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Bill Id: Senate Bill 718  Title: Amateur Sports Integrity Act (Introduced in the Senate). Sponsor: Sen McCain, John (introduced 4/5/2001)  Latest Major Action: 4/5/2001 Referred to Senate committee.  Summary: A bill to direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish a program to support research and training in methods of detecting the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes, and for other purposes. (!)
 

Bill Id: House Res. 786  Title:  Summary: 

Section 484, subsection 'r' of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1998 denies student loans to any college student convicted of any state drug offense, even the simple possession of a couple of marijuana cigarettes. This is a needlessly harsh penalty which will force many low-income students to drop out of college, hardly a goal we should encourage. It will also have a disproportionate effect on minorities, especially African Americans, who comprise 13% of the nation's population, 14% of drug users, and 55% of those convicted for drug offenses.
 

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has introduced HR 786 in the House of Representatives to repeal this counterproductive and harmful provision of the HEA. Prominent members of Congress such as Maxine Waters (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC), and Connie Morella (R-MD) have expressed a desire to see this harmful amendment repealed, and have signed on to co-sponsor the bill. 

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Section 484, subsection 'r' of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1998 denies student loans to any college student convicted of any state drug offense, even the simple possession of a couple of marijuana cigarettes. This is a needlessly harsh penalty which will force many low-income students to drop out of college, hardly a goal we should encourage. It will also have a disproportionate effect on minorities, especially African Americans, who comprise 13% of the nation's population, 14% of drug users, and 55% of those convicted for drug offenses.

In the two short years since the enactment of this provision, the devastating effects on the lives of young students is already being felt. According to the Department of Education, over 8,100 students have lost some or all of their federal aid during this 2000-2001 school year after revealing a drug conviction on the Federal Application for Financial Student Aid (FAFSA). In response, over 70 student government’s across the country have formally called for a repeal of this provision.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) has introduced HR 786 in the House of Representatives to repeal this counterproductive and harmful provision of the HEA. Prominent members of Congress such as Maxine Waters (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC), and Connie Morella (R-MD) have expressed a desire to see this harmful amendment repealed, and have signed on to co-sponsor the bill. 

The U.S. Department of Education has spoken out against the student loan provision of the HEA, noting that judges already have the power to strip eligibility to student aid if they feel that an individual case warrants such action. The disqualification for minor drug offenses seems especially inappropriate, because no other criminal offense by college students disqualifies them from receiving student loans: not drunkenness and disorderly conduct; not even rape, robbery or assault. 

While no one wants to encourage drug use, neither should we take away an individual's opportunity to obtain an education for such a minor offense. Please help restore eligibility for student loans to students convicted of minor, nonviolent marijuana offenses. 

Take action now! Tell your Representative to sign on as a co-sponsor and do all in their power to support HR 786. Then urge your Senators to introduce a similar bill in the Senate. 

With your help, we can restore financial aid to marijuana smokers. 
 

Washington, DC: Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) reintroduced legislation today in the 107th Congress to provide for the medical use of marijuana. The bill is titled the "States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act." 

"People who are suffering from severe or terminal illnesses who find a measure of relief from marijuana ought to be able to use it without being treated like criminals," Frank announced. "This bill offers an opportunity for my conservative colleagues to decide if they really want to be consistent on the question of states' rights or if they think the federal government should tell states what to do."  The legislation states: 

"No provision of the Controlled Substances Act [or] ... the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act shall prohibit or otherwise restrict  (A) the prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical use,  (B) an individual from obtaining and using marijuana from a prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical use by such individual, or  (C) a pharmacy from obtaining and holding marijuana for the prescription of marijuana by a physician for medical use under applicable state law in a State in which marijuana may be prescribed or recommended by a physician for medical use under applicable State law."

The legislation reschedules marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II under federal law. This reclassification properly recognizes marijuana's medical utility and enables physicians to legally prescribe it under controlled circumstances while maintaining restrictions on recreational use.

Since 1996, nine states -- Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington -- have implemented laws allowing seriously ill patients to possess and use medical marijuana under a doctor's supervision.  While these laws protect patients from state criminal marijuana penalties, they do not shield patients from federal prosecution, nor do they allow a state legislature to legally distribute medical marijuana.  The legislation introduced in Congress today would afford patients legal protection under federal law, and permit those states that wish to establish medical marijuana distribution systems the legal authority to do so. 

NORML Executive Director R. Keith Stroup called the proposal a streamlined effort to get marijuana to those who require it. "Historically, voters and state legislatures have been more receptive to the medical marijuana issue than the federal government," Stroup explained. 

"This legislation addresses this paradigm and effectively gets the federal government out of the way of those states that wish to make marijuana available as a medicine." 

To provide for the medical use of marijuana in accordance with the laws of the various States. 

To provide for the medical use of marijuana in accordance with the laws of the various States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the `States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act'. 

SEC. 2. CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT. 

(a) SCHEDULE- Marijuana is moved from schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to schedule II of such Act. 

(b) PRESCRIPTION OR RECOMMENDATION- 

(1) IN GENERAL- No provision of the Controlled Substances Act shall prohibit or otherwise restrict-- 

(A) the prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical use, 

(B) an individual from obtaining and using marijuana from a prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical use by such individual, or 

(C) a pharmacy from obtaining and holding marijuana for the prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical use under applicable State lawin a State in which marijuana may be prescribed or recommended by a physician for medical use under applicable State law. 

(2) PRODUCTION- No provision of the Controlled Substances Act shall prohibit or otherwise restrict an entity established by a State, in which marijuana may be prescribed or recommended by a physician for medical use, for the purpose of producing marijuana for prescription or recommendation by a physician for medical use from producing and distributing marijuana for such purpose. 

SEC. 3. FEDERAL FOOD, DRUG, AND COSMETIC ACT. 

(a) IN GENERAL- No provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act shall prohibit or otherwise restrict-- 

(1) the prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical use, 

(2) an individual from obtaining and using marijuana from a prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical use by such individual, or 

(3) a pharmacy from obtaining and holding marijuana for the prescription or recommendation of marijuana by a physician for medical use,in a State in which marijuana may be prescribed or recommended by a physician for medical use under applicable State law. 

(b) PRODUCTION- No provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act shall prohibit or otherwise restrict an entity established by a State, in which marijuana may be prescribed or recommended by a physician for medical use, for the purpose of producing marijuana for prescription or recommendation by a physician for medical use from producing and distributing marijuana for such purpose. 

SEC. 4. RESEARCH. 

The National Institute of Drug Abuse shall make marijuana available for the purposes of an investigational new drug study under section 505(i) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. 

SEC. 5. RELATION OF ACT TO CERTAIN PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO SMOKING. 

This Act does not affect any Federal, State, or local law regulating or prohibiting smoking in public