Pubdate: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 Source: Daily News-Sun (Sun City, AZ) Copyright: 2004 Northwest Valley Newspapers Contact: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3494 Website: http://www.dailynews-sun.com/ Author: Katy O'Grady, Northwest Valley Newspapers Cited: Arizonans for Medical Marijuana http://www.az4mm.org Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) PRO-MEDICAL MARIJUANA GROUP TARGETS CONGRESSMAN Someone is calling Trent Franks "heartless," and it's not his opponent in the U.S. District 2 House seat. Signs stating "Trent Franks is heartless" have cropped up at area intersections and are being displayed on overpasses along Loop 101 in the West Valley. And although there's no love lost between Franks and opponent Rick Murphy, the camp behind the campaign is not Murphy but Arizonans for Medical Marijuana. AMM representatives and medical marijuana patients staged a press conference outside Franks' Glendale office Thursday afternoon, alleging the congressman has been "voting to continue arresting and jailing seriously ill patients who use medical marijuana," according to a press release from the group. About a dozen people participated in the demonstration and education effort, said Aaron Houston, AMM director. A former political consultant and lobbyist, 26-year-old Houston is from Washington, D.C., but temporarily moved to the Valley, officially registering the group in Scottsdale. "It is important to me because there are tens of thousands of cancer patients out there that need medical marijuana," said Houston. "He voted to send them to federal prison for using medical marijuana that was recommended by their doctors and is in compliance with state law," Houston said. "We've been getting a great response from Congressman Franks' constituents," he added. "People are angry to hear about this. ... They think it's heartless." AMM representative Brian Vicente said motorists also have been honking in support of the sign holders along Loop 101. Franks said no one from AMM has contacted him, and he only became aware of the demonstration after driving by his Glendale office Thursday afternoon. When asked if Houston had contacted Franks regarding his groups' cause, he replied, "I certainly walked into his office in Washington, D.C., on July 7, but he wasn't available," said Houston. So will he try to contact Franks now that he's here? Said Houston, "We might have some stuff coming up." Franks said he doesn't support the medical marijuana effort because he believes it is just a ploy by "some real scary forces" to legalize other drugs. "If the FDA said marijuana was the best medicine, I wouldn't have any problem with that at all, but that's just not the case. So consequently I don't support medical marijuana as it is traditionally understood," he said. "The problem here is that the Medical Marijuana people are sometimes pawns of the larger groups who would work toward legalizing hard drugs." Franks added, "I fully support any legitimate medicine that truly helps legitimate patients, but I'm not going to be part of an effort to legalize hard drugs in this society." Franks said those drugs include heroin, opium and cocaine. "The idea of legalizing heroin or opium or even legalizing marijuana by itself would be a disaster in my opinion," he said. "This has nothing to do with legalizing medicine for legitimate patients." Franks said he was surprised to be the target of AMM's attention, but added, "Being in office, one expects to be attacked. So there's two things I try to do: I don't respond in kind. ... and secondly, I believe the voters consider our record and they will give me the honor of continuing to be their congressman." Franks said AMM's allegation that he has jailed seriously ill patients is "hysterical nonsense." "I have no earthly idea why they would make such an outrageous claim," he said. According to the AMM press release, Franks on July 7 voted against "a bipartisan proposal that would have barred the U.S. Justice Department from spending money to arrest and jail seriously ill patients who use medical marijuana legally under state law. Because the amendment was defeated, patients with cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and other serious illnesses still face federal prison for using medical marijuana with their physicians' approval and supervision." But according to the Thomas Voting Report, the House Resolution 4754 that was voted down blocked federal override of state marijuana laws, "affirming federal prosecutorial authority in the ten states with such laws," read the report. AMM is distributing 200,000 copies of a tabloid discussing the benefits of medical marijuana and Franks' voting record. It is available at www.az4mm.org Murphy said his camp isn't behind AMM's efforts and he knew nothing about the campaign. "I have no idea who they are and what they're doing," he said. Murphy declined to say whether he supported medical marijuana. "We haven't taken a stance on it," he said. "It hasn't been a part of the campaign."