House committee to have hearing on medical marijuana bill this Tuesday

Published: April 4, 2005

Texans for Medical Marijuana (TMM)—a Marijuana Policy Project grant recipient—has been working diligently with the bill's author, Rep. Elliott Naishtat (D-Austin), to get H.B. 658 launched and a hearing scheduled. If passed, the bill would give medical marijuana patients an affirmative defense to prosecution. This has been a hard road, but TMM's dedication and persistence is paying off.

On Tuesday, April 5, at 2:00 p.m., H.B. 658 will get its hearing before the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee.

Please call the committee members and ask them to vote in favor of H.B. 658. A list of the committee members' numbers is provided at the end of the alert. Before you call, please review TMM's fact sheet on the bill.

http://www.texansformedicalmarijuana.org/docs/AffirmativeActionDefense.pdf

If you would prefer to write the representatives, you can do that here:

/TX/action.html

If you want to offer written testimony to the committee, please contact Noelle Davis at TMM. She would be happy to make sure that it gets to the members on your behalf.

noelle@texansformedicalmarijuana.org

If you plan on attending the hearing, please read this:

Because of the large number of bills scheduled and delays that have already hampered H.B. 658's progress, both Rep. Naishtat and committee Chairman Rep. Terry Keel (R-Austin)—a bill cosponsor—want to limit the number of witnesses in order to ensure a favorable hearing for the bill, and a quick trip to the House floor.

TMM is asking supporters who wish to attend the hearing to respect Reps. Naishtat and Keels estimate that the better organized and more succinct the testimony, the more likely that the committee will vote for the bill.

If you are not in Austin, you can still view the hearing as it takes place:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/media/welcome.php

Thank you for supporting the Marijuana Policy Project, and make sure that you tell your friends and family about this Web page, so that their voices can be heard as well.

House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee members and contact info:

Rep. Terry Keel, Chair, (R-Austin)

Capitol Phone: 512-463-0652

District Phone: 512-463-0652

Rep. Debbie Riddle, (R-Houston)

Capitol Phone: 512-463-0572

District Phone: 281-537-5252

Rep. Aaron Pena, (D-Edinburg)

Capitol Phone: 512-463-0426

District Phone: 956-383-7444

Rep. Mary Denny, (R-Flower Mound)

Capitol Phone: 512-463-0688