Drug War Issues
Politics & Advocacy
On May 25, 2011, a bipartisan group of US Representatives introduced three new medical marijuana bills. H.R. 1983 would exempt people complying with state medical marijuana laws from federal arrest and prosecution. H.R. 1984 would protect banks accepting deposits made by medical marijuana dispensaries. And H.R. 1985 would allow the dispensaries to deduct business expenses on their federal taxes like any other business, putting an end to dozens of industry IRS audits already underway.
Please use our online web form to contact your US Representative and your two US Senators in support of these important bills. Please follow-up by calling their offices too -- if you don't know their numbers (or aren't sure who they are), you can reach them by calling the Congressional Switchboard at (202) 224-3121. And please use our tell-a-friend form that you'll find on the site after sending your letter to spread the word.
Click here to read the Chronicle report on these three bills -- and be sure to sign up for our email list while you're here, or paste our medical marijuana category feed into your RSS reader.
Permission to Reprint: This content is licensed under a modified Creative Commons Attribution license. Content of a purely educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of DRCNet Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
Comments
Signed and Sent.My Reps here
Signed and Sent.
My Reps here in Hawaii no longer even bother replying to me. They are not receptive to our message.
In reply to Signed and Sent.My Reps here by Fairuse (not verified)
Color me surprised
These people obviously have lobbyists' needs to attend to.
Medical Marijuana
Please support HR 1983,HR 1984, and HR 1985. The war on Drugs is not working. Medical marijuana is needed in our country and the people providing this service do not need any red tape from preventing them from running a legitimate business. I ask that you please support these house bills.
In reply to Medical Marijuana by Lawrence Anderson (not verified)
HR 1983
I agree, Medical Marijuana needs to be legal and taxed. Take it out of the 'bad peoples' hands and let American's use this for MEDICAL reasons! My mother battled cancer and could NOT eat, so we got her "Organic Salvia" it really helped her and the Dr's said she would only live 3-6 months and well, she passed almost 2 years to the day we found out! I believe this helped her in MANY ways! Why is it in the wrong hands? My state says oh it's ok to have some but what doctor will sign a note to say okay when no one has yet??? Cart before the horse.. so Federal government please pass a law that will allow people that live with pain use it!!! PLEASE SAY YES to HR 1983!
Ga. Representative comment to my request to support the above .
This is from the representative Saxby Chambliss from Georgia!
"Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding legalizing marijuana. I appreciate hearing from you.
According to research by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana use has negative effects on the cardiovascular system, the lungs, the brain, and even social behavior. The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to organs throughout the body, including the brain. Studies have indicated that a user's risk of heart attack more than quadruples in the first hour after smoking marijuana. Marijuana use also has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract because it contains irritants and carcinogens. In fact, marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke. Furthermore, marijuana use has also been linked to social disorders such as depression, anxiety, and personality disturbances.
At a time when illegal drug use is a major problem for many Americans, legalizing marijuana would send the wrong message to young people across our nation that marijuana is not harmful. I do not believe marijuana should be legalized."
This ignorant SOB is representing our state and federal government and he did not even have the courage to sign this letter. How will we ever move forward with this type representation in our government????
In reply to Ga. Representative comment to my request to support the above . by w (not verified)
That is the exact same standard form letter response
that I get from my so-called representatives in congress, too. Apparently, they all use the same form letter when responding (something they seldom do, even if you request a response) to their constituents' questions about legalizing cannabis, even for only medical purposes. They all rely on that lying agency NIDA and when you send them links to research that contradicts NIDA's position they just ignore those, and even when you send them links to NIDA's own research that disproves the statements they quote from NIDA it makes no difference at all, they still ignore it all.
Perhaps it is time we reformers join as a class to sue the federal government, NIDA, ONDCP, DEA, FDA and any other agencies connected with the drug war in a class action lawsuit for lying to the representatives of the American people (and therefore, to the American people) about this herb. Anyone know of a law firm willing to take on something like this? The publicity for any such law firm would be massive, and if they won, the law firm could pretty much write it's own ticket for the rest of its existence. It seems to me to be a much more lucrative, not to mention important, lawsuit than most class action suits, and may be we could throw in the charges of libel and slander of the herb and those who use it, since they defame us and the herb in both written and spoken forms.
In reply to Ga. Representative comment to my request to support the above . by w (not verified)
Medical Marijuana
I have known people with pain, depression, Aids and have seen how marijuana has helped them all.
. Everyone seems to make such a big deal about the side effects of Marijuana, this, i do not understand...... Anything, including prescription drugs have side effects and from what ive seen, the prescription drugs , in alot of cases, have worse side effects. If this drug helps people i dont see what the problem is. Im 53 and can tell you, ive known people that drink and use Marijuana and in ALL cases ive seen, the alcohol alone had WAY WORSE effects on people causing fights, vehicle accidents,changes in behavior, medical problems etc. As for prescription drugs, ive also known many people that have had very bad side effects including, changes in behavior, suicidal thoughts and in some cases, suicide, liver disfunction just to name a few. The fact that Marijuana has side effects that, in my opinion, are not as bad as what are now, legal to use drugs, makes it a very important drug to look at for many people. I think someone needs to look up the side effects of prescription drugs, look into the many reports of side effects and then decide. Ide like to think that if i ever had the misfortune of being diagnosed with an illness this drug would help, it wouldnt be made available simply because of side effects, when every medication has them.
In reply to Ga. Representative comment to my request to support the above . by w (not verified)
Saxby & Johnny Isakson are worthless
This is precisely why I didn't write them as I have in the past. Always get idiotic responses from them. They haven't bothered to read up on the overwhelming positive research on the health benefits of marijuana. It cures cancer and doesn't cause it. Oh and no it doesn't cause heart attacks either.
In reply to Ga. Representative comment to my request to support the above . by w (not verified)
Saxby & Johnny Isakson are worthless
This is precisely why I didn't write them as I have in the past. Always get idiotic responses from them. They haven't bothered to read up on the overwhelming positive research on the health benefits of marijuana. It cures cancer and doesn't cause it. Oh and no it doesn't cause heart attacks either.
marijuana ; used to battle cancerous side effects
I still can't believe all the ignorance about Medical or just marijuana in general. Jesus himself will punish the fools who keep Marijuana from the very sick. I have cancer (CLLeukemia) and have lost 50 lbs. in approx. 5 months. I was the bodybuilding champion in El Paso, Tx and was 6'4", 220 lbs. and now I'm weighing about 148 lbs.soaking wet and I can't even get that weight back cause I have no appetite! I eat only cause I have to, not cause I'm hungry or want to, and I can't even find the marijuana I need to make me feel better. I'm trying to move to New Mexico now, but by the time I do that, I'll probably be dead!!!!? Please legalize Medical Marijuana at the very least, Nationally!! If Obama had the stones, he would have legalized MM when he first took office. Please, for my sake and others like me, don't let him become president again cause he sold his soul to the devil just to get more votes from the gays and his comments about the gay rights in New York are sickening! Come on Ladies and Gentlemen, get rid of the bum and let someone with some integrity get elected as President of the USA, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A DYING MAN (babyboomer)
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