[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 7955-7956]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           MEDICAL MARIJUANA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, there is a quiet revolution taking place 
across America to reform and modernize our marijuana laws. For over 
half a century, the official position has been one of prohibition, of 
incarceration, of obfuscation, and willful ignorance; yet almost 20 
million Americans use marijuana every month.
  A majority of the public now thinks that that should be legal, and an 
even larger majority thinks that, whatever their personal opinion about 
marijuana is, that the Federal Government should not interfere with 
what the States do, just like how we regulate alcohol.
  In the vanguard of the reform movement has been medical marijuana 
since 1996, when California was the first State to legalize it. It has 
been followed now where almost three-quarters of the States provide 
some form of access to medical marijuana, and most of those decisions 
were made by a vote of the people. Well over 200 million Americans live 
where they have access to medical marijuana.

[[Page 7956]]

  There have been many positive benefits achieved for our veterans, who 
suffer from a wide range of medical problems, many of which stem from 
their years of service: chronic pain, PTSD, controlling the symptoms of 
multiple sclerosis, or dealing with violent nausea as a result of 
chemotherapy; yet our veterans are discriminated against because, even 
in States where it is legal, their VA doctors are discouraged from 
working with them to see if medical marijuana is right for them or if 
it is not.
  I am pleased to see some change taking place in Congress. We almost 
passed my amendment last month which would have given veterans fair 
treatment, enabling their primary doctor to consult with them. Just 
this last week in the Senate, there was approved in committee 
essentially the same amendment, and it is on its way to the Senate 
floor to give equal rights to veterans for medical marijuana.
  This is the latest step in the evolution that we have seen now where 
four States and the District of Columbia have declared adult use legal, 
and we are seeing further progress at the local level.
  The tide is building. We are turning away from a failed program of 
prohibiting; arresting; and, in some cases, incarcerating, while 
denying the science.
  We as a Nation are turning to approaches that are more honest and 
workable, that tax and regulate to allow for important research and 
public education that will allow people to make informed choices about 
the use of these substances or not.
  We are already seeing the social, economic, and law enforcement 
advantages in this shift at the State level, and we should capitalize 
on this movement at the national level as well.
  It is exciting to see a bipartisan group of legislators in a sea of 
legislative dysfunction coming together to promote bringing this 
country into the 21st century in terms of marijuana policies, doing it 
right.
  This week, during consideration of the Commerce, Justice, Science, 
and Related Agencies Appropriations bill, we are likely to see numerous 
amendments dealing with research, hemp, medical marijuana, cultivation, 
enforcement, and respecting States' laws.
  This is an exciting and encouraging development to be able to make 
the Federal Government a full partner with the evolution that is taking 
place on the State and local level.
  I urge my colleagues to vote in such a way that respects the will of 
the people and the rights of States to forge these new policies.

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