Record House Vote for Medical Marijuana 161-264 Vote to Stop Raids

[eridani]

http://www.mpp.org/hincheyvote/

On June 15, a record 161 House members voted to stop arresting medical marijuana patients -- an all-time record of support for medical marijuana access. The amendment was defeated 161-264.
The vote was a much stronger showing than political observers had predicted. The legislation received 13 more votes than it did last July, with fully 72% of House Democrats voting for the amendment and 15 House Republicans bucking their hostile congressional leaders and the White House to vote "yes."

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 10 states where medical marijuana is legal: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Congresspeople Hinchey, Rohrabacher, Barney Frank (D-MA), Sam Farr (D-CA), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), and Shiela Jackson Lee (D-TX) all spoke in support of the amendment.

[knowbody0]

1. another one bites the dust

ha ha ha ha......some of these guys are waking up from their comas.

[Must_B_Free]

2. what's that mean?

[Algomas]

3. This, on top of the Supreme Court ruling, which had three...

dissenting votes. Two more, next time and sanity may prevail. Bush must be impeached before he can pack the court completely.

[rodeodance]

4. i am very surprized Hassert allowed the vote-

......Congressmen John Peterson (R-PA), Steve King (R-IA), Frank Wolf (R-VA), Elton Gallegly (R-CA), and notorious prohibitionist Mark Souder (R-IN) spoke in opposition to the amendment, denying that patients have a need for medical marijuana and saying it would send the wrong message to children.

Congressman Souder alleged that medical marijuana is a "ruse ... dreamed up at some college dorm," and that medical marijuana advocates "are perpetuating a fraud." Holding up two blown-up 19th century ads for carbolic smoke balls and snake oil, he said medical marijuana is their modern-day equivalent.

Congresswoman Pelosi corrected his inaccurate claims that no medical association supports medical marijuana use, citing the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Nurses Association, and many others.

Responding to opponents' claims that the amendment would encourage teen marijuana use, Rep. Blumenauer (D-OR) held up MPP's giant poster showing a dramatic decline in teen use of marijuana in California since the state's medical marijuana law went into effect in 1996.......

[mom cat]

5. He allowed the vote in order to smear the proponents in the next

election.Hope that we have the sence to use the votes of the opponents to expose them for the mean spirited evil doers that they are. can you see a commercial of cops and repukes dragging a cancer patient out of bed in the middle of the night?

[BiggJawn]

6. Souder is a real piece of work, as are his colleagues...

Hostettler? the guy who tried to carry a handgun onto an airplane? And got probabtion on a misdemeanor, so he wouldn't lose his seat (how much you wanna bet a Democrat would be in Gitmo right now for the same thing) and then told a group of breast cancer survivors that they'd still have their titties if they hadn't aborted their pweshush widdle babies (he was citing a bogus "Focus on the Family" "Study")

Then Steve "I was called up, REALLY I was" Buyer...

This guy was a reserve officer with the JAG in Desert storm. Supposedly was a crack interregator. Must have thumbs that fit real good into 7.62 bullet holes or something. Anyway, he cooks up this story about how he was being called up for Afghanistan, and said he was "waiting at home in uniform, sitting on his duffel, waiting for the mob orders"...The army said "What? You think we'd actually call-up a SITTING CONGRESSMAN??? We NEVER!"

Yep, Steve said he was going to war, and the Army said "In his DREAMS!"

We got some real prize specimens in Indiana. Why do we send 'em back? Because they bring home the PORK, that's why. Who gives a shit if homos can get married, just as long as that new US highway gets expanded to 6 lanes coming into town....Oh, and don't forget the welfare...Uh, I mean "Farm Subsidies" for rich ReTHUGlican Agribusiness millionaires...

[Sgent]

7. I didn't know the AAFP supported Medical use...

AAFP is the largest specialty organization in medicine, and the second largest organization in medicine to the AMA...

[KittyWampus]

8. FWIW, At The Craft Site I Frequent W/ Lots Of Vocal Freeper Women

even many of them didn't support the 'drug war' and saw it as a waste of resources.

At least as regards pot.

[getmeouttahere]

9. Somewhat surprising, cryingshame...

but as long as this country is run by born-agains like BushCo, we will always have a resource-depleting, useless, hypocritical drug war raging in our midst.

[AX10]

10. Most people know that the "war on drugs" is a sham.

[David__77]

11. Clinton was very hostile to medical marijuana.

They even interceded to campaign against Proposition 215 in California in 1998. It seems no one want to be perceived as "soft on pot" when they're in power.