Thank you for contacting me about the use of medical marijuana. It is good to hear from you.

On April 17, 2008, Representative Barney Frank introduced H.R. 5842, the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act. This legislation repeals federal laws prohibiting states from allowing medical use of marijuana. Specifically, H.R. 5842 would remove marijuana from schedule I and place it under schedule II of the Controlled Substance Act. This would make marijuana available through prescriptions.

I have serious concerns with endorsing marijuana as a viable medical drug. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), marijuana intoxication has a variety of serious side affects that includes impairing a person's coordination and damaging lungs, the cardiovascular system, and possibly the immune and reproductive systems. Under the Controlled Substance Act, marijuana fails to meet the standard federal government drug test requirements. In addition, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already approved "medical" marijuana in the form of Marinol. This pharmaceutical product contains THC, the active ingredient in marijuana. The FDA has verified that Marinol is a safe and therapeutic product that relieves the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy for cancer patients and assists with the loss of appetite for AIDS patients. As a nation, we cannot afford to promote the use of illicit drugs when safe and proven alternatives are available.

H.R. 5842 has been referred to the Subcommittee on Health of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. I await further committee consideration to see if there would be any changes to this legislation to address my concerns with this bill. Please rest assured that I will keep your views in mind should this legislation come to the House floor for a vote.

Thank you again for contacting me about this issue. Your input is important to my work here in Washington.

P.S. Communicating with the people I represent is very important to me. If you would like to stay informed of my activities in Congress, please visit http://manzullo.house.gov and sign up for my email updates. You can register to receive my e-newsletter, all my news releases, and updates on various issues.