>Sender: >To: >X-Original-Message-ID: <106a01bf0424$7afb0c30$9acf69cf@pacbell.net> >From: "Peter McWilliams" >Subject: Barr's ban barred >Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1999 04:28:51 -0700 >X-Mozilla-Status: 8001 >X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 > > >Washington, D.C., Votes For Medical Marijuana Use > > >September 21, 1999 > > >WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Residents of the nation's capital overwhelmingly >voted to legalize marijuana use for medical purposes according to year-old >ballot results released for the first time Monday after months of >controversy. >But at least one member of Congress vowed to work against legalization. > >Sixty-nine percent of those voting on Initiative 59 in November 1998 voted >yes, according to referendum results issued by the city's Board of Elections >and Ethics Friday upon orders by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Roberts. > >The results were never tallied or released until now because Congress forbid >the city from spending funds to do the work. Unlike all other U.S. cities, >ultimate control of the District of Columbia's fiscal and political >authority resides in Congress instead of with local authorities. > >Congress has 30 working days to block the initiative from taking effect. But >Congress faces a conundrum. > >While the fiscal 2000 spending bill it passed recently for the District >firmly barred implementation of any medical marijuana initiative, that bill >probably will be vetoed by President Clinton who opposes its spending curbs >on needle-exchange programs. > >Rep. Bob Barr, the Georgia Republican who authored the pending >marijuana-funding curb, said Monday he will do whatever it takes to make >sure his ban sticks. He did not elaborate in a written statement. > >"Marijuana remains illegal under federal law and it would send a terrible >message to America's young people to allow those laws to be openly flouted >in the same city where they were passed," Barr said. > >Initiative backers celebrated the vote totals announced Monday. > >"This is great news," said Chuck Thomas of the Marijuana Policy Project, >which lobbies U.S. and state lawmakers to legalize 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. > >Arthur Spitzer, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the >National Capital Area, called Friday's 24-page ruling in Turner v. D.C. >Board of Elections and Ethics a "tremendous victory for the First Amendment >rights of D.C. voters." > > > > > >================================================================ > >This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to > the mailing list . >To unsubscribe, E-mail to: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------