cannabisnews.com: Congress Should Resist Blocking of Democracy 





Congress Should Resist Blocking of Democracy 
Posted by FoM on September 26, 1999 at 08:59:08 PT
Editorial
Source: San Antonio Express News
Almost 70 percent of Washington voters support allowing AIDS and cancer patients to use marijuana to relieve pain and side effects from routine treatment.
District of Columbia voters cast ballots on the issue last year, but Congress blocked a count of results by ordering that no funds be spent on any effort to ease marijuana laws.A federal judge last week decided the votes could be counted. Now, the issue is headed to Congress again. Lawmakers have 30 days to override the law if they choose. The district is under federal control.Congress should allow District of Columbia citizens to exercise their democratic will on this issue.Medical use of marijuana has been approved in five states. Others are considering elections on similar proposals because marijuana has proven effective in relieving pain and nausea.But a handful of Republican leaders, including Rep. Bob Barr of Georgia, actively oppose the measure. Last year, Barr successfully sponsored an amendment that would prohibit any expenditures to enact a medical marijuana system, the Washington Post reported.Medical marijuana use is not the same as recreational drug abuse. The ballot initiative would allow only the seriously ill to legally smoke marijuana. Other less emotionally charged controlled substances are used to relieve the pain of the seriously ill. But marijuana, a symbol of the liberal 1960s, is just too much for Barr and his cronies to bear.Congress should honor democracy by getting out of the way of the District of Columbia. Saturday, Sep 25, 1999© 1999 San Antonio Express-NewsDon't Let Congress Undermine Democracy in DC - 9/25/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3022.shtml
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