Please urge your U.S. Representative to support the Hinchey medical marijuana amendment to the "CJS" spending bill by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.

Congress will vote on an amendment this week (as early as Wednesday) that would protect Angel Raich, Valerie Corral and other patients with cancer, AIDS and other diseases who use marijuana for medical reasons. Make sure your Representative votes to protect patients from federal prosecution: call him or her as soon as possible, and forward this alert to everyone you know. (You can keep an eye on our website to make sure Congress hasn't voted on the amendment before you call).

What to Do: Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Ask to speak to your U.S. Representative. If you're not sure who represents you, the operator can tell you. You can also look up your Representative by entering your zip code at the top of the page.

What to Say: Once the operator transfers you to your Representative's office, give the person who answers the following message:

"Hi, I'm a constituent. I'm calling to urge my Representative to vote for the Hinchey medical marijuana amendment to the Commerce-Justice-Science ('CJS') spending bill, which will be voted on this week. This issue is very important to me."

(Hinchey is pronounced Hinchee.)

Then forward this alert to friends and family.

The Bottom Line:

Responding to the growing conflict between the states and the federal government over the issue of medical marijuana, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) will offer an amendment to the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations bill that would prohibit the U.S. Justice Department from undermining state efforts to provide terminally ill and chronic pain patients access to doctor-recommended medical marijuana. The amendment would prohibit the Justice Department from spending any money on arresting or prosecuting medical marijuana patients in states where medical marijuana is legal. 163 members of Congress voted for a similar amendment last year.

The U.S. Justice Department continues to spend millions of dollars arresting medical marijuana patients and their caregivers - even in the twelve states where medical marijuana is legal. At a time when violent drug cartels remain at large and threats of terrorism continue to emerge, it is irresponsible for the Justice Department to jeopardize public safety by wasting scarce law enforcement resources conducting raids on hospice centers and medical marijuana patients.

Earlier this year, New Mexico became the twelfth state to enact a proactive medical marijuana law. New Mexico joins Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington as states with effective medical marijuana laws. Numerous other states are currently considering medical marijuana laws of their own. Passage of this amendment will not only help embolden these efforts across the country, but will send a stern message to the Justice Department to stop subjecting seriously ill patients to dehumanizing arrest.

The Hinchey medical marijuana amendment would not prevent the Justice Department from arresting people using, growing, or selling marijuana for recreational use. Nor would it prevent the Justice Department from arresting medical marijuana patients in the states that have not approved the drug for this use. It simply prevents the federal government from arresting patients who use marijuana for medical reasons in states that have adopted medical marijuana laws.

Substantial majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents support medical marijuana. A 2001 Pew Research Center poll found that 73% of Americans support medical marijuana. A 2002 Time/CNN poll found that 80% of Americans support it. The Institute of Medicine has determined that nausea, appetite loss, pain and anxiety "all can be mitigated by marijuana." Allowing cancer, AIDS, and MS patients legal access to medical marijuana is supported by the American Nurses Association, American Public Health Association, American Bar Association and Kaiser Permanente, among other groups.

**********Please urge your U.S. Representative to support the Hinchey medical marijuana amendment to the “CJS” spending bill by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121.***********

Thank you,

Bill Piper
Director of National Affairs
Drug Policy Alliance