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Ask your D.C. Councilmembers to stand up to Congress!

Dear Friends:

Although 69% of Washington, D.C. voters approved a medical marijuana initiative in 1998, Congress passed the Barr Amendment, which blocked the law from being implemented. As a result, seriously ill District residents continue to be treated as criminals simply for using their doctor-recommended medicine.

We now have the opportunity to get Congress to remove this anti-medical marijuana language from the D.C. appropriations bill along with other ideological social policy riders. Please take a moment to call and urge the D.C. City Councilmembers to pass a resolution calling on Congress to stop overriding the will of D.C. voters and not include these riders in the FY2010 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bills. While calling is more effective, you can also e-mail your councilmembers if you prefer.

District councilmembers need to know that their constituents care about the fate of seriously ill District residents and D.C.'s ability to self-govern. This cannot happen without your help. Also, please forward any responses from councilmembers back to me at [email protected] so that we can identify a sponsor and get the resolution passed in a timely fashion.

All patients suffering from a condition that could benefit from medical marijuana, medical professionals, law enforcement, or clergy please contact me at [email protected] to see how you can be of special help in passing this resolution.  Other activists can pitch in too by reaching out to supportive patients, medical professionals, law enforcement, and clergy and encouraging them to contact me.

The result of Congress' interference is tragic. On September 24, 2004, 27-year-old Jonathan Magbie, a quadriplegic who used marijuana for his medical condition, died while serving a 10-day sentence in the D.C. jail after being convicted of marijuana possession and the jail failed to attend to his medical needs. Had the will of the District of Columbia and its voters been implemented, he would likely not have faced criminal penalties for relieving his symptoms, and he could still be alive today.

A resolution calling on Congress to stop this and other interference has been drafted and is awaiting a sponsor. In addition to calling on Congress to remove the Barr Amendment, it also urges Congress to remove other ideological social policy riders that limit the District's ability to self-govern and make its own policies regarding abortion, domestic partnerships, and contraceptive coverage.

Please take a moment now to call and e-mail your councilmembers. We need the Council to send the clear message to Congress that it must stop thwarting D.C. residents' ability to determine their own policies, including their decision to protect medical marijuana patients.

Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project.

Sincerely,

Noah Mamber
Legislative Analyst
Marijuana Policy Project

MEDIA ADVISORY   
MARCH 22, 2009

Medical Marijuana Hearing Tuesday in House Public Safety Policy & Oversight Committee
Former Seattle Police Chief Expected to Dispel Myths About Medical Marijuana Laws

CONTACT: Former Rep. Chris DeLaForest (R-Andover)........................................................(763) 439-1178

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA -- The House Public Safety Policy and Oversight Committee will hold a hearing on the House version of Minnesota's medical marijuana bill, H.F. 292, at 12:45 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24. Among the scheduled witnesses is Norm Stamper, former chief of police for Seattle, whose testimony is expected to dispel many common myths about medical marijuana laws.

    WHAT: House Public Safety Policy and Oversight Committee hearing on the medical marijuana bill,     H.F. 292.

    WHO: Scheduled witnesses include:
      -- Norm Stamper, former chief of police, Seattle
      -- Robert Youcha of St. Francis, a paramedic who suffered spinal injuries in a 1998 ambulance accident, leaving him in constant pain

     WHERE: Rm. 10, State Office Building, St. Paul.

     WHEN: Tuesday, March 23, 12:45 p.m.
   

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