The Senate will likely vote soon on a companion bill rejecting the use of marijuana as a medicine. The measure, Senate Joint Resolution 56, is identical to a House resolution passed last week opposing state efforts to legalize marijuana as a medicine.
Senate Joint Resolution 56, sponsored by Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and John Kyl (R-Ariz.), expresses a “sense of the Congress” only and does not propose any new criminal sanctions on medical marijuana.
House members approved the measure last week by a vote of 310-93. Backers of the measure removed language defining marijuana as “a dangerous and addictive drug [that] should not be legalized for medical use” to assure the resolution’s passage.
For more information, please contact either Paul Armentano or Keith Stroup, Esq. of NORML @ (202) 483-5500.