Four additional members of Congress, including one member of the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Crime, and two Republicans, have recently signed on to a federal bill (H.R. 2618) that would permit physicians to prescribe marijuana as a therapeutic agent for seriously ill patients. The recent signees, U.S Reps. Joseph Kennedy (D-Mass.), Steven Gunderson (R-Wis.), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), and Tom Campbell (R-Calif.) bring the total number of co-sponsors to thirteen.
The support of the recent co-sponsors is critical for a variety of reasons. The addition of Reps. Gunderson and Campbell gives the bill its first taste of bi-partisan support and could potentially persuade several other Republicans — including House Speaker and former co-sponsor of medical marijuana legislation Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) — to sign on to H.R. 2618. In addition, the support of Republicans is necessary if the bill is to move forward in a Republican controlled Congress.
Rep. Lofgren’s support is also crucial. Currently, H.R. 2618 is pending before the Subcommittee on Crime. As a member of this committee, Lofgren can encourage Chairman and former two-time co-sponsor of medical marijuana legislation, Bill McCollum (R-Fla.), to hold additional hearings on medical marijuana and possibly bring the bill to a vote.
H.R. 2618 was introduced in Congress last fall by Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to amend federal law to allow seriously ill patients to have legal access to marijuana for medicinal purposes. If passed, the bill would allow doctors to prescribe marijuana to individuals suffering from “glaucoma, AIDS wasting syndrome, muscle spasms from certain spastic disorders, including multiple sclerosis, paraplegia, and quadriplegia, or the nausea associated with cancer chemotherapy or radiology.” Currently, only eight patients are allowed to receive medical marijuana legally from the federal government.
For more information about H.R. 2618 or medical marijuana, please contact either Allen St. Pierre or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500.