Marijuana

Regardless of whether you are for or against the various uses of Marijuana, my belief is Marijuana regulation is an issue that each State can address independent of Federal intervention. The Federal Government should have no say in how each State treats the various uses of Marijuana. Given that stance I am in support of the following 3 bills currently pending in the House of Representatives: H.R. 2943, H.R. 2835 and H.R. 1866. For those of you who are not familiar with the 3 bills I am referring to please see the following synopsis:

• 2835: Prohibit federal interference in state-run medical marijuana programs. It would also move marijuana from a Schedule I drug to a Schedule II drug, recognizing marijuana's medical value and making it possible for the FDA to begin setting up a regulatory framework for its use.
• 2943: Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009 - Prohibits the imposition of any penalty under an Act of Congress for the possession of marijuana for personal use or for the not-for-profit transfer between adults of marijuana for personal use. Deems the possession of 100 grams or less of marijuana as personal use (one ounce or less for a not-for-profit transfer between adults). Allows the imposition of a civil penalty under the Controlled Substances Act for the public use of marijuana if such penalty does not exceed $100.
• 1866: Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2009 - Amends the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of "marijuana." Defines "industrial hemp" to mean the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any part of such plant, whether growing or not, with a delta-nine tetrahydrocannabinol concentration that does not exceed 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis. Grants a state regulating the growing and processing of industrial hemp exclusive authority, in any criminal or civil action or administrative proceeding, to determine whether any such plant meets that concentration limit.

If given the opportunity, I would vote for all three of the above resolutions and remove the Federal Government from what should be a State issue.