[UPDATE: The bill has been removed from the House schedule and is likely dead for the term. Great work mobilizing on this issue - when I called, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's voice mailbox was full. -- "R"R]
A House Bill was introduced on May 6, 2010 called the Drug Trafficking Safe Harbor Elimination Act of 2010, which amends the Controlled Substances Act. The summary from GovTrack.us is as follows:
To amend the Controlled Substances Act to clarify that persons who enter into a conspiracy within the United States to possess or traffic illegal controlled substances outside the United States, or engage in conduct within the United States to aid or abet drug trafficking outside the United States, may be criminally prosecuted in the United States, and for other purposes.
The Drug Policy Alliance posted about this bill on their Action Center explaining how this could make it illegal for an “otherwise law-abiding American…for planning with some friends to use marijuana legally while on vacation in the Netherlands.”
The bill was referred to committee on June 15 by the house, and there is no further action on GovTrack.us. However, the GOP.gov website reports:
H.R. 5231 is expected to be considered on the House floor on Wednesday, September 22, 2010, under a suspension of the rules, requiring a two-thirds majority vote for passage. This legislation was introduced by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) on May 6, 2010, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, which took no official action.
In short, there will be a 40 minute period of debate, and a vote will be taken. No amendments are allowed, and there must be a 2/3 majority for it to become law. Call your Congressman now to tell them to vote NO; we do not need further expansion of the failed war on drugs.
You can find your Congressman’s contact info here: http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/index.html
You can also contact the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, at 202-225-0100 and leave a message to cancel the vote on HR 5231.
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i feel that calling or writing my rep would be a waste of my time… wanna know why? BARNEY FRANK BABY!!
nah, i still wrote an e-mail… dont think a call is necessary to his office
I’m totally against this bill and I don’t even smoke weed!Legalize marijuana,hemp and prostitution,cut the damn deficit! These conservatives passing these anti marijuana laws are HYPOCRITES!
At a time the gov’t is worried about the deficit,this new law is just asinine,how stupid is our gov’t! does that we have to pay even more to have agents(probably corrupt) go into other countries and round up Americans for conspiracy or minor amounts of weed in another country?For example,someone visiting Jamaica or Amsterdam can get arrested by US agents and out tax payers have to pay for it!Anybody that votes yes on this bill should be voted out,plain and simple!
Legalization attempt for furthering Rendition. The Marc Emery example is somewhat apt. Based on the wiretapping “freedom” now seen from various agencies thanks to other measures, this could extend to the web for conspiracy considerations on “offshore” websites that have been free to share and trade with.
As always, the intent is one thing, but the execution and allowances made because of these measures is what the concern is over. Sure, 5 or 7 years later, someone arrested for running a cannabis forum may get it expunged in the Supreme Court as they declare it was not the intent of the bill. But really, is this the way we have to keep going about all this?
Please, contact them and let them know that this is not the direction the US needs to be heading at this time. It is extremely expensive waste of money to be sending agents into other countries etc. The current wars have kept US troops from being “as active” as they were in the 80-90′s period in Central and South America for instance, but even then those operations cost us plenty.
This is not what America is about. Conspiracy is not a crime. Actual crime is.
Thanks for the push on this NORML. I hope our voices have some impact. Even on some more conservative, pro-prohibition leaning, sites have this one tagged as lunacy in the face of common sense.