Ohio_Patient_Network

Eleven years after District of Columbia voters approved a medical marijuana initiative with 69% of the vote, Congress has finally stepped aside and will allow DC to implement the will of the people. The US Senate voted to approve the omnibus appropriations bill, which was the final step in removing former Rep. Bob Barr's (R-GA)  language from the DC appropriations bill that had barred the District from implementing the results of the 1998 vote. President Obama signed the bill into law Wednesday.

Bob Barr lobbied to repeal the anti-medical marijuana legislation he wrote, and DC will shortly join the 13 states that currently have medical marijuana laws.  But, unlike some states that have joined the ranks more recently, the language of the DC initiative is relatively loose.  It allows "all seriously ill individuals... to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes when a licensed physician has found the use of marijuana to be medically necessary."

The measure allows patients, or up to four caregivers, to grow, buy, and possess marijuana for medicinal use.  It also permits the establishment of nonprofit dispensaries, and orders DC health officials to devise a plan to distribute marijuana to patients.

Wednesday December 2, 2009 was an historic day here in Pennsylvania. For the first time ever, the House of Representatives held a hearing of the Health and Human Services Committee in order to hear testimony on HB 1393, the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. Thanks to the dozens of patients and advocates who traveled to Harrisburg for the hearing, wrote testimony, or simply spread the word, we had a resounding success educating the HHS committee how marijuana is medicine but jail is not.

22 Members of the HHS Committee heard testimony from a variety of advocates, patients, and physicians. Advocates who testified in favor of the bill included PA Rep. Mark Cohen, Chris Goldstein and Derek Rosenzweig of PhillyNORML and Pennsylvanians for Medical Marijuana (PA4MMJ), Edward Pane of PA4MMJ, Patrick K. Nightingale Esq. of Pittsburgh NORML and PA4MMJ; Bradley Walter, Charles Rocha, Sandra Crue, John Ray Wilson, and Dr. Denis Petro; Rabbi Eric Cytryn, Brian Gralnik, former Montgomery County Commissioner Ruth Damsker, and Dr. Howard Swidler, MD, Chief of Emergency Medicine at Warren Hospital, all from the Jewish Social Policy Action Network (JSPAN); and Bob Cappecchi of the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

Medical Marijuana was well represented at this hearing, so well that both chairmen of the committee - Reps. Oliver (D) and Baker (R) - have agreed that more hearings need to be held. Rep. Benninghoff (R), Rep. Beyer (R), Rep. Seip (D), and Rep. Payton (D) asked very good questions, indicated they are leaning towards supporting the bill, or flat out refuted the opposition during the hearing. It is imperative that we get at least two Republicans as co-sponsors if this bill is to have a chance in the full House of Rep, and gain any traction in the Senate later this year. Current legislators' known positions can be found at Philly Norml Website.

So far, the following videos have been uploaded for viewing on YouTube.  Here  are some YouTube videos links of the hearing
Rep. Cohen, Bradley Walter, Rabbi Eric Cytryn, and Charles Rocha.  The videos from the rest of the hearing will be available shortly at http://www.youtube.com/user/PA4MMJ.