cannabisnews.com: Barr Continues His Assault on Democracy





Barr Continues His Assault on Democracy
Posted by FoM on September 24, 1999 at 21:48:06 PT
Columnist: John Nichols
Source: The Capital Times
American Democracy, Thomas Jefferson allowed, will always be threatened by tyrants. And nowhere is the threat more evident today than in the city where Jefferson served two terms as president of the United States.
We're not talking here about the standard denial of democracy that characterizes affairs in the nation's capitol of Washington, where Congress continues to deny 600,000 residents full representation in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.No, we're talking about a recent development that, by any reasonable measure, qualifies as the most egregious assault on the electoral rights of the citizenry since racist "Jim Crow'' laws were eliminated some 35 years ago.Last November, the citizens of Washington, D.C., were asked to decide whether marijuana could be prescribed for medicinal purposes. It has long been established that marijuana has beneficial effects for cancer patients, glaucoma sufferers and people with AIDS. It has long been established, as well, that the overwhelming majority of Americans -- 80 percent in some surveys -- believe that doctors should be allowed to prescribe the drug to patients in need.When medical marijuana initiatives are placed on the ballot they invariably win, despite the opposition of the "just-say-know-nothing'' drug warriors in the Clinton administration and the Congress. The voters of Alaska, Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have voted to legalize medical marijuana, and referendum campaigns and legislative initiatives are being organized in dozens of additional states.So the District of Columbia vote seemed like pretty much of a done deal. Citizens would go to the polls and express their opinion, and a few very sick people in Washington would get some relief from their aches and pains.Then came Bob Barr.Barr, the Republican congressman from Georgia who divides his time between attacking Bill Clinton's infidelities and trying to prevent the revelation of his own infidelities, is a classic Drug Warrior. Cynical, uninformed and powerful, he got Congress -- which oversees the affairs of the District of Columbia -- to block a count of the vote on the D.C. referendum.Barr allowed as how, "Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, and it would send a terrible message to America's young people to allow those laws to be openly flouted in the same city where they were passed.''So, on the argument that a failed and costly drug war is more important than democracy, Barr and his colleagues prevented the votes from last November's election from being counted -- until last week.That's when U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts ruled that preventing the counting of ballots in an election was, well, illegal.So the votes were counted and, as predicted, the people of the District of Columbia decided by a margin of 75,536 to 34,621 that medical marijuana should be legal.At which point Barr announced: "The results of the referendum do not change my determination to ensure our nation's capital does not legalize any mind-altering drugs, including marijuana.''Translation: Democracy be damned.John Nichols is the editorial page editor of The Capital Times.September 23, 1999© 1999 The Capital TimesThe Drug Policy Forum of Wisconsinhttp://www.drugsense.org/dpfwi/Rx Cannabis Nowhttp://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Lobby/7417/index.htmlMedical Marijuana's Next Step-9/24/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3001.shtmlFederal Court Orders DC Government To Count Vote-9/24/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3004.shtml
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Comment #1 posted by jdd on September 25, 1999 at 21:31:17 PT
Barr Continues...
I find it amazing that states whose constitutions allow the initiative process are thwarted by the Federal goverment. Why is it that the Feds don't attack the initiative process as a whole, instead of attacking individual initiatives that are passed by the people. Take Prop. 215 here in California. The people passed it in the prescribed legal manner, in compliance with our state constitution. Along come the Feds, and tell us that we can't do that. Well, how about the laws that are passed by the same process that they agree with? Are we to void them too? No, for too long we have let the Federal government excede it's Constitutional authority, and dictate to the states what we can, or cannot do. READ THE 10TH AMENDMENT!!! It will show you that it should be the other way around. The U.S. Constitution is intended to limit the Feds, and allow the individual states to decide for themselves what laws they want. The Federal government can only (as far as the Constitution is concerned) make laws that the Constitution SPECIFICALLY allows. Let's wake up, stop being so ignorant of our founding documents, and tell the Bob Barrs of this country to butt our of our lives!! Let's elect people at the state level who will stand up to Washington and let them know that the tax dollars they collect come from the states, and we will not allow any bucks to come their way until they start operating the way in which Jefferson, Madison, etc... envisioned!
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