last time the full House voted on a medical marijuana issue, in 1998, indicating that Congressional support for medical marijuana is rapidly growing.
Legislative analysts predict another vote next year on the Hinchey/Rohrabacher amendment.
Thanks to everyone who contacted their Congressional representative in support of this proposal.
Joe Seehusen
Executive Director
Libertarian Party
http://www.LP.org
It Costs Over $7 Billion Annually to Fund U.S. Marijuana Prohibition*
Nearly Three Quarters of a Million Marijuana Arrests Occur Each Year
$4.2 Billion in Lost Productivity Wasted by Locking Them Up
135,488 are Currently Behind Bars for Felony Marijuana Offenses
$2 Billion Annually to House Them
20,000 Defendants Locked Up Awaiting Trial for Felony Marijuana Charges
It Cost About $85 Million to House Them
$2 Billion Likely Cost for Marijuana Arrests Since 1998
An Estimated $257 Million Spent on Probation Costs From 1998-2001
*Costs do not include disposition of misdemeanor marijuana cases.
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For The rest of Your life there are two days that will never again trouble You.
The first day is yesterday with all Its blunders and tears, its follies and defects.
Yesterday has passed forever beyond your control.
The other day is tomorrow with its pitfalls and threats, its dangers and mystery.
Until the sun rises again, You have no stake In tomorrow, for it is still unborn.
Be Here Now.
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Love is not something that comes into us from someone else;
it is an extension of our own minds,
reveberating back to us in what seems to be another persons's smile.
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Act now to defund our government's war on medical marijuana
On Wednesday or Thursday of this week, the full U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on the issue of medical marijuana the first time in five years!
U.S. Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), with the support of Reps. Ron Paul (R-TX), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and many other House members, are planning to propose a medical marijuana amendment to the Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations bill. Quite simply, the amendment would prevent the DEA and the Justice Department from spending any money to investigate or raid medical marijuana patients and providers in the
states where medical marijuana is legal.
It is urgent that you let your U.S. representative know -- today -- that you want him or her to vote for the Hinchey/Rohrabacher amendment. Here's how:
BY PHONE ...
You can PHONE your U.S. representative's office through the Capitol switchboard. If you don't know the name of your U.S. representative, you can give the switchboard operator your city or zip code and he or she will connect you to your U.S. representative's office. The numbers:
(877) 762-8762 (toll-free)
(800) 648-3516 (toll-free)
(202) 225-3121
(202) 224-3121
WHAT TO SAY:
"Hi, my name is ____________, and I am a voter in your district. I'm calling to ask Representative ______ to vote for the Hinchey/Rohrabacher amendment to the Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations bill. This amendment would stop the federal government's raids on medical marijuana patients and providers in California and the other eight states where medical marijuana is legal."
BY FAX ...
FAX your U.S. representative a pre- written letter on the
MPP Web site at
http://www.mpp.org/DefundDEA.
The entire process takes only two minutes. After you enter your address, you will see links to a selection of sample letters; please choose a letter, edit it if you like, and then fax it to your U.S. representative with one final click.
If you are feeling inspired, we strongly encourage you to personalize your letter. (But whatever you do, please make sure that the letter clearly asks your U.S. representative to vote for the Hinchey/Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment to the Commerce-Justice-State Appropriations bill on the House floor.)
If you take two minutes now to contact your U.S. House member, you will play an important part in ending the DEA's raids and the federal government's war on medical marijuana patients and providers. Like never before, the
Marijuana Policy Project needs you to take action now.
"It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefits of this substance"
-DEA Judge Francis Young
FREE THE SWEED!
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4 guys are discussing how they get their wives to let them surf every Sunday morning. The first says "Every Saturday night I take my wife out to an expensive dinner". The second says "Every Saturday I clean the house for my wife". The third says "Every Saturday I let my wife go shopping and she can buy whatever she wants." The fourth guy looks at the other three and just shakes his head. "You guys got it all wrong." On Sunday morning I get up at 5:00am, shake my wife and say "Surfing or Sex?"
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I find most
religions narrow minded, self-serving, ridiculous, superstitions and lately dangerous.
Now,
Can . . . we . . . change? Can people change enough to survive which is what animals do — good ones anyway. Which part of our polarized human mind is going to win out: the part that is smart enough to invent nuclear weapons? Or the part that, next time, is going to use one in order to "get to heaven."
Yeah, we all roll our eyes at that, but violence in the name of religion has a shoddy history on our side of the world too. So the idea that this beef that we have with the Muslims could go nuclear—that is on my mind right now. And, I do not relinquish—nor should any of you—the right to criticize, even as we support, our government. This is still a democracy and they're still politicians, so we need to let our government know that we can't afford a lot of things that we used to be able to afford. Like a missile shield, that will never work for an enemy that doesn't exist. We can't afford to be fighting wrong and silly wars. The cold war. The drug war. The culture war. Busting television producers at the airport for taking funny mushrooms to Las Vegas, while the terrorist-looking guys with the knives get right on. We have to outgrow childish and antiquated stuff real fast.
Can we?
Can . . . we . . . change? -Bill Mahr
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