Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005

DEPARTMENTS OF COMMERCE, JUSTICE, AND STATE, THE JUDICIARY, AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005 -- (House of Representatives - July 07, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 701 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the further consideration of the bill, H.R. 4754.

-BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT-

Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Chairman, I would just like to point out that as a physician before I came to Congress, medical marijuana is actually not necessary because the active ingredient in medical marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. This is a compound that is readily available not in a handful of States as medical marijuana is, but in every State of the Union. It is legal today. It is called Marinol. It is a pill. It is easy to take. And people who suffer from cancer, people who have anorexia from chemotherapy, people who suffer from AIDS may use Marinol today to their benefit.

Mr. Chairman, it just challenges the imagination. As a physician, I wrote a lot of prescriptions for morphine for patients who were in pain. I would have never recommended to a patient that they go home and score some opium and smoke it. That would be an inappropriate way for them to deliver the drug.

This drug is delivered in a humane and compassionate way. It is delivered in a way that deals with the symptoms it is designed to deal with, and we do not explode the drug culture in this country by doing so.