Stop US Congress From Using DEA Money to Attack Medical Marijuana Movement!



CALL RIGHT NOW - VERY URGENT. Vote is Morning of Thursday, May 22nd, 2003



Earlier this week we asked you to call the House Government Reform Committee and urge them to remove provisions from HR 2086 that would allow the White House to use the billion-dollar anti-drug ad campaign for partisan political purposes. Thanks to you, Congress is listening. Your calls have created a firestorm on the Committee that we hope will ultimately lead to the repeal of the propaganda provision.



Now, we need your help to take out another bad provision.Buried within HR 2086 is a provision that allows the drug czar to divert over $10 million a year to the Drug Enforcement Administration's campaign of terror against medical marijuana patients and their caregivers. This money will come out of the federal government' s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) budget, which is supposed to go to local and state law-enforcement agencies to aid in their fight against serious drug trafficking. In other words, this provision will allow Drug Czar John Walters to shift federal money away from combating major crime syndicates to arresting medical marijuana patients and their caregivers! Worse still, because the drug czar will have the power to take funding away from local and state law-enforcement agencies, he will have a powerful weapon to punish police that support medical marijuana programs or refuse to assist federal agents in their on-going attack on AIDS and cancer patients. (The text of this dangerous provision is at the bottom of this e-mail)



Since your calls to Congress earlier this week made a huge difference, we hope you can spare the time to make calls again. Thousands of AIDS and cancer patients need your help.



ACTIONS TO TAKE



1) If you're from a state with Representatives on the House Government Reform Committee, CALL THEM ALL TODAY (see list of Committee Members and contact information below). If you get this message Wednesday night, leave a message on their answering machine. The Committee will vote on Thursday, May 22nd at 10am (east coast time) so please call before then.



**Tell them you want them to remove the section of HR 7083 that adds a new subsection (m) to Section 707 of the ONDCP Reauthorization Act.



**Tell them this provision hurts local and state law-enforcement agencies and will undermine the ability of states to determine their own medical marijuana policies.



2) Please forward this action alert to your friends and family. Unless Congress hears from thousands of voters this bill and its dangerous provision could easily become law.



GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE



CALIFORNIA:


       

Doug Ose (R-3rd)

202-225-5716



Henry A. Waxman (D-30th, Rnk. Mem)

202-225-3976



Tom Lantos (D-12th)

202-225-3531



Diane Watson (D-33rd)

202-225-7084



Linda T. Sanchez (D-39th)

202-225-6676


       

CONNECTICUT:



Christopher Shays (R-4th)

202-225-5541


       

DC:


       

Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-Del.)

202-225-8050


       

FLORIDA:



Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-18th)

202-225-3931



John Mica (R-7th)

202-225-4035



Adam Putnam (R-12th)

202-225-1252


       

GEORGIA:



Nathan Deal (R-10th)

202-225-5211


       

ILLINOIS:



Danny K. Davis (D-7th)

202-225-5006


       

INDIANA:



Dan Burton (R-5th)

202-225-2276



Mark Souder (R-3rd)

202-225-4436


       

KENTUCKY:


       

Ron Lewis (R-2nd)

202-225-3501


       

MARYLAND:


       

Elijah Cummings (D-7th)

202-225-4741



Chris Van Hollen, Jr. (D-8th)

202-225-5341



C.A. Ruppersberger (D-2nd)

202-225-3061


       

MASSACHUSETTS:


       

John F. Tierney (D-6th)

202-225-8020



Stephen F. Lynch (D-9th)

202-225-8273


       

MICHIGAN:


       

Candice Miller (R-10th)

202-225-2106


       

MISSOURI:


       

William L. Clay, Jr. (D-1st)

202-225-2406


       

NEW YORK:


       

John McHugh (R-23rd)

202-225-4611



Major R. Owens (D-11th)

202-225-6231



Edolphus Towns (D-10th)

202-225-5936



Carolyn Maloney (D-14th)

202-225-7944


       

OHIO:



Steven C. LaTourette (R-14th)

202-225-5731



Michael Turner (R-3rd)

202-225-6465



Dennis J. Kucinich (D-10th)

202-225-5871


       

OKLAHOMA:


       

John Sullivan (R-1st)

202-225-2211


       

PENNSYLVANIA:


       

Todd R. Platts (R-19th)

202-225-5836



Timothy F. Murphy (R-18th)

202-225-2301



Paul E. Kanjorski (D-11th)

202-225-6511


       

SOUTH DAKOTA:


       

William J. Janklow (R-At Large)

202-225-2801


       

TENNESSEE:



John J. Duncan Jr. (R-2nd)

202-225-5435



Marsha Blackburn (R-7th)

202-225-2811



Jim Cooper (D-5th)

202-225-4311


       

TEXAS:



John R. Carter (R-31st)

202-225-3864



Chris Bell (D-25th)

202-225-7508


       

UTAH:



Chris Cannon (R-3rd)

202-225-7751


       

VIRGINIA:



Thomas M. Davis III (R-11th), Chair

202-225-3071



Jo Ann S. Davis (R-1st)

202-225-4261



Edward L. Schrock (R-2nd)

202-225-4215



TEXT OF THE DANGEROUS PROVISION



The dangerous provision in HR 2083 is the section that adds a new subsection (m), entitled "marijuana enforcement" to Section 707 of the ONDCP Reauthorization Act of 1998.



The provision reads:



`(m) MARIJUANA ENFORCEMENT- The Director may direct the reallocation of up to 5 percent of funds available for a fiscal year for the Program, from State and local law enforcement agencies to Federal law enforcement agencies to assist in enforcement of Federal law in high intensity drug trafficking areas containing States where State law permits the use of marijuana in a manner inconsistent with the Controlled Substances Act.