Yet again the House of Representatives is considering a vote on the Hinchey-Rohrbacher Amendment, the Wilmot Proviso of the new millennium. It's an amendment jointly sponsored by a Republican and a Democrat to protect the rights and safety of private users of medical marijuana and exempt them from criminal prosecution. It doesn't legalize pot and doesn't even generally decriminalize marijuana. All it does is make sure that those suffering with AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and other medical conditions won't be thrown in jail for using the one viable treatment available for their conditions. It restricts federal authorities from interfering with state laws that protect medical marijuana users in the 11 states which have passed medical marijuana laws.
The Drug Policy Alliance has done an excellent job of raising public awareness of this issue, and their site has all the information you need to write your representative and urge them to support this bill. I could go on and on about the failure of the War on Drugs and the ridiculousness of spending tens of billions of dollars a year to turn what should be a victimless crime into a massive industry of organized crime and exploitation, but I'm sure you've heard that story before.
Instead I wanted to praise the vision and courage of Dana Rohrbacher (R-CA), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), and the other Congressmen who've actually taken a stand on principle to support this amendment against the positions of the ruling elites of both political parties. Like David Wilmot 150 years ago, they have placed principle ahead of politics and are doing the right thing - again and again - in the conviction that it will eventually lead to victory. It worked for Wilmot. He proposed his amendment almost 100 times prior to the Civil War and it was voted down every time. But Wilmost rests happy in his grave because the slaves were eventually freed. Let's hope that Rohrbacher, Hinchey and the thousands they are working to help don't have to endure that same kind of struggle before sanity prevails.
Article comments
1 - Howard Dratch
Dave. I am happy to hear that Maurice Hinchey remains one of the Good Guys. He is an old friend I worked with (as a photographer) when he was in the NY State Assembly and continued to admire and respect when he entered the US Congress.
Amazingly, he can pull a widely divergent Congressional District of ardent everythings from Woodstock to Binghamton, factory workers to university professors together so that he gets the job done in a manner not so unlike a JFK.
There are few such good men in Washington and I applaud him for his usual good sense and courage and you for pointing it out to the world -- or at least the blogosphere.
We still manage to vote for Maurice with absentee ballots just as we have through his multiple NY Assembly terms and, now, (I think) six US Congress terms.
America needs politicians with courage, fairness and sense. There are a few. He is one.
2 - Dave Nalle
I'm not that familiar with Hinchey since I'm from Texas, but even in the democratic party it takes some guts to stand up and shout that the emperor has no clothes in the context of the ridiculous war on drugs. We've got our own heroes down here, of course, most notably Ron Paul who I'm surprised didn't sign on as a sponsor. Since he's a doctor his name on the bill might carry some additional weight.
Dave
3 - Dave Nalle
Hinchey-Rohrbacher was voted down again today, though it did slightly better than last time. Rest assured, like the Wilmot Proviso, it will come up again and again to haunt the Congress like a ghost pointing an empty sleeve of accusation.
This is a perfect time to write to your Congressman and demand that he take a stand on the side o of common sense and humanity on this issue. To find out how he or she voted, check the roll call. To send a letter use this form.
Here's a copy of the letter I sent to my Congressman:
4 - Jet in Columbus
Dave, that's not diesel smoke coming out of your truck?