Sunday, June 21, 2009
Common Sense Legislation Introduced in Congress
Several extraordinary pieces of logical and compassionate drug policy reform legislation have been introduced on the federal level!
Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts introduced, along with co-sponsors Tammy Balwin, Ron Paul, Dana Rohrbacher, and Maurice Hinchey, "H.R. 2943: the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009. "
This legislation would effectively decriminalize marijuana, up to 100 grams, for personal use. This legislation would apply only on the federal level, so that those pesky federal agencies, such as the DEA, cannot arrest people who possess marijuana within the weight limit. While this is great legislation, keep in mind the DEA has already disregarded another edict by Attorney General Eric Holder to stop raiding medical marijuana dispensaries.
Another piece of legislation introduced last week was by Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland who, along with several co-sponsors, submitted "H.R. 2855: the Drug Overdose Reduction Act of 2009". Among other things, the legislation would require the Center for Disease Control to monitor fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses and, very importantly, allocated $27 million dollars to overdose prevention programs throughout the country -- a necessity to life-saving programs that remain woefully underfunded. It is important to note that this funding can go towards purchasing naloxone, an opiate reversal drug, which has never received federal funding before (only state funding).
Coinciding with the overdose prevention legislation, the Drug Policy Alliance released a ground-breaking report, "Preventing Overdose, Saving Lives". This report details evidence-based strategies, that already exist, which can reduce overdose risk, protect Good Samaritans and medical professionals, streamline government response systems, and save lives.
This is all good news, signaling that legislators are exercising their beliefs that the war on drugs has failed, and new policies and strategies must be employed utilizing a public health and safety approach.
This is encouraging, but we still have many miles of road ahead.
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Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts introduced, along with co-sponsors Tammy Balwin, Ron Paul, Dana Rohrbacher, and Maurice Hinchey, "H.R. 2943: the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009. "
This legislation would effectively decriminalize marijuana, up to 100 grams, for personal use. This legislation would apply only on the federal level, so that those pesky federal agencies, such as the DEA, cannot arrest people who possess marijuana within the weight limit. While this is great legislation, keep in mind the DEA has already disregarded another edict by Attorney General Eric Holder to stop raiding medical marijuana dispensaries.
Another piece of legislation introduced last week was by Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland who, along with several co-sponsors, submitted "H.R. 2855: the Drug Overdose Reduction Act of 2009". Among other things, the legislation would require the Center for Disease Control to monitor fatal and nonfatal drug overdoses and, very importantly, allocated $27 million dollars to overdose prevention programs throughout the country -- a necessity to life-saving programs that remain woefully underfunded. It is important to note that this funding can go towards purchasing naloxone, an opiate reversal drug, which has never received federal funding before (only state funding).
Coinciding with the overdose prevention legislation, the Drug Policy Alliance released a ground-breaking report, "Preventing Overdose, Saving Lives". This report details evidence-based strategies, that already exist, which can reduce overdose risk, protect Good Samaritans and medical professionals, streamline government response systems, and save lives.
This is all good news, signaling that legislators are exercising their beliefs that the war on drugs has failed, and new policies and strategies must be employed utilizing a public health and safety approach.
This is encouraging, but we still have many miles of road ahead.
Posted by Evan G @ 9:53 PM 
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