Senate To Hold Hearing On Marijuana And Public Health

Originally published at blog.NORML.org

On Wednesday, October 23rd, the Senate Senate International Narcotics Control Caucus, commonly referred to as simply the Drug Caucus, will hold a hearing entitled “Marijuana and America’s Health: Questions and Issues for Policy Makers.”

The committee is co-chaired by Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), both of whom have been longtime prohibitionists but recently Sen. Feinstein has slightly changed her tune and supported measures that nip around the federal criminalization of cannabis.

As reported by MarijuanaMoment, Sen. Cornyn gave a floor speech where he espouted debunked talking points such as, “There’s no shortage of people who claim that marijuana has endless health benefits and can help patients struggling from everything from epilepsy to anxiety to cancer treatments,” and “There’s simply a lack of scientific evidence to determine the link between marijuana and various health risks.”

These statements are directly contridicted by the tens-of-thousands of peer-reviewed studies currently hosts on the National Institute of Health’s website, PubMed.gov.

One bright spot about the hearing will likely be the role of Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), the newest member to join the Drug Caucus and a supporter of ending federal prohibition. As a representative of a legal state, Senator Rosen has routinely spoken about the need to reduce the barriers that hamper the Silver States cannabis economy from being able to function like any other legal industry.

You’ll be able to stream the video on the Drug Caucus’s youtube or below: