A bunch of duly elected lawmakers in the nation’s capital – led by one from the shadow of the Space Needle – put their heads together and agreed on something this week. WTF?
It won’t avert any fiscal cliffs or huge tax increases, but the States’ Medical Marijuana Patients Protection Act represents agreement across the aisle in the hallowed halls of Congress, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The act was introduced by a bipartisan group of 15 U.S. representatives in an effort to get the feds off the backs of people in states that have legalized cannabis. It would largely exempt cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act in states with medical cannabis laws.
U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon is the main sponsor of the bill, along with Jim Farr of California. Blumenaur is a known advocate of cannabis law reform, having authored a report on the topic.
Stay tuned.
This article appears in Feb 21-27, 2013.
and how long will it be until we see more ‘medicines’ legalized for public health reasons?
In the past year or so there have been close to a half dozen bills brought forward in Congress to either help protect patients or exempt cannabis altogether from Federal intervention. Lets see. One calls for cannabis to be moved into the jurisdiction and subsequent renaming of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms. Another simply removes Cannabis from Federal intervention and places it in the States hands. Check NormlDOTcom to see more.