cannabisnews.com: In D.C., Marijuana Dispute Hits a Raw Nerve! 





In D.C., Marijuana Dispute Hits a Raw Nerve! 
Posted by FoM on December 13, 1998 at 07:19:30 PT
Will they approve the vote on the 18th?
WASHINGTON When Wayne Turner finally managed, after years of sidewalk activism, to gather enough signatures in August for a referendum here on the medical use of Marijuana, he felt a sense of accomplishment!
His domestic partner, Steve Michael, whose weight had dropped from 185 to 110 pounds as a result of AIDS, had started smoking marijuana in a last-ditch attempt to stimulate his appetite. Last May, just before he died, Michael asked Turner to keep up the fight.But Turner's joy in getting the issue on the November ballot soon turned to frustration.Three weeks before the election, after the ballots had been printed, Congress passed legislation barring district officials from carrying out the election. Sponsors of the bill said they feared that the referendum would legalize the recreational use of marijuana -- an outcome that Turner said was not his intent.The election went forward, and, according to one exit poll, the measure was approved. But city officials have declined to release the results, saying that to do so would violate the restrictions Congress passed.The controversy over whether the outcome should be made public has opened old wounds among Washington residents who have long chafed at Congress' power, established by the Constitution, to manage district government. Many say the matter has less to do with the medical use of marijuana than with the rights of district residents to govern themselves."There is huge resentment over this," said Eleanor Holmes Norton, the district's nonvoting member of Congress. "The taking away of [ a ] vote is one of those insults that is felt from the poorest communities to the richest. This was a gratuitous election-year stunt."In August, Norton pleaded with Rep. Bob Barr (R., Ga.), the sponsor of the bill in Congress, to drop the measure as he prepared to offer it as an amendment to the budget bill. She failed. The measure was soon approved by a voice vote.Barr, who said he had not been convinced that there were medical benefits to using marijuana, said district residents must accept such congressional oversight in exchange for the money the federal government spends on the city."The majority of the taxpayers who provide these dollars are opposed to efforts to legalize mind-altering drugs," Barr said. "This is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to legalize a frequently abused [ drug ] ."City officials, saying Barr's law violates the First Amendment rights of district residents, have joined with the American Civil Liberties Union in a suit asking the federal District Court here to reverse Congress and let the vote count be made public.Proponents acknowledge that the Constitution probably does give Congress the right to overturn the election results, even if the court eventually rules that they should be made public and certified. But they say Congress does not have the authority to prevent an election that gives district residents a chance to be heard on the issue.The ballot question, called Initiative 59, would allow marijuana to be used, under a physician's direction, in the treatment of AIDS, glaucoma, muscle spasms, cancer, and "other serious illnesses." What troubles some critics is that it places no limits on how much a person may possess, simply saying patients are entitled to have "sufficient" amounts for the treatment of their illnesses.The medical community is divided over the benefits that smoking marijuana can provide to seriously ill patients.Turner, president of the local chapter of ACTUP, the gay activist organization, was supported in his campaign by the Whitman Walker clinic in Washington, which treats up to 5,000 AIDS patients a year. For a small number of patients, said clinic associate director Patricia Hawkins, marijuana helps stimulate the appetite and moderate the effects of chemotherapy."We believe it is a decision that ought to be left up to the patient and the physician," she said.Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Arizona passed initiatives in November legalizing the medical use of marijuana. Only the District of Columbia, with its unique relationship to the federal government, was stopped from having its votes counted."You can't get a more glaring example of congressional interference," said Mark Plotkin, a Washington radio commentator. "This is just a punitive and embarrassing attempt to humiliate us."The battle is the latest in a long-standing conflict between district residents and the federal government over how the district should be governed. Some constitutional scholars say the conflict dates back to 1783, when a band of former Revolutionary War soldiers marched on Independence Hall in an attempt to force the Pennsylvania legislature to pay them back wages.Congress, which also was meeting in Philadelphia at the time, grew alarmed by the disturbance and blamed Pennsylvania authorities for failing to control the situation. When the Constitution was adopted several years later, the framers, some of them citing that incident, gave Congress authority over all matters in the national capital.Congress has not been shy in using that power. It wasn't until 1961 that the 23d Amendment to the Constitution was approved giving district residents the right to vote in presidential elections. A few years later, in 1974, Congress permitted district residents to elect their own mayor and council.But district residents have no voting representatives in the House or Senate. Moreover, Congress periodically steps in to veto laws that it deems objectionable. That was the case several years ago when Congress overturned legislation passed by the City Council establishing a needle-exchange program.For more information on what will be happening, here is Act Up's Web Site!http://www.actupdc.org/
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: