cannabisnews.com: Activists Score Win in House Panel!





Activists Score Win in House Panel!
Posted by FoM on July 21, 19119 at 21:02:34 PT
ACT UP/DC For Immediate Release July 21, 1999 
Source: Act Up Washington, D.C.
Washington, DC -- Organizers for Initiative 59 are hailing a vote in the House Appropriations Committee yesterday which would allow local election officials to count the votes for the DC medical marijuana measure, which appeared on the November 3, 1998 ballot.
"This is a bittersweet victory," states AIDS activist Wayne Turner, who lead the Initiative 59 campaign after the death of the measure's original sponsor, Steve Michael, who died from AIDS during last year's signature drive. The ballots for Initiative 59 have remained impounded for eight months, due to an amendment sponsored by Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) attached to the District's (FY 99) budget. The Barr amendment prohibits the DC Board of Elections and Ethics from using funds to "conduct an election" on any initiative measure which reduces the penalties for marijuana, including the seriously and terminally ill patients protected by Initiative 59. Elections officials were reportedly threatened with arrest last year if they released even the unofficial totals for Initiative 59. The full House Appropriations Committee voted 24-13 in favor of substitute language sponsored by Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) permitting the use of local funds (less than $2 for a computer tally of the votes). Rep. Randy 'Duke' Cunningham (R-CA) defended the "constitutional right" of DC voters to express themselves at the ballot box, though he opposes the subject matter of the initiative. A federal court challenge to the Barr amendment remains pending, with attorneys for the District government joining the ACLU-National Capital Area. "Our strategy -- both in the Courts, and in Congress -- has been to defend the rights of DC residents to vote, and have their votes count," adds Turner. The Barr Amendment is expected to be re-introduced when the DC Budget reaches the House Floor on Thursday, July 29. House Speaker Dennis Hastert spoke in favor of the Amendment last year. Initiative 59, if passed, would allow seriously and terminally patients, under doctor's supervision, to use small amounts of marijuana to ease their suffering, such as the treatment for AIDS wasting syndrome, and to counter the severe nausea associated with chemo-and radiation therapy in cancer patients. "There are still those in Congress who mischaracterize our local citizens' effort, to protect sick and dying patients, as part of a drug legalization conspiracy," says Turner. "It's been a long struggle, and we've got to keep lobbying and demonstrating, but it's nice to have a victory for a change." For more information, contact Wayne Turner, Initiative 59 Sponsor, at (202) 547-9404 Cannabis News Related Articles:http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2143.shtml
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