cannabisnews.com: U.S. House Votes To Overturn Init. 59! U.S. House Votes To Overturn Init. 59! Posted by FoM on October 15, 1999 at 11:52:21 PT Action Alert Source: Marijuana Policy Project On Thursday, October 14, the U.S. House of Representatives passed with a 211-205 vote a D.C. spending bill that includes an amendment which will overturn Initiative 59, the medical marijuana initiative that D.C. residents passed in November 1998 by a 69-31 margin. The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on this measure any day now. To send a free fax to your two U.S. senators, please visit http://www.mpp.org/i59 -- tell them to vote "no" on this terrible legislation. (In October 1998, Congress passed a law that prohibited the D.C. city government from spending any money to count the votes on Initiative 59. On September 17, 1999, a federal judge overruled this congressional action, ordering the local D.C. government to release the initiative results. The D.C. government did so three days later.) The D.C. spending bill (H.R. 3064) is very similar to the D.C. spending bill (H.R. 2587) that President Clinton vetoed on September 28, 1999: H.R. 3064 provides funding for the D.C. city government for fiscal year 2000, it prohibits local or federal money from being spent on needle exchange programs in D.C., and it prevents local or federal money from being spent to "enact or carry out" Initiative 59. Additionally, the new bill contains an amendment that if enacted into law -- would completely overturn the will of D.C. voters: "The Legalization of Marijuana for Medical Treatment Initiative of 1998, also known as Initiative 59, approved by the electors of the District of Columbia on November 3, 1998, shall not take effect." Both anti-medical marijuana provisions were introduced by U.S. Rep. Bob Barr (R-Georgia). The latter provision (quoted in the preceding paragraph) had been introduced as a free-standing bill (H.R. 2959) on September 28, 1999. If the U.S. Senate passes H.R. 3064 -- and President Clinton signs the bill -- then Initiative 59 will be prevented from taking effect. The president vetoed the earlier D.C. spending bill because it interfered with the affairs of D.C., so there is hope that the president will veto H.R. 3064, too. But because we cannot assume that he will, it is important that we try to defeat H.R. 3064 in the U.S. Senate. Please contact your two senators today! Please visit http://www.mpp.org/i59 and send a free fax to your two U.S. senators, telling them to vote "no" on H.R. 3064. (The letter is already written for you; the whole process will take less than five minutes.) Thank you. FROM: Robert D. Kampia, MPP Executive DirectorDATE: Friday, October 15, 1999CRRH's Oregon petition now has over 20,000 signatures and needs 66,748 voters' signatures to qualify for a 11/7/00 vote. CRRH's Washington petition now has over 25,000 signatures and needs 179,848 signatures to qualify for a 11/7/00 vote. To subscribe, unsubscribe or switch to immediate or digest mode, please send your instructions to: restore-owner crrh.org *Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp*CRRH P.O. Box 86741Portland, OR 97286Phone:(503) 235-4606 Fax:(503) 235-0120 http://www.crrh.org/Marijuana Policy Project's Web Sitehttp://www.mpp.org/Legislation Introduced To Overturn D.C. MMJ Ballot-10/05/99http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread3149.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #3 posted by RoMan on October 15, 1999 at 14:21:03 PT Congress Of the politicianBy the politicianFor the politicianThry all vote for that one didnt they?R [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on October 15, 1999 at 13:09:16 PT: Pending State Marijuana Reform Legislation I'm really not sure if this list is 100% current!Pending State Marijuana Reform Legislationhttp://www.norml.org/laws/stateleg1999.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Jasper on October 15, 1999 at 12:31:30 PT: Partisan Opposition http://clerkweb.house.gov/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/cnews/vote.exe?year=1999&rollnumber=504According to the count: Yeas: Nays:R: 203 10D: 8 195It seems that we don't really have to worry about the democrats voting against this bill! I wonder why Republicans are so hard-pressed to eliminate a democratic vote, esp. one that has almost two-to-one public support in every state that this is voted in. At least in November, Maine will also be voting on a Med. Marijuana ballot. Hopefully as more states approve this, Congress (Republicans) will realize the error of their ways.If your US senators are Republican, you must urge them to reject this in the Senate vote.... MIT Hemp Coalition: NORML [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: