cannabisnews.com: Pot Vote Up in Smoke Pot Vote Up in Smoke Posted by CN Staff on July 23, 2002 at 13:09:14 PT Editorial Source: Chicago Tribune Can you have too much democracy? Congress seems to think so, at least for District of Columbia residents who want to vote on an issue that enflames a lot of passions these days: medicinal marijuana.Seven states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington) have voted in the past six years to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana when approved by a doctor. But Congress has beaten back similar efforts in the district to the point of overturning a vote that took place in 1998. Congress does not have to listen to what the district thinks before deciding for itself what the district needs. The federal city has no senator or congressman, except for a single House delegate who cannot vote on the House floor.So, when the district voted overwhelmingly in 1998 to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana, Congress passed an amendment sponsored by Rep. Bob Barr, a Georgia Republican, to the district's annual appropriations bill to block funding from any local initiative on the issue, including counting the 1998 votes.Federal courts later released the vote count and ruled Barr's amendment unconstitutional, but not before anti-pot congressmen passed a new amendment that completely overturned the 1998 vote.So advocates are trying again. The district-based Marijuana Policy Project submitted new signatures recently to put the measure on this November's ballot and Rep. Barr has vowed a new challenge.This time, Congress should at least pay district voters the courtesy of finding out what they want to do before preventing them from doing it. It may be within Congress' legal power to block the district's voters from voting, but that does not make it the right thing to do.It is important to hear what the public has to say on timely issues, particularly when public opinion has shifted dramatically. A national Zogby poll released in June found that 63 percent of registered voters nationwide said Congress should stop interfering with the district's medical marijuana initiative, while only 24 percent wanted Congress to block the measure.Marijuana does not appear to concern people as much as it used to. Great Britain, with the highest rates of cannabis use in Europe, has announced that Her Majesty's government will no longer arrest private users of marijuana in small amounts.The controlled, medicinal use of marijuana, as proposed in the District of Columbia, is hardly a threat to anyone.More frightening are politicians who stand in the way of anyone's right to vote on issues of great public concern.Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)Published: July 20, 2002Copyright: 2002 Chicago Tribune CompanyContact: ctc-TribLetter Tribune.comWebsite: http://www.chicagotribune.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Marijuana Policy Projecthttp://www.mpp.org/Medical Pot May Again Go To Voters http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13336.shtmlMarijuana Advocates Submit Signatures http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13333.shtmlGroup Wants Marijuana Issue on Ballothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13139.shtmlMedical Marijuana Ban Overturned in D.C. http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12422.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment