Will Congress back medical marijuana?

If Rep. John C. Fleming has anything to do with it, the answer will be a defiant “no.” The Louisiana Republican, who will be speaking tonight on the floor, is one of the few congressmen who continues to openly oppose medical-marijuana laws. In a hearing on doctors recommending medical marijuana to veterans in order to treat post-traumatic stress disorder this month, Fleming defended the Department of Veterans Affairs’ rules against it: “The last thing we should be doing is giving marijuana to people with these disorders.” The congressman pointed to a recent study by the American Heart Association that found a link between heart-related complications and marijuana in youths as one of the reasons for this stance. His office could not be reached for comment.

Others, such as Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, disagree. “The general sense is that there’s a lot of momentum around this medical-marijuana bill, in part because of all the states—especially including conservative ones—that are now in play.” Piper said many members of Congress are frustrated with the DEA’s obstruction of the administration’s drug reform—an issue he attributes to DEA Director Michele Leonhart. “She’s living in a different world; she’s stuck in the 1980s,” he said. “I think she’s the last true believer in the war on drugs.”