Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. PAUL), a real doctor.
(Mr. PAUL asked and was given permission
to revise and extend his remarks.)
1998 Ron Paul 100:1
Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Speaker, I am a physician,
I am a parent and I am a grandparent,
and I am convinced that drugs
are a very, very serious problem in this
country, not only the illegal ones, but
the legal ones as well. Just last year,
106,000 people died from the legal use of
drugs. We are drug dependent, on the
illegal drugs and on the legal tranquilizers. That is a major problem.
1998 Ron Paul 100:2
But I have also concluded that the
war on drugs is a failed war and that
we should be doing something else. I
might point out that the argument for
the use of marijuana in medicine is not
for pain. To say that it has not relieved
pain is not what this is about. Marijuana
has been used by cancer patients
who have been receiving chemotherapy
who have intractable nausea. It is the
only thing they have found that has allowed
them to eat, and so many cancer
patients die from malnutrition. The
same is true about an AIDS patient. So
this is a debate on compassion, as well
as legality.
1998 Ron Paul 100:3
But the way we are going about this
is wrong. I am rather surprised in our
side of the aisle that champions limited
government and States’ rights,
that they use the FDA’s ability to regulate
nicotine as an excuse and the
legal loophole for the Federal Government
to be involved in marijuana. I
might remind them that 80 years ago
when this country decided that we
should not have alcohol, they did not
come to the Congress and ask for a law.
1998 Ron Paul 100:4
They asked for a constitutional amendment
realizing the Congress had no authority
to regulate alcohol. Today we
have forgotten about that. Many of my
colleagues might not know or remember
that the first attack on the medicinal
use of marijuana occurred under
the hero of the left, F.D.R., in 1937. Prior to 1937, marijuana was used medicinally,
and it was used with only local control.
1998 Ron Paul 100:5
The Federal controls on illicit drugs
has not worked and it is not working
when it comes to marijuana. Once
again, we have States saying, just
allow the physician the option to give
some of these people some marijuana. Possibly it will help. I think the jury is
still out about how useful it is. But for
us to close it down and say one cannot,
and deny some comfort to a dying patient,
I do not think this is very compassionate
one way or the other.
1998 Ron Paul 100:6
The war on drugs has been going on
now for several decades. We have spent
over $200 billion. There is no evidence
to show that there is less drug usage in
this country.
1998 Ron Paul 100:7
I have a program designed, which I
cannot present here, that will change
our policy and attack the drugs in a
much different way.
