House Democrats Introduce Three Medical Marijuana Reform Bills

[RainDog]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/25/house-democrats-introduce-three-medical-marijuana-reform-bills/

Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA), Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) and Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced legislation to the House on Wednesday aimed at ensuring the medical marijuana industry is treated like any other business.

The legislation was supported by Republican Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (CA) and Ron Paul (TX).

...“The time has come for the federal government to stop preempting states’ medical marijuana laws,” Frank said. “For the federal government to come in and supersede state law is a real mistake for those in pain for whom nothing else seems to work. This bill would block the federal prosecution of those patients who reside in those states that allow medical marijuana.”

“When a small business, such as a medical marijuana dispensary, can’t access basic banking services they either have to become cash-only—and become targets of crime—or they’ll end up out-of-business,” Polis said. “In states that have legalized medical marijuana, and for businesses that have been state-approved, it is simply wrong for the federal government to intrude and threaten banks that are involved in legal transactions.

[iwishiwas]

1. Lets see how "pro-business" Repugs REALLY are!!

[RainDog]

2. The federal govt has failed the American ppl on this issue

and it's time for them to stop interfering with citizens who want safe access to a product that is less harmful than any pharmaceutical and most over-the-counter medications.

Obama has been a huge disappointment on this issue - a real hypocrite.

[iwishiwas]

3. I agree with you but doubt he will change

his mind on this issue esp with and election year coming up.

[RainDog]

4. I don't expect him to be fair or rational about this issue either

but I also know he and the prohibitionists are on the wrong side of history.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Man, oh, man, our society has so many ways of fucking itself over--

getting into stupid wars, giving everything away to the rich, stifling whistleblowers…

But for absolute and chronic heartlessness, ignorance and stupidity, nothing quite matches the drug laws.

2 fucken million people in prison, and probly half of them there for drug-related crimes, at a rough cost of $25,000 a year apiece.

Think of all the secondary crimes--burglaries, muggings, murders, etc. that grow out of the illegality of drugs.

I always point out to people a couple of simple facts from old-time Skinnerian rat psychology.

The first is that you can't eliminate a behavior by punishing it. (You can suppress it, you can make people-or rats-devious about how they enact the behavior, etc.) but the behavior persists, and will pop up again the minute you turn your attention somewhere else.

The second is that you CAN eliminate a behavior if you cut off the reward.

Legalization of drugs cuts off the rewards for the drug dealers.

And ya wanna get rid of meth? (Truly meth is a terrible drug.) Meth got big when we got more efficient at suppressing cocaine, driving up the price & decreasing its availability. Given a choice between meth & coke, everyone knows that Things Go Better With Coke. Just let them have the coke fer Chrissake. Make 'em register as addicts if you need to, but give people their drugs & quit fighting it. Yes, there is harm in drugs, but there is more harm to society, in many ways, from enforcing the drug laws.

Duh.

[RainDog]

6. harm reduction is a better strategy for hard drugs

and moving cannabis away from those who would deal in hard drugs is also a better strategy.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Of course.

Harm reduction is exactly the model I would propose as the backbone of any approach for dealing with the drug problem.

[RainDog]

9. that was supposed to be Obama's stance, too

or at least a move away from the failed war on drugs - but it hasn't turned out that way.

I don't know why - but I imagine the reason looks something like this - $$$

[Jackpine Radical]

12. There are a lot of interests that profit from the drug laws.

The DEA and the cartels have a symbiotic relationship.

Also, drug laws are so handy for creating exceptions to the Bill of Rights.

And you just have to know all those dirty hippie progressives are potheads, so you can always jail them for pot (planted or otherwise) when they become politically troublesome. I know of cases like that dating back to the 60's.

[RainDog]

13. yeah - and then there's the hypocrisy of scheduling - did you see this?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4860842&mesg_id=4862262

[w8liftinglady]

7. I agree with you from an entirely different viewpoint

i have seen patients who would have benefitted from medical marijuana.
I see them every day.
marinol is NO comparison.

I have also seen the by-products of meth.
I agree.speed and coke aren't going away- legalize them and amke them as safe as possible for those who choose them.
THEN-penalize the meth cookers.

[Jackpine Radical]

10. I'm not in a med-mar state, so haven't personally seen much of that,

but I worked for 13 years as the Community Corrections psychologist in a 16-county area of rural WI, and saw the emergence of the meth problem first-hand. I did psych evals of many meth users, and invariably found them to have histories of trauma, neglect, abuse and shame that drove them to one or another drug in order to pacify the snakes in their heads. They for the most part KNEW what meth would do to them, but it brought a temporary release from their miseries, and that immediate need won out over all rational considerations (not that they had much rationality left after a while on meth).

[cleanhippie]

11. Nice! Lets hope it gets some traction.

[RainDog]

14. The sponsors are from across the nation and on both sides of the aisle

An overwhelming majority of Americans in poll after poll support medical marijuana legality - and have for a while.

The federal govt looks really backward and corrupt to continue to pretend their stance makes any sense or has the support of the American people - it doesn't.

[RainDog]

18. looks like one of the bills intro'd by Frank would involve rescheduling

http://www.alternet.org/drugs/151096/house_democrats_introduce_three_medical_marijuana_reform_bills

Another bill, introduced by Frank, would make individuals and business immune to federal prosecution if they are acting in compliance with local marijuana laws. Additionally, the legislation would direct the White House to reschedule marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act so that it is no longer considered a highly addictive substance with no medical value.

[RainDog]

19. here it is: H.R. 2835: Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h2835/show

you can click on a link on the right hand side of the page to indicate your support for this bill.

[RainDog]

20. 92% voting in this poll support this bill, btw.

surely we can make it more than that! :)

[cleanhippie]

21. Nice!

[cleanhippie]

22. Done. And you should post this link as a new OP to get more exposure and support.

[RainDog]

23. thanks for the suggestion. I"ll do that. n/t

[RainDog]

15. kickety n/t

[RainDog]

16. eventide kick n/t

[bigwillq]

17. K and R (nt)