[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 86 (Friday, June 30, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1176-E1177]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             NARCOTIC DRUGS

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MARK E. SOUDER

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 29, 2000

  Mr. SOUDER. Mr. Speaker, I rise on behalf of the countless mothers, 
fathers, families, and individuals whose lives have been devastated by 
illegal drugs to introduce legislation to federally nullify movements 
in the states to legalize the use of narcotic drugs illegal under 
federal law.
  It is undisputed that narcotic drugs devastate our families and rot 
our communities literally to the core through addiction and crime. 
Earlier this week, we passed the Commerce/Justice/State Appropriations 
bill that provided literally hundreds of millions of our tax dollars to 
fight drugs and drug-related crime, and we are finalizing action on 
$1.3 billion in assistance to our allies in Colombia, where agents of 
the Colombian National Police are dying in numbers to keep them off of 
our streets in America.
  Directly defying our efforts as a Congress and a nation, a small 
group of well-funded activists have engaged in deceptive, back door, 
efforts that pretend to legalize drugs under state law that are banned 
under federal law. These activists hide behind the myth of so-called 
``medical'' use of marijuana and other drugs, despite the facts that 
there is no scientific proof that smoked marijuana provides any real 
medical relief, and that the active ingredient in marijuana is 
available in pill form.

[[Page E1177]]

Increasingly, however, they have abandoned even this pretense, and made 
clear that their goal is the legalization or decriminalization of 
narcotic drugs.
  One activist called it the ``leaky bucket strategy . . . legalize it 
in one area, and sooner or later it will trickle down into the 
others.'' The bucket is now leaking faster.
  The Governor of Hawaii just signed into law state legislation that 
purports to allow the ``medical'' use of marijuana, even though it's 
still illegal under federal law. Five states have enacted laws by 
ballot initiative that purport to allow so-called ``medical'' use of 
marijuana under state laws: Alaska, California, Maine, Oregon and 
Washington. In furtherance of that strategy, pro-drug activists are now 
attempting to pass ballot initiatives for the November elections in six 
states to virtually decriminalize marijuana by removing criminal 
penalties for its use in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, 
Massachusetts, and Michigan.
  These initiatives have already given us such Alice-in-Wonderland 
moments as the ``nation's first bed and breakfast inn catering to 
medical marijuana users'' in Santa Cruz, California. This 
``establishment'' was featured in People magazine with a smiling couple 
holding marijuana plants in front of their home, which is said to 
contain cannabis-themed tiles on the sidewalk, and hemp curtains and 
towels. That really sounds like a ``medical'' facility to me. We've 
also seen the bizarre decision by the Oakland City Council to declare a 
``public health emergency'' after a court closed the city's medical 
marijuana club, and the issuance of photo ID cards supposedly allowing 
marijuana use by the Arcata, California police chief.
  But this is all an illusion--states can't permit marijuana use, 
because it's illegal under federal law. The legalization initiatives 
mislead the public into breaking federal law and directly counter 
congressional policies against drug use and the provisions of the 
federal Controlled Substances Act. Today, I am introducing legislation 
to stop this charade once and for all, with the support of my 
colleagues on the Speaker's drug task force and others, including Task 
Force Co-Chair McCollum, Chairman Mica of the Drug Policy Subcommittee, 
Chairman Gilman, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Norwood, Mr. Myrick, Mr. Foley and 
Mr. Baker.
  Federal law is ordinarily assumed to preempt contrary state laws. 
However, the Federal Controlled Substances Act does not contain an 
express preemption clause, and currently has language stating that the 
intent of Congress is not to occupy the entire field of regulation of 
narcotic drugs. In light of the state initiatives, federal courts could 
potentially interpret the language of state efforts to regulate 
narcotics as legally harmonious and proper. In fact, one federal 
district judge has already argued in non-binding language that Congress 
intended federal law to regulate drug trafficking, and not ``medical'' 
marijuana use.
  My bill will remove any potential loophole or ambiguity by clearly 
declaring that it is the intent of Congress for federal law to 
supersede any and all laws of states and local governments purporting 
to authorize the use, growing, manufacture, distribution or importation 
of any controlled substance which differs from the provisions of the 
Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances Import and 
Export Act. It would also expressly declare such state and local 
enactments as null and void. If enacted, the bill would decisively 
prohibit federal and state judges from giving any effect to drug 
legalization initiatives and legislation, and send an equally clear 
message that Congress will not tolerate backdoor efforts to legalize 
narcotic drugs.
  Mr. Speaker, this bill is not my bill--it belongs to our mothers, 
fathers, families and our communities. It has strong support from 
numerous community groups and coalitions, narcotics activists, and 
tireless anti-drug advocates, who have worked closely with my office in 
drafting this bill. I would particularly like to acknowledge and thank 
Joyce Nalepka of America Cares, who first raised this important issue 
with me. I look forward to working with the anti-drug community to pass 
this legislation, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting and 
passing it.

                 [From People Magazine, June 12, 2000]

    Joint Venture--When Pot's Prescribed, the High Way Leads to the 
                         Compassion Flower Inn

       At the Compassion Flower Inn in Santa Cruz, Calif., there 
     are smokers--and there are smokers. Cigarette smokers are 
     banished to the front porch. Smokers, on the other hand, may 
     feel they've died and gone to pot. Cannabisthemed tiles adorn 
     the sidewalk outside. Curtains, linens and towels are made of 
     hemp. And . . . say, what is that funny smell, anyway?
       The five-bedroom bed-and-breakfast, just a stoner's throw 
     from the beach, exists as a safe--and perfectly legal--haven 
     for people who smoke marijuana for medical reasons. ``Motel 6 
     guests probably smoke it quietly in their rooms,'' says 
     Andrea Tischler, 57, who with her partner, Maria Mallek-
     Tischler, 46, opened the inn in a restored Victorian in 
     April. ``This is more out of the closet.''
       Guests who show up hoping to be provided with marijuana go 
     away disappointed; the Compassion Flower is strictly BYOP. 
     And, as required by California law, a doctor's note is also 
     necessary. Tischler, who grew up in Chicago, and German-born 
     Mallek-Tischler, a couple since 1979, have been pot-
     legalization activists since the 1980s in San Francisco. ``We 
     had a lot of friends with AIDS,'' says Tischler. ``They were 
     taking AZT, and marijuana seemed to bolster their appetite.''
       Out in the sunshine-soaked ``toking area,'' a new arrival, 
     Scott Byer, 53, of Clearlake, Calif., who smokes to ease 
     spinal pain, has taken out a small porcelain pipe and is 
     filling it. He doesn't even have his room key yet.

     

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