In the public announcement below from Dave Fratello of Americans for Medical Rights, AMR lies about the status of the DC initiative(s).  AMR has not explained why they made this untruthful and misleading statement.

Everyone,
Good Evening

Let me state that we have not made any deals with Amr.  The comments by Dave
Fratello are pure fantasy. We are moving forward with Initiative 59.  Amr's
silly games  guarantees  that they will have  no support here in Washington
DC.

We will qualify the locally written Initiative in time for the Mayoral
Primary.  On September 15th we will win a big win for the medical use of
marijuana--and we will do it without Amr's   intrustion.

Steve Michael
ACT UP!/D.C.
409 H Street, NE Suite 1
Washington, D.C. 20002-4335
Phone: 202-547-9404
Email: voteyes57@aol.com

We are happy to announce that AMR has met extensively in D.C. with the
sponsors of Initiative 57 on medical marijuana for the purpose of combining
forces for a successul D.C. campaign. The talks have gone well, resulting
in a composite text filed by both parties on January 9. We are working now
to hammer out the details of structuring and funding campaign efforts,
including a signature drive this Spring.

The next official step in the process is a public hearing at the D.C.
elections board in February. After that, a combined-forces initiative could
be cleared for petitioning in March.

The composite text: (1) deletes the registry component found in the
original AMR-sponsored bill, (2) includes language on licensing non-profit
corporations to distribute marijuana, imported directly from Init. 57, (3)
includes a doctor-protection clause from Init. 57 permitting private
testimony before a judge, (4) retains the basic legislative structure of
the AMR initiative, including the list of qualifying medical conditions and
other definitions, and (5) defines limits for amounts of marijuana
permitted under the act in terms of a patient's individual needs for 60
days.

The text will be available online through the D.C. Register later this
week, when it can be posted.

We appreciate the good wishes we have received since the discussions first
began. It seems many people would like to see this work out. We'll post
updates as appropriate.

-- dave fratello
 
Americans for Medical Rights
626 Santa Monica Blvd. #41
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone: (310) 394-2952
Fax:  (310) 451-7494
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