Date: Thu Sep 23 08:24:39 1999 From: LVNORML420@aol.com Subject: Initiative 59 passes in D.C. with 69% of the vote! To: undisclosed-recipients:;
After nearly a year's delay, MPP is pleased to report that the November 1998 medicinal marijuana initiative passed in Washington, D.C., with 69% of the vote. The results of the initiative had been suppressed by an act of Congress that prevented the local D.C. government from spending any money on the initiative.
On September 17, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued its decision, which authorized the local D.C. government to release the results. The key excerpts from the judge's opinion can be seen at http://www.mpp.org/roberts.html.
Since the vote totals were released on September 20, MPP has been flooded with media calls. Among other stories, MPP was quoted on September 21 in the following (see links for full articles):
* front page of "USA Today" - http://www.mpp.org/usa92199.html
Advocates of the D.C. initiative warn Congress against barring a publicly supported practice. "Do you want to send the message that you have no regard for democracy?" says Chuck Thomas, spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a nonprofit group that advocates legalization for medical use.
* page A23 of "The New York Times" - http://www.mpp.org/nyt92199.html
Chuck Thomas, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project, a group based in Washington that campaigned for the measure, said the vote in Washington was in line with that in referendums elsewhere.
"To date, these initiatives have passed in every state in which they have appeared on the ballot," Mr. Thomas said. "This confirms what every scientific public opinion poll has found since 1995: 60 to 80 percent of the American people support legal access to medicinal marijuana."
* Reuters wire service - http://www.mpp.org/rts92199.html
"This is great news," said Chuck Thomas of the Marijuana Policy Project, which lobbies U.S. and state lawmakers to legalise medical marijuana prescribed by a doctor for cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma and other illnesses that cause pain or "spastic" reactions.
Not only was the 69 percent margin the highest vote total ever on a medical marijuana ballot, it also showed support was not just a West Coast phenomenon, he said. Similar initiatives were approved in Alaska, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Arizona.
"If the law takes effect it will be right here in Congress' backyard," Thomas said.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SEPTEMBER 20, 1999 ======================================================================== This item also appears on the Web at http://www.mpp.org/nr092099.html. ========================================================================
D.C. VOTERS PASSED MEDICINAL MARIJUANA INITIATIVE WITH 69% OF THE VOTE
Results were announced today, despite congressional efforts to block their release
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics released today the results of the November 1998 vote on the District's medicinal marijuana ballot initiative, revealing that it passed with 69% of the vote.
Directors of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), which co-ran the D.C. Initiative 59 campaign last fall, are elated. "Voters nationwide are supporting these initiatives because patients should not be arrested and imprisoned for using marijuana if their doctors approve," said Chuck Thomas, MPP's director of communications. MPP is a non- profit, Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization that lobbies Congress and state legislatures to remove criminal penalties for the medical use of marijuana.
"MPP is currently lobbying state legislatures to pass similar laws," added Thomas. "Our ultimate goal is to force Congress to change federal law so that medicinal marijuana users nationwide no longer have to live in fear of being arrested." Currently, the federal penalty for possessing even one medicinal marijuana cigarette is up to a year in prison. The laws are similar in most states. Initiative 59 permits patients to grow and use their own medicinal marijuana if approved by their doctors.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In October 1998, just 13 days before Election Day, Congress passed a law that prohibited the D.C. city government from spending any money to count the votes on Initiative 59. Advocates filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking the release and implementation of the vote. Judge Richard Roberts agreed, ruling last Friday that the results should be counted and certified.
Unfortunately, Congress now has 30 working days to prevent the new medicinal marijuana law from taking effect, as per its usual authority to review new D.C. laws. If that happens, then -- for the first time in U.S. history -- Congress would be overturning the results of a democratically held election.
"Congress seems intent on thwarting democrac and making sure that hundreds of seriously ill people in the District of Columbia remain subject to arrest and imprisonment for using medicinal marijuana," said Thomas. "MPP is lobbying to prevent this grave injustice."
NATIONAL TREND
Since 1996, the voters of Alaska, Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington state have passed favorable medicinal marijuana initiatives. To date, these initiatives have passed in every state in which they have appeared on the ballot. This confirms what every scientific public opinion poll has found since 1995: 60-80% of the American people support legal access to medicinal marijuana. Said Thomas, "Who else but a Republican member of Congress could think that it's a good idea to arrest patients for using their medicine?"
MPP spokespersons have frequently discussed medicinal marijuana policy developments on radio and television, including appearances on CNN Headline News, C-SPAN, MSNBC, NBC's Today Show, and CBS Evening News. They are also regularly quoted in print media, including the Associated Press, Reuters World Report, USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Journal of the American Medical Association, and Ann Landers' column.- END -
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HOW TO SUPPORT THE MARIJUANA POLICY PROJECT:
To support MPP's work and receive the quarterly newsletter, "Marijuana Policy Report," please send $25.00 annual membership dues to:
Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) P.O. Box 77492 Capitol Hill Washington, D.C. 20013
http://www.mpp.org/join-mpp.html 202-232-0442 FAX