This week, the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment is expected to come up for a vote.
Hinchey-Rohrabacher would prevent the federal government (the DEA in particular) from spending resources to interfere with state laws allowing for the medicinal use of cannabis (marijuana) when recommended by a physician.
Despite the fact that a dozen states have legalized marijuana for medicinal use, the Bush administration has gone after both patients and providers with a vengeance. This has been argued all the way up to the Supreme Court; in 2005, the Court ruled that the Commerce Clause allows the federal government to enforce its ban on cannabis even if this policy is in disagreement with state laws. Of importance is the fact that the ruling did not imply that states are banned from creating such conflicting laws in the first place.
The plaintiff in said case, Ms. Angel Raich, 41, has essentially exhausted her legal options. Despite living in California, a state which has legalized medical cannabis, Raich expects to die a painful death at the hands of the federal government now that her access to cannabis has been blocked. Says her physician,
Angel has no reasonable legal alternative to cannabis for the effective treatment or alleviation of her medical conditions or symptoms associated with the medical conditions because she has tried essentially all other legal alternatives to cannabis and the alternatives have been ineffective or result in intolerable side effects. Angel will suffer imminent harm without access to cannabis. Angel needs to medicate every two waking hours. After a certain number of medications have been tried, it would be malpractice to subject the patient to further unnecessary harm.
Of course, this issue is far bigger than just Angel Raich. Approximately 50 million Americans live in states which have legalized medical marijuana to some extent. But these states' hands are tied as far as coming up with legal, legitimate, non-black-market suppliers and distributors. Patients, physicians, and providers live in constant threat of arrest and prosecution, despite the protection afforded to them by state law. Just last week, the DEA threatened to evict building owners who lease space to medical marijuana "clubs" in California.
Many studies have confirmed that cannabis has many medical benefits and is far less harmful than almost any legal recreational or prescription drugs. The very fact that it remains on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, which is reserved for drugs which are generally considered both unsafe and medically useless, is an insane triumph of prejudice over science. Unfortunately, the presence of cannabis on Schedule I is extremely unlikely to change in the short term. But Hinchey-Rohrabacher could provide important relief for patients right now.
Please contact your representative in Congress and ask him or her to support the Hinchey-Rohrabacher amendment. Last year it lost 163 to 259. This year, let's see if we can do better.
More information and talking points are available here.