Friday, June 4, 2004

June 4 - Day of Action for Medical Marijuana Today, I ask you to do more than read this blog. This is a day to take action. In a coordinated effort, drug reform groups are asking people to contact their Congressional Representatives today and ask for their support of the Hinchey/Rohrabacher Amendment. The amendment is quite simple. It says that the federal government will not interfere with medical marijuana laws in those specific states that have passed them. Logical. Sensible. In last year's article Can Congress Get a Clue, I discussed the Hinchey Amendment that lost then and even some of the bizarre debate on the floor. Last year the amendment failed 152-273, but that was remarkable in that 136 Democrats, 15 Republicans and 1 Independent voted in favor of a medical marijuana bill. We can do better this year. From NORML: NORML has teamed up with the Marijuana Policy Project, the Drug Policy Alliance and others to coordinate actions at over 110 Congressional district offices around the country. These actions will focus on educating members of Congress who voted against the Hinchey/Rohrabacher Amendment last year, which would have prevented the DEA and Justice Department from interfering in states with medical marijuana laws. NORML expects that this amendment will come up for a vote again this year, hopefully by the end of this month. While last year's amendment failed by a vote of 273 - 152, we are confident that this year we can convince many members to change their vote this time around, but we need your help! Since most NORML supporters cannot attend one of these local actions, we are asking all of you to please call your members of Congress today and voice your support for the Hinchey/Rohrabacher Amendment. To be connected to your Representative's office, simply call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Please tell your member of Congress that it is vital that they support the Hinchey/Rohrabacher Amendment when it comes up for a vote later this month. Be sure to stress that this vote would not legalize medical marijuana, but it would simply prevent the federal government from interfering in states that already have medical marijuana laws on the books. Find out how your Representative voted last year. Call the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, get connected to your Representative's office, and tell them to support the Hinchey Amendment when it comes up later this month. If you don't have time to call, send an email Here's another place where you can send an email. Here are some talking points. Do it today. In fact, do it right now. Why wait? Update: If you didn't get to it today, don't worry. It's still important and useful. Make the call. Send the letter. It's easy. And let me know if your Congressman's staff has anything to say in response. 8:18:08 AM | drug policy | Related  | permalink | comment []