Congressmen Want States to Take Control of Marijuana Regulation

Is marijuana going to be pulled from a federal list of controlled substances?

It will be if representatives Barney Frank (D-Mass) and Ron Paul (R-Texas) pass their bill. The congressmen have introduced HR 2306, a bill that would remove marijuana from the federal list of control substances and hand over the legislation and enforcement to states.

The bill coincides with recently implemented bans of medical marijuana dispensaries by Loma Linda and San Bernardino County.

On June 14, the Loma Linda City Council unanimously voted to amend the Public, Peace, Morals and Welfare ordinance to define dispensaries as a public nuisance. They also amended the zoning chapters of the city codes. A second hearing on the issue is scheduled for June 28.

On March 22, San Bernardino County banned dispensaries from unincorporated areas. While Frank and Paul’s legislation deals with marijuana use in general, those who argue that substance should more accessible often site that local bans fly in the face of California’s Compassionate Use Act. Approved by voters in 1996, the act allows doctors to legally prescribe it to ill patients.

In spite of the Compassionate Use Act, federal officials have conducted several raids in Southern California.

According to a Los Angeles Times story, Frank said, "I do not advocate urging people to smoke marijuana. Neither do I urge them to drink alcoholic beverages or smoke tobacco. But in none of these cases do I think prohibition enforced by criminal sanctions is good public policy.

"Criminally prosecuting adults for making the choice to smoke marijuana is a waste of law enforcement resources and an intrusion on personal freedom," he added.

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