cannabisnews.com: Washington Learns Marijuana Initiative Passed 





Washington Learns Marijuana Initiative Passed 
Posted by FoM on September 20, 1999 at 15:18:02 PT
By Derrill Holly, Associated Press
Source: Boston Globe
Almost a year after the balloting, voters in the nation's capital learned Monday that nearly 70 percent of them favored medical use of marijuana. Votes on their referendum were finally counted after a judge overruled a congressional ban. That doesn't mean marijuana is now legal for medical purposes in Washington. Congress will get at least one more chance at the issue. 
As passed, District of Columbia ballot initiative 59 would allow doctors to inform their seriously ill patients of the option of using marijuana to ease certain symptoms and side effects of treatment related to AIDS and cancer. ''That will allow a patient to bring a physician in to testify in court, seeking a medical exemption from prosecution under the D.C. Uniformed Controlled Substances Act,'' said Wayne Turner, coordinator of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, a gay rights and patient advocacy group. The D.C. chapter of ACT UP helped collect the signatures of 32,000 registered voters needed to put the measure on the ballot. After the proposal is submitted on Capitol Hill, Congress would have 30 legislative days to pass a resolution of disapproval. If it didn't, the measure would become law. ''Our democracy has not fallen apart because (some) states have medical marijuana in them,'' said Mary Jane DeFrank, executive director of the D.C. area American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit to force the ballot counting. Although 11 of 13 D.C. Council members and Mayor Anthony Williams supported the measure, the White House and the Republican majority in Congress have cited a lack of conclusive medical research in their opposition. ''Marijuana continues to be a Schedule I substance and is still illegal under federal law to cultivate, possess or use,'' said Joseph C. Peters, acting Assistant Deputy Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. ''It would send a terrible message to America's young people to allow those laws to be openly flaunted in the same city where they were passed,'' said Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. Barr wrote the amendment to the district's budget that blocked city officials from spending local money to count the ballot last November. He also is backing an amendment to the city's 2000 budget to block possible implementation of the measure. U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts ruled Friday that preventing city officials from counting and certifying the referendum results was a violation of the constitutional rights of district voters. Sixty-nine percent or 75,536 district voters cast their ballots in support of the measure. Thirty-one percent or 34,621 ballots were cast against the initiative in an election that brought out 40 percent of the district's 353,503 registered voters. Five states California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Arizona also have passed medical marijuana initiatives. Three others Nevada, Colorado and Maine are expected to consider similar measures over the next 14 months. By Derrill Holly Associated Press09/20/99 16:59 D.C. Voters Supported Medical Use of Marijuana - 9/20/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread2954.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by Doctor Dave on September 20, 1999 at 19:45:44 PT
Bob Barr's sending the message
The message being sent in DC is that Bob Barr is opposed to spending less than $2 to allow the vote of the people to be counted and heard.Doctor Dave"A nation that makes ware on huge numbers of its own people can never truly be free." -- my own quote
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Comment #2 posted by stevie on September 20, 1999 at 19:35:29 PT
Is Barr for real?
What sends a terrible message to the youth is the lack of respect for democracy which Barr represents. He believes his own ignorance is better able to make a decision that affects the city than the 70% majority of voters who live there.
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Comment #1 posted by observer on September 20, 1999 at 16:29:17 PT
thwarted persecutor Barr persists
> 'It would send a terrible message to America's young people to allow those laws to be openly flaunted in the same city where they were passed,'' said Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga. Uh, yeah, Bobby, but last time I checked the Constitution and Bill of Rights (which you were swown to uphold) there was nothing about stealing ever more rights from adults to "send" an ostensible "message" to anyone, children included. Your "message to young people" logic, Mr Barr, is a transparent fig-leaf for a police-state. No thanks Bob. I'll take traditional American freedoms over your chains (however you dress them up) any old day.
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