US: Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced

Pubdate: 3 Mar 1999 



Source: Associated Press 



Author: Melissa B. Robinson Associated Press Writer 	



ubject: MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL INTRODUCED	



WASHINGTON (AP) A Democratic congressman wants to lift the federal ban on the medical use 

of marijuana in states where voters have approved it as a treatment for pain, nausea or other 

problems. 	



"What we need to do to get marijuana into the hands of people suffering is to set aside the federal 

controls on marijuana, so the states can determine this issue for themselves," Rep. Barney Frank of 

Massachusetts said Wednesday. 	



Frank has proposed legislation that would reclassify marijuana as a Schedule II drug, meaning that 

it could be prescribed by doctors under certain conditions, just as cocaine and other controlled 

substances are. Prescriptions for such drugs are subject to federal and state review. 	



The bill would set aside the federal ban on marijuana in those states Alaska, Washington, Oregon, 

California, Arizona and Nevada where voters have permitted medical use of the drug. The bill 

would not affect states that have not permitted such use.	



Although marijuana users with a demonstrated medical need don't face state prosecution in those 

six states, they still face possible federal prosecution, Frank said. Doctors, too, may shy away from 

prescribing the drug for fear of losing their right to prescribe other federally controlled substances, 

he said.	



The bill would also require the federal government to supply marijuana for research.	



Frank has pressed the issue twice before, and he is not hopeful that his latest proposal will pass the 

Republican-controlled 106th Congress. 	



Last fall, the House adopted by 310-93 vote a resolution by Rep. Bill McCollum, R-Fla., that said 

marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug and should not be legalized for medical use. 

Supporters said efforts to legalize the drug for medical use send the wrong message to teen-agers, 

and that scientific testing has not proved a medical use for marijuana. 	



But the New England Journal of Medicine has editorialized in favor of medical marijuana, and the 

American Medical Association has urged the National Institutes of Health to support more 

research on the subject. 	



On Wednesday, Canada's health minister authorized clinical trials to determine if marijuana is a 

useful medicine for people suffering from terminal illnesses and other painful conditions. 	



And a report from the International Drug Control Board concluded last month that in-depth and 

impartial scientific studies should be conducted into marijuana's possible medical benefits.	



In addition to the six states that allow medical uses of marijuana, 11 states have reduced the 

possession of small amounts of the drug to a minor civil offense, similar to a traffic violation. They 

are Alaska, Oregon, California, Minnesota, Colorado, Nebraska, Mississippi, Ohio, North 

Carolina, New York and Maine.