Medical Marijuana in Congress

This is an exciting time for marijuana policy reform in Congress.  In 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider at least three pieces of legislation on the subject. 

Hinchey Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment

The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment this summer.  The amendment, if passed, will end the federal government's raids on medical marijuana patients who use marijuana legally under state law.

Although Congress failed to end the raids on medical marijuana patients and caregivers last year, the amendment received a record number of votes (165; we need a total of 218). It is now vital that we follow up with Congress to ensure that we increase the vote count this year.

H.R. 5842: The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act

This bill would end marijuana's classification as a Schedule I drug and allow doctors to prescribe it for medical use. Additionally, this bill would protect medical marijuana patients who use marijuana legally under state law from arrest and jail.

This bill was introduced on April 17 by Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).  It is currently under consideration in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. 

H.R. 5843: The Personal Use Act

The Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008 marks the first time in decades that Congress has considered removing criminal penalties for marijuana.  Introduced by Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), this bill seeks to decriminalize the possession of up to 100 grams of marijuana and the not-for-profit transfer of one ounce of marijuana.

The bill is currently under consideration in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. 

Visit MPP's action center and help pass these important pieces of legislation.

165-262 Vote to Stop Raids on Patients

On July 25, 2007, a record 165 House members voted to stop arresting medical marijuana patients — an all-time record of support for medical marijuana access. The amendment was defeated 165-262 but received two more votes than it did the previous year.

The bipartisan amendment, introduced by U.S. Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), sought to prohibit the U.S. Justice Department — which includes the DEA — from spending taxpayer money to arrest or prosecute medical marijuana patients in the 12 states where medical marijuana is legal: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

Although we lost, the vote was a record showing of congressional support, in part because of the more than 24,000 letters that MPP members and allies sent to their U.S. representatives in the weeks leading up to the vote.

Speaking on the House floor in favor of the amendment, Congressman Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) told an emotional story about his close friend, a former Navy SEAL, who died of pancreatic cancer but used medical marijuana to ease his final months.

Congressman Rohrabacher spoke of the deaths of his mother and brother from cancer, stating, "If marijuana would have helped them, it would have been a horrible thing to think that federal agents would have come in and interfered with that, if their doctor had recommended it."

Speaking in opposition to the amendment, Congressman Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) falsely claimed that marijuana "does cause cancer. I've seen it." He added, "Most people who want to use [medical marijuana] want to get high."

Leading up to the vote, the MPP staff and our lobbyists had dozens of meetings with House members. The addition of former Congressman Bob Barr (R-Ga.) to our lobbying ranks gave a boost to our efforts.

MPP also generated a record amount of grassroots support for the amendment, delivering hundreds of patient anecdotes and testimony to members of Congress. MPP coordinated an open letter to Congress from health and medical organizations and helped draft the text of the amendment

Over the last year, MPP's lobbying staff has been targeting a number of congressional districts in order to pick up the votes needed to reach a 218-vote majority. Now that the amendment has 165 votes, in the next year we'll be targeting a smaller number of districts to pick up the remaining 53 votes we need. MPP will keep pushing every year until we get a majority.

MPP also ran an unprecedented grassroots campaign to pressure first-year Representatives to support the amendment. We also placed organizers in key congressional districts throughout the country to run high-pressure grassroots campaigns directed at targeted swing votes.