BY BRIAN WILLIAMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. - One of the more controversial issues that
appeared on the November 3 ballot here was Initiative 59
calling for legalizing marijuana for medical purposes if
recommended to alleviate pain by a physician for illnesses such
as AIDS, cancer, and glaucoma. But the results of the vote will
remain secret, by decision of the Board of Elections. "My
campaign called for a `yes' vote on this initiative," stated
Sam Manuel, Socialist Workers candidate for mayor of
Washington, D.C. "We are strongly opposed to governmental
restrictions on medical procedures and measures that doctors
believe could be useful and have not been proved to be harmful.
To bar such treatment is cruel and callous.
"Opposition to the use of marijuana for medical purposes is the result of prejudice and profit," continued Manuel. "It does not follow from clearly presented facts about its alleged harmfulness. Besides, the burden of proof to show harmfulness to medical patients is on the state."
Supporters of Initiative 59 submitted more than 17,000 petition signatures in a bid for ballot status. The Board of Elections ruled the initiative off the ballot, claiming insufficient signatures were submitted. After a court fight it was reinstated on the November ballot. Voters in Alaska, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, and Washington state also voted on similar marijuana initiatives this year. California and Arizona voters approved medical marijuana referendums in 1996, but they have been blocked from implementation by federal lawsuits. The Clinton administration has come out forcefully against the measures. "Let's have none of this malarkey on marijuana smoking by cunning groups working to legalize drugs," stated Barry McCaffrey, the administration's chief anti-narcotics official and a former Army general. "American medicine is the best in the world for pain management."
In Washington, D.C., Republican congressman Robert Barr from Georgia attached an amendment to the 1999 D.C. budget bill forbidding the city to use any funds on an initiative that would "legalize or otherwise reduce penalties" for users of marijuana. Congress passed this as part of the D.C. budget bill on October 21.
Since the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics had already prepared ballots and set up computers to count, the votes were tallied but the outcome will not be officially certified and the measure cannot become law. In the name of complying with Congress, the Board of Elections decided not to even release the results of the vote.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit October 30 seeking to prevent Congress from voiding the results of the D.C. medical marijuana initiative. ACLU officials said that this is the first time that Congress had stepped in to block results of a D.C. election.
The Washington Post, which opposed Initiative 59, editorialized October 24 that "this latest congressional intrusion [is] an affront to District voters." In an interview SWP mayoral candidate Manuel condemned this undemocratic stance by Congress, and also spoke about some of the broader issues involved in this dispute over drugs.
"The SWP is for decriminalizing the use of all drugs that are now illegal. The draconian laws against use of addictive drugs, including marijuana, only leads to further victimizations and scapegoating of the user victims of the multibillionaire drug trafficking business," he noted. "At the same time my campaign has opposed any moves to legalize the drug trade." The capitalists who profit from the production and trade in addictive drugs are the real criminals, he stated.
"I applaud the approach of Cuba's revolutionary government in taking a strong stand against drug traffickers. Through building a socialist society based on human solidarity they have taken huge strides forward in eliminating the social conditions that spur massive drug addiction. The wide-scale use of addictive drugs, including crack, heroin, and marijuana, is a social scourge promoted by capitalist profiteers that needs to be confronted and resolved by a revitalized fighting workers movement, like the Cubans have been doing."
Brian Williams is a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 2609.