Representative Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.), Bush’s pick to head the Drug Enforcement Administration, refused to answer questions at Tuesday’s Senate confirmation hearing regarding whether he will encourage federal authorities to prosecute medical marijuana providers and patients.
Marijuana is “illegal; it is harmful and there’s many potential dangers,” Hutchinson said, although he did not reveal if he intended to enforce federal laws outlawing the herb in those states that have approved its use medically.
Hutchinson also claimed that “the scientific community does not support the medical uses of it.” In fact, a 1999 Institute of Medicine study on medicinal marijuana found: “Scientific data indicate the potential therapeutic value of cannabinoid drugs … for pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation. … Except for the harms associated with smoking, the adverse effects of marijuana use are within the range tolerated for other medications.”
Ironically, Hutchinson is on record opposing medical marijuana research, arguing that it may compromise the war on drugs. “A study of marijuana’s medicinal effectiveness … is absolutely the wrong way to go on this issue,” he told Congress in 1999. “It sends the wrong message to young people.”
Hutchinson is a former Arkansas prosecutor and is serving his third term in Congress.
For more information, please contact either Keith Stroup or Paul Armentano of NORML at (202) 483-5500. Media background packets on Hutchinson’s drug policy record are available from NORML Communications Director Nick Thimmesch.
