Mm Review & Analysis Of Fed And State Policies - April 2010

[+Jennifer8]

"American taxpayers spend over $100 million a year to fund the Congressional Research Service [they] provide reports to members of Congress on a variety of topics relevant to current political events. Yet, these reports are not made available to the public in a way ...easily obtained..."

 

Congressional Research Service -Report Identified as "RL33211"

Medical Marijuana: Review and Analysis of

Federal and State Policies

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL33211.pdf

Mark Eddy

Specialist in Social Policy

April 2, 2010

Congressional Research Service

7-5700

www.crs.gov

report number RL33211

 

 

Here are some excerpts of this 51 page report dated April 2010:

 

"The issue before Congress is whether to continue the federal prosecution of medical marijuana

patients and their providers, in accordance with the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), or

whether to relax federal marijuana prohibition enough to permit the medicinal use of botanical

cannabis products when recommended by a physician, especially where permitted under state

law."

 

 

"Two bills relating to the therapeutic use of cannabis have been introduced in the 111th Congress.

The Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act (H.R. 2835), which would allow the medical use of

marijuana in states that permit its use with a doctor’s recommendation, was introduced on June

11, 2009, by Representative Barney Frank. The bill would move marijuana from Schedule I to

Schedule II of the CSA and exempt from federal prosecution authorized patients and medical

marijuana providers who are acting in accordance with state laws. Also, the Truth in Trials Act

(H.R. 3939), a bill that would make it possible for defendants in federal court to reveal to juries

that their marijuana activity was medically related and legal under state law, was introduced on

October 27, 2009, by Representative Sam Farr."

 

 

"...the medical cannabis movement is a

cynical ploy to legalize marijuana and other drugs...."

 

"The Cannabis sativa plant has been used for healing purposes throughout history. According to

written records from China and India, the use of marijuana to treat a wide range of ailments goes

back more than 2,000 years. Ancient texts from Africa, the Middle East, classical Greece, and the

Roman Empire also describe the use of cannabis to treat disease."

 

"Its decline in medicine was hastened by the development of

aspirin, morphine, and then other opium-derived drugs, all of which helped to replace marijuana

in the treatment of pain and other medical conditions in Western medicine."

 

"...the

Marihuana Tax Act [of 1937] was the federal government’s first attempt to regulate marijuana."

 

"A DEA official testified that his agency would 'continue to enforce the law as it stands and

to investigate, indict, and arrest those who use the color of state law to possess and sell

marijuana.'"

 

"Among recent opinion surveys, a January 2010 ABC News/Washington Post poll found that more

than 8 in 10 Americans (81%) supported efforts to make marijuana legal for medical use, up from

69% in 1997."

 

"The federal penalty for possessing one marijuana cigarette—even for medical use—is up to one

year in prison and up to a $100,000 fine,135 and the penalty for growing a cannabis plant is up to

five years and up to a $250,000 fine."

 

 

"Some observers believe the pharmaceutical industry and some politicians oppose medical

marijuana to protect pharmaceutical industry profits. Because the whole marijuana plant cannot

be patented,"

 

"Medical marijuana opponents see the movement to promote the use of medical marijuana as a

cynical attempt to subvert the Controlled Substances Act and legalize the recreational use of

marijuana for all. They see it as a devious tactic in the more than 30-year effort by marijuana

proponents to bring an end to marijuana prohibition in the United States and elsewhere."

 

 

Author Contact Information

Mark Eddy

Specialist in Social Policy

meddy@crs.loc.gov, 7-8647

[Sledge]

Good info Jennifer,Thanks for posting.