cannabisnews.com: Medical Pot Bill Rejects Jail 





Medical Pot Bill Rejects Jail 
Posted by CN Staff on February 20, 2003 at 06:45:49 PT
By Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Source: San Francisco Chronicle 
Reacting to the latest wave of federal marijuana prosecutions and raids, a California congressman announced legislation Wednesday that would keep medical marijuana growers and suppliers out of federal prison. The U.S. Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration has "no respect for the laws we here in California have established to allow patients to live pain-free lives," said Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel.
Farr's bill would apply to California and seven other states that have legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Anyone charged in those states with growing, transporting or distributing marijuana, in violation of federal law, would qualify for an acquittal by proving that the marijuana was intended solely as medicine. The bill, to be co-sponsored by Reps. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, and Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, is not the first attempt to get Congress to make allowances for states with medical marijuana laws. Rep. Barney Frank, D- Mass., has tried for years to shield those states from the federal ban on marijuana but has been unable to get a hearing on his bill in the Republican- controlled House. "I think it'll be a long haul," said Farr, who plans to introduce his bill within a few weeks. Rohrabacher, who like Farr supports Frank's bills, said he thinks fellow Republicans would back such measures overwhelmingly if they could vote secretly. "Most conservative Republicans have a very strong libertarian streak," Rohrabacher said in an interview. "A large number of these people are politically afraid of having someone claim that they're for legalizing all drugs, attacking them viciously in a Republican primary." Rohrabacher said he voted for Proposition 215, the 1996 California medical marijuana initiative, and that he believes the federal government should respect the will of a state's voters. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/bek.htm Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff WriterPublished: Thursday, February 20, 2003Copyright: 2003 San Francisco Chronicle - Page A - 4 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Sites:Green-Aid.comhttp://www.green-aid.com Ed Rosenthal's Trial Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmMarijuana Crusader Defends His Healing Mission http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15511.shtmlWhen a Jury Should Just Say No http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15502.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on February 20, 2003 at 12:59:44 PT
Important E-Mail News from MPP
Medical Marijuana on Dateline NBC Friday Dear Friend:Just last week, we at the Marijuana Policy Project informed you that the momentum for medical marijuana in this country is building. Well, we have even stronger evidence this week. On Friday night, Feb. 21, Dateline NBC will be airing a lengthy segment on the trial of Ed Rosenthal, a California man who was deputized by the city of Oakland to grow marijuana for compassion centers that served sick people in accordance with California's medical marijuana law.The Dateline segment will include interviews with many of the jurors who convicted Mr. Rosenthal on three federal counts of marijuana cultivation and conspiracy, and it will focus on the conflict between state and federal laws. Please check your local listings to find out when this program airs in your area.There has also been an important medical marijuana development in Congress. U.S. Representatives Sam Farr (D-CA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) have agreed to sponsor a medical marijuana affirmative defense bill drafted by MPP. The purpose of this bill is to correct the injustice of having jurors convict individuals without knowing that their "crimes" were aiding the sick and dying. If the bill passes, medical marijuana providers will be allowed to defend themselves by proving that their actions were legal under their states' laws. We expect that this bill will be introduced in the near future with a large number of co-sponsors.The credit for this momentum in Congress must be shared with MPP's e-mail subscribers, such as yourself. Since our first alert on this subject two weeks ago, nearly 11,000 faxes have been delivered to Capitol Hill! (Please scroll down to see which states are generating the most and the fewest faxes.) Let's keep this pressure building. If you have not yet sent faxes to your three members of Congress asking them to protect states' rights to medical marijuana and to remove the "gag" that the federal government is placing on medical marijuana defendants in court, please visit: http://www.mpp.org/USA/action.html -- to do so now. 
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