The House Judiciary Committee passed H.R. 2987 on Tuesday sans numerous controversial provisions that sought to greatly limit information relating to drug use or manufacture from being posted to the internet.
The bill, now named the ‘Methamphetamine and Club Drug Anti-Proliferation Act of 2000’, won committee approval after the following provisions were removed because of the strong concerns voiced by civil liberties groups, drug law reform organizations and privacy and health advocates: provisions allowing federal agencies to order internet service providers to take down websites that the government believes disseminates offensive drug-related information; provisions making it illegal to teach or distribute information on the manufacture of a controlled substance; and making advertising of ‘drug’ paraphernalia illegal.
Also, the committee adopted two other important amendments. The first allows federal judges to divert nonviolent drug offenders charged solely with possession of an illegal drug into drug treatment or other alternative forms of sentencing. The other amendment instructs the attorney general to prepare a report within the year to address a potential disparity in the criminal justice system concerning “the racial impact of mandatory sentences for controlled substances, their effectiveness in reducing drug-related crime by non-violent offenders in contrast with other approaches such as drug treatment programs.”
NORML’s Executive Director Keith Stroup said, “The Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, led by ranking member John Conyers (D-MI), are to be commended for leading the efforts to eliminate the most offensive provisions of this bill.” The bill will be scheduled for a vote by the full House after the August recess.
For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, Executive Director of NORML at (202) 483-5500.
