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06/16/2005: And speaking of working hard…
…Dang – I missed this yesterday while I was hard at work trying to catch up the rest of my mom duties:”Medical Marijuana this A.M/. [Rick Brookhiser]
Anyone who wants to support the Hinchey- Rohrabacher bill allowing states to permit medical use of marijuana should call his congressman (see below).
Chemotherapy, which I had in 1992, wasn't all bad. I looked very cool bald; it gave a nice grey perm when my hair came back (why couldn't it bring more hair back? can't they cut it with menoxydil?); and it did stop my unpleasant visitor.
But the nausea was not cool, and only the illegal drug worked once the legal ones had failed.
John Walters says there is no medical evidence for marijuana's effects. He is a liar or an ignoramus, probably both.
Congress is expected to vote Wednesday morning on a medical marijuana amendment -- introduced by U.S. Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) -- that would bar the U.S. Department of Justice from raiding, arresting, and prosecuting patients who are using medical marijuana in the 10 states where it's legal under state law.
MPP has last-minute intelligence that many members of Congress are on the fence and need to hear from their constituents. This is where you come in.
We are asking elite activists like you to call five of your friends or family members on Wednesday morning and ask them to call their U.S. representative. Even messages right up to the time of the vote could impact the swing votes in Congress.
It's easy, and you can spend as much or as little time as you want before the vote on Wednesday. Here's how to help:
(1) Call through your friends who you think are most likely to support the issue now and see if they are willing to help.
(2) Tell them to call the capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, give the operator their zip code, and ask to be connected to their representative; they don't even need to know the representative's name to do this.
If you're not sure what to tell your friends who are willing to call, here's some guidance. When the receptionist for the congressperson -- not the capitol receptionist -- answers the phone, your friends should say: "Hi, this is [name]. I live in [city], and I understand that my representative needs to decide today how to vote on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment to the Science-State-Justice-Commerce bill. I'm calling to ask for a vote in favor of the amendment."
This is your last chance to speak out before Congress votes, so please get your friends to start calling on Wednesday morning!
Courtesy of The National Review.
And checking up on this Bill's status for passage:"Although the amendment was defeated by a vote of 153-272 in the House...The vote was largely on party lines, with Democrats lining up 30-2 in support, and Republicans 16-3 in opposition.
Libertarian-leaning Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach admirably led the Republican support with an impassioned speech on behalf of medical marijuana. He was joined by Rep. Mary Bono (who has taken a lot of heat from her Palm Beach constituents), and Rep. Bill Thomas, the crusty Bakersfield committee chairman who has some independent ideas about drug policy.
Notable among the sea of hard-core Republican opponents was governor-wannabe Rep. Darrell Issa, leader of the Davis recall campaign.
Under the leadership of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the state's Democrats lined up solidly in support of the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment. Two exceptions were Democratic congressmen Dennis Cardoza of Merced (emulating the law-and-order conservatism of his predecessor Gary Condit), and Joe Baca of San Bernardino. Rep. George Miller, a known supporter of medical marijuana, was absent for the vote.
Among Democratic Presidential candidates, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH) voted in favor of the Hinchey/Rohrabacher amendment, while Rep. Richard Gephardt (MO) was absent for the vote. "
Karen on 06.16.05 @ 03:53 AM CST
