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Today, a bill to eliminate all federal penalties for marijuana
possession was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Would you please take one minute to ask your representative to support this bill?
MPP's easy online action system makes it simple - just enter your name and contact
info and they'll do the rest.

"The Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008," introduced by
Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), would eliminate the threat of arrest and prison
for the possession of up to 3.5 ounces of marijuana and/or the not-for-profit transfer
of up to one ounce of marijuana. It would not affect federal laws prohibiting selling
marijuana for profit, importing and exporting marijuana, or cultivating marijuana.  It
also would not affect any state or local laws and regulations.

Because almost all marijuana arrests are made by local and state police, the primary
impact of this federal bill is twofold:  First, it would offer protection to people who are
apprehended with marijuana in federal buildings or on federal land (such as national
parks); and, second, the bill sends a message to state governments that the federal
government is now open to the notion of states reducing their marijuana penalties,
too.

This historic legislation comes 36 years after the National Commission on Marihuana
and Drug Abuse made a similar recommendation to President Richard Nixon,
suggesting that he decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.

MPP has worked closely with Congressman Frank's staff over the last year, helping to
craft the legislation and build political support for the proposal on Capitol Hill.

Now that the bill has been introduced, members of Congress need to hear from their
constituents who want to see it passed. It takes only a minute or two to use MPP's
online action system to send a quick note to your member of the House.

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Now, take just one moment to [click here]
and send a message to your representative
supporting this new legislation.



If you can spare an additional two minutes, make a phone call!

• You can reach your member of Congress by dialing the U.S. House switchboard
  operator at (202) 225-3121 and asking the operator to connect you to your
  representative (click here to lookup your representative). A staff member or
  intern will take your message and relay it to your representative. You can say:
  
  

  My name is [your name] and I am calling from [your town, your state].
  I wanted to ask my representative to please support Barney Frank's
  Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act.
  

If you believe non-violent marijuana users should stay out of jail...
If you believe the federal government should set precident on this issue...
If you want to do what you can to help make this a reality...

Take action!



Here is an email message I composed for my family and (more conservative) associates.  Feel free to use it if you like.

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For the first time in 24 years, a new bill was proposed today that would end the federal authority to arrest adults for marijuana possession, in effect leaving this decision to individual states, just as it had been for 161 years up until 1937. 

This bill [H.R. 5843 - The Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008], was introduced by US Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) and co-sponsored by presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), and seeks to eliminate all federal penalties prohibiting the personal use and possession of up to 100 grams (3.5 ounces) of marijuana.  Under this measure, adults who consume cannabis would no longer face arrest, prison, or even the threat of a civil fine.  The bill also eliminates all penalties for the not-for-profit transfers of up to one ounce of pot.

The bill incorporates the basic recommendations of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (also known as the Shafer Commission), which was implemented by Richard Nixon, but the scientific results and recommendations of which Nixon chose to ignore.  Instead he promoted one of the longest, most expensive and socially damaging wars - a war on the American public - the War on Drugs.

If you believe as I do, that the federal government has no business prohibiting an individual's right to choose what they put into their bodies (particularly when that substance is proven to cause less physical and social harm than other commonly enjoyed substances such as alcohol), I urge you to take just a moment to write and call your representative on this matter.

It will only take a few minutes, and your voice is important!

• Click the following link to send a message to your representative:
  https://secure2.convio.net/mpp/site/Advocacy?page=UserAction&id=177

Then call the capital switchboard at (202) 225-3121 and ask the operator to connect you to your representative (you may give the operator your zip code and they will find your rep for you if you don't know their name).  Once connected to your representatives office, you can say something to the effect of:

My name is [your name] and I am calling from [your town, your state].
I wanted to ask my representative to please support Barney Frank's
Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act.

Thank you for hearing me out, and please feel free to forward this message to any and all potentially receptive peoples.

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AlteredAgain said:
Do consider that every call received by your representative on a particular issue is statistically recorded to represent about 10,000 people in the United States population. I'm not completely certain about the exact number but this method of estimating total potential voters does exist.

Your call does matter.

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ScYiNs47 said:

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AlteredAgain said:
Do consider that every call received by your representative on a particular issue is statistically recorded to represent about 10,000 people in the United States population. I'm not completely certain about the exact number but this method of estimating total potential voters does exist.

Your call does matter.

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THEBats said:
Why is this not a sticky yet?

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andyistic said:
What about showing up to their doorstep in person with a loaded weapon?

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night train said:
I emailed my congressman

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Last Action:
Apr 17, 2008: House Energy and Commerce: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.

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rpm2004 said:




This is the response I got

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rpm2004 said:

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On his comparison to the poppy plant, and morphine and heroin......heroin is turned into morphine in the body. Only orally supposedly, not IV, but still. Anyways an opiate is an opiate, they ALL have high abuse potential and can ALL be dangerous. Hardly a good comparison when we're talking about a non-physiologically addictive substance that's impossible to overdose on.

And a synthetic like marinol can't really be compared to the real thing when you're leaving out all those other cannabinoids. His thrown-in statistic of 1 joint being equal to 25 cigarettes is a little bit cliche and he happens to choose to use one of the unhealthiest methods for his argument, ignoring stuff like vaporizers.

Also the "devastating young Americans lives", typical......oh noes Save the childrens, he doesn't support peoples' right to make their own decisions, also typical politician, he is doing what needs to be done to "protect us from teh evil weeds". God bless him

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0xYg3n said:
Shop for: Flumbooyon

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Dear Mr. ----,



Thank you for contacting me with your thoughts regarding the legalization of marijuana. I appreciate hearing from you about this issue and welcome the opportunity to respond.



The negative effects of marijuana are well proven by the American Medical Association and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Daily use of marijuana affects the parts of the brain that control memory, attention, and learning, and also causes some changes in the brain that are like those caused by cocaine, heroin, and alcohol. Additionally, smoking marijuana causes similar lung damage as smoking cigarettes. Scientists are still learning about the many affects of marijuana. I do not believe that we can in good conscience fully decriminalize marijuana when there is still so much unknown information about the long-term health risks associated with it, both mentally and physically.



While we may disagree on this particular issue, I respect your opinions and your insight. It is an honor to serve you in Washington. If you would like more information on issues, or would like to share your thoughts with me via e-mail, you may visit my website at http://sullivan.house.gov. Please do not hesitate to contact me again should you have further concerns on federal legislation or programs.





Sincerely,

John Sullivan
Member of Congress

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I didn't expect anything different. I hate living in Oklahoma... 

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FuzedBox said:
This bill was was held in a permanent "review" stage until the term ended; they didn't want it so they swept it under the rug until that session of congress was over. It's dead, and a lot of people out there don't seem to notice.

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