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 Representative
Barney Frank,
Democrat, of Newton, MA: born in Bayonne, NJ, March 31, 1940;
attended the public schools; graduated, Bayonne High School,
1957; B.A. Harvard College, 1962; graduate student in political
science, 1962-66; teaching fellow in Government, Harvard College,
1963-66; J.D., Harvard University, 1977; admitted to the Massachusetts
bar, 1979; executive assistant to Mayor Kevin White of Boston,
1968-71; administrative assistant to U.S. Congressman Michael
F. Harrington, 1971-72; member, Massachusetts Legislature, 1973-80;
elected to the 97th Congress, November 4, 1980; reelected each
succeeding Congress. Barney Frank is now serving his eighth term
in the United States House of Representatives. Congressman Frank
lives with Herb Moses.
In Congress, Representative Frank is a member of the following
committees:
- Judiciary Committee and the Banking
- Financial Services Committee.
Representative Frank serves on the following subcommittees:
- Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, where he is the
senior Democratic member.
- Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims.
- Banking Subcommittee on Housing and Economic Opportunity.
- Banking Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary
Policy.
On November 10, 1995, Rep Frank introduced H.R. 2618, a bill to provide for the therapeutic use of
marihuana in situations involving life-threatening or sense-threatening
illnesses and to provide adequate supplies of marihuana for such
use.
The Bill had 18 cosponsors, but it died
with the 104th Congress. Look for a similar Bill to be introduced
in the 105th.
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Cosponsors of H.R.
2818 |
Rep
Johnston - 11/10/95
Rep Pelosi - 11/10/95
Rep Studds - 11/16/95
Rep Beilenson - 11/17/95
Rep Dellums - 12/11/95
Rep Olver - 12/14/95 |
- Rep Woolsey - 01/03/96
Rep Stark - 01/22/96
Rep Conyers - 02/13/96
Rep Gunderson - 02/27/96
Rep Kennedy, J. - 02/27/96
Rep Lofgren - 03/19/96
- Rep Campbell - 03/19/96
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Rep Bilbray
- 03/27/96
Rep Sanders - 04/15/96
Rep Brown, G. - 04/15/96
Rep Slaughter - 05/07/96 (withdrawn - 06/18/96)
Rep Dixon - 06/27/96
Rep Farr - 09/09/96 |
AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION
ENDORSES MEDICAL USE OF MARIJUANA
HON. BARNEY FRANK, in the House of Representatives
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1995
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, recently I introduced
legislation which would allow physicians to prescribe marijuana
when in their judgment it is medically appropriate to do so.
I first became a supporter of this legislation more than a decade
ago, when it was introduced by our late colleague, the gentleman
from Connecticut Mr. McKinney. I was recently advised of a resolution
passed by The American Public Health Association which supports
the concept embodied in the legislation I have introduced and
I ask that this resolution be printed here.
The American Public Health Association:
Being aware that cannabis/marijuana has been used medicinally
for centuries and that cannabis products were widely prescribed
by physicians in the United States until 1937; and
Being aware that `marijuana' prohibition began with the Marijuana
Tax Act of 1937 under false claims despite disagreeing testimony
from the AMA's representative; and
Being further aware that the Controlled Substances Act of 1970
completely prohibited all medicinal use of marijuana by placing
it in the most restrictive category of Schedule I, whereby drugs
must meet three criteria for placement in this category: 1) have
no therapeutic value, 2) are not safe for medical use, and 3)
have a high abuse potential; and
Being cognizant that the Drug Enforcement Administration's own
administrative law judge ruled in 1988 that marijuana must be
removed from Schedule I and made available for physicians to
prescribe; and
Knowing that 36 states have passed legislation recognizing marijuana's
therapeutic value; and
Also knowing that the only available access to legal marijuana
which was through the Food and Drug Administration's Investigational
New Drug Program has been closed by the Secretary of Health and
Human Services since 1991; and
Understanding that while synthetic Tetrahydrocannibinol (THC)
is available in pill form, it is only one of approximately 60
cannabinoids which may have medicinal value individually or in
some combination; and
Understanding that marijuana has an extremely wide acute margin
of safety for use under medical supervision and cannot cause
lethal reactions; and
Understanding that marijuana has been reported to be effective
in: a) reducing intraocular pressure in glaucoma; b) reducing
nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy; c) stimulating
the appetite for patients living with AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome) and suffering from the wasting syndrome; d) controlling
spasticity associated with spinal cord injury and multiple sclerosis;
e) decreasing the suffering from chronic pain; and f) controlling
seizures associated with seizure disorders; and
Understanding that marijuana seems to work differently than many
conventional medications for the above problems, making it a
possible option for persons resistant to the conventional medications;
and
Being concerned that desperate patients and their families are
choosing to break the law to obtain this medicine when conventional
medicines or treatments have not been effective for them or are
too toxic; and
Realizing that this places ill persons at risk for criminal charges
and at risk for obtaining contaminated medicine because of the
lack of quality control; and
Realizing that thousands of patients not helped by conventional
medications and treatments, may find relief from their suffering
with the use of marijuana if their primary care providers were
able to prescribe this medicine; and
Concluding that cannabis/marijuana was wrongfully placed in Schedule
I of the Controlled Substances depriving patients of its therapeutic
potential.
Recognizing the APHA adopted a resolution (7014) on Marijuana
and the Law which urged federal and state drugs laws to exclude
marijuana from classification as a narcotic drug; and
Concluding that greater harm is caused by the legal consequences
of its prohibition than possible risks of medicinal use; therefore
1. Encourages research of the therapeutic properties of various
cannabinoids and combinations of cannabinoids; and
2. Encourages research on alternative methods of administration
to decrease the harmful effects related to smoking; and
3. Urges the Administration and Congress to move expeditiously
to make cannabis available as a legal medicine where shown to
be safe and effective and to immediately allow access to therapeutic
cannibis through the Investigational New Drug Program.
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