MEDICAL MARIJUANA: House Resolves To Oppose Legalization

      In response to 1996 Arizona and California ballot initiatives allowing "physicians to prescribe marijuana to treat symptoms of illnesses," the House overwhelmingly approved a resolution yesterday opposing the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes. Sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum (R-FL), chair of the House Judiciary Committee's crime subcommittee, the resolution's passage likely will stall pending medical marijuana initiatives in Alaska, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. McCollum said "doctors and scientists with the greatest expertise have determined that marijuana is not a medicine." Although many AIDS activists support marijuana use to treat chronic pain associated with the disease, McCollum cautioned that "regularly smoking pot can be dangerous for people who are HIV-positive because it weakens the body's natural immunities and can accelerate the onset of AIDS" (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 9/16). Click medical marijuana to read past Daily Report coverage of the issue.