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The420Guy
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Growers, Suppliers Would Qualify for Acquittal
Reacting to the latest wave of federal marijuana prosecutions and
raids, a California congressman announced legislation Wednesday that
would keep medical marijuana growers and suppliers out of federal prison.
The U.S. Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration has
"no respect for the laws we here in California have established to
allow patients to live pain-free lives," said Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel.
Farr's bill would apply to California and seven other states that have
legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Anyone charged in those
states with growing, transporting or distributing marijuana, in
violation of federal law, would qualify for an acquittal by proving
that the marijuana was intended solely as medicine.
The bill, to be co-sponsored by Reps. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, and
Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, is not the first attempt to get
Congress to make allowances for states with medical marijuana laws.
Rep. Barney Frank, D- Mass., has tried for years to shield those
states from the federal ban on marijuana but has been unable to get a
hearing on his bill in the Republican-controlled House.
"I think it'll be a long haul," said Farr, who plans to introduce his
bill within a few weeks.
Rohrabacher, who like Farr supports Frank's bills, said he thinks
fellow Republicans would back such measures overwhelmingly if they
could vote secretly.
"Most conservative Republicans have a very strong libertarian streak,"
Rohrabacher said in an interview. "A large number of these people are
politically afraid of having someone claim that they're for legalizing
all drugs, attacking them viciously in a Republican primary."
Rohrabacher said he voted for Proposition 215, the 1996 California
medical marijuana initiative, and that he believes the federal
government should respect the will of a state's voters.
Rohrabacher said the issue became personal several years later when
his mother, after hip surgery, was suffering from pain and appetite
loss -- which he thought might have been eased by marijuana. She
recovered from surgery but died after a later operation.
"I couldn't help thinking, when I was in the hospital feeding her,
what a travesty it is that my mother, who's lived such a good life,
would be denied marijuana if it could actually help her," Rohrabacher
said.
Farr was accompanied at a Sacramento news conference by state Attorney
General Bill Lockyer and by relatives of two men recently convicted of
marijuana cultivation, Bryan Epis and Ed Rosenthal, as well as jurors
from Rosenthal's trial. The trial judges in both cases barred all
evidence of medical marijuana. Epis, who was tried in Sacramento, was
sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Rosenthal, who was tried in San
Francisco, faces at least a five-year term under federal law.
Medical marijuana supporters say about 20 similar federal prosecutions
are pending in California.
In September, the DEA angered local and state officials by raiding a
medical marijuana club in Santa Cruz -- part of Farr's district --
that was run by two of the authors of Prop. 215 in close cooperation
with local authorities. No criminal charges have been filed in that
case.
Richard Meyer, spokesman for the DEA in San Francisco, would not
comment on Farr's bill but said, "I think the assumption is being made
that marijuana is kind of a cure-all, which is completely false.
Marijuana causes more harm than good."
Pubdate: Thu, 20 Feb 2003
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Webpage:
https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/02/20/MN2
39584.DTL
Copyright: 2003 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: letters@sfchronicle.com
Website: Home
Reacting to the latest wave of federal marijuana prosecutions and
raids, a California congressman announced legislation Wednesday that
would keep medical marijuana growers and suppliers out of federal prison.
The U.S. Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration has
"no respect for the laws we here in California have established to
allow patients to live pain-free lives," said Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel.
Farr's bill would apply to California and seven other states that have
legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Anyone charged in those
states with growing, transporting or distributing marijuana, in
violation of federal law, would qualify for an acquittal by proving
that the marijuana was intended solely as medicine.
The bill, to be co-sponsored by Reps. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma, and
Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, is not the first attempt to get
Congress to make allowances for states with medical marijuana laws.
Rep. Barney Frank, D- Mass., has tried for years to shield those
states from the federal ban on marijuana but has been unable to get a
hearing on his bill in the Republican-controlled House.
"I think it'll be a long haul," said Farr, who plans to introduce his
bill within a few weeks.
Rohrabacher, who like Farr supports Frank's bills, said he thinks
fellow Republicans would back such measures overwhelmingly if they
could vote secretly.
"Most conservative Republicans have a very strong libertarian streak,"
Rohrabacher said in an interview. "A large number of these people are
politically afraid of having someone claim that they're for legalizing
all drugs, attacking them viciously in a Republican primary."
Rohrabacher said he voted for Proposition 215, the 1996 California
medical marijuana initiative, and that he believes the federal
government should respect the will of a state's voters.
Rohrabacher said the issue became personal several years later when
his mother, after hip surgery, was suffering from pain and appetite
loss -- which he thought might have been eased by marijuana. She
recovered from surgery but died after a later operation.
"I couldn't help thinking, when I was in the hospital feeding her,
what a travesty it is that my mother, who's lived such a good life,
would be denied marijuana if it could actually help her," Rohrabacher
said.
Farr was accompanied at a Sacramento news conference by state Attorney
General Bill Lockyer and by relatives of two men recently convicted of
marijuana cultivation, Bryan Epis and Ed Rosenthal, as well as jurors
from Rosenthal's trial. The trial judges in both cases barred all
evidence of medical marijuana. Epis, who was tried in Sacramento, was
sentenced to 10 years in prison, and Rosenthal, who was tried in San
Francisco, faces at least a five-year term under federal law.
Medical marijuana supporters say about 20 similar federal prosecutions
are pending in California.
In September, the DEA angered local and state officials by raiding a
medical marijuana club in Santa Cruz -- part of Farr's district --
that was run by two of the authors of Prop. 215 in close cooperation
with local authorities. No criminal charges have been filed in that
case.
Richard Meyer, spokesman for the DEA in San Francisco, would not
comment on Farr's bill but said, "I think the assumption is being made
that marijuana is kind of a cure-all, which is completely false.
Marijuana causes more harm than good."
Pubdate: Thu, 20 Feb 2003
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Webpage:
https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/02/20/MN2
39584.DTL
Copyright: 2003 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: letters@sfchronicle.com
Website: Home
