Since the 1996 passage of Arizona's Proposition 200 and California's Proposition 215, drug policy reform has come under increasing attack from both the Clinton administration and the Republican-led Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives has been particularly active in denouncing reform, both in the United States and abroad. The following is a sampling of anti-reform hearings and legislation in the House in 1997 and 1998:

September 15, 1997 — The House Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice held hearings on "Needle Exchange, Legalization, and the Failure of Swiss Heroin Experiments." Despite the fact that the Swiss heroin maintenance experiments have shown promising results in reducing crime and health problems among addicts, Republican members of the subcommittee, led by Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-III.), claimed that the experiments were a failure and that syringe exchange does not reduce the spread of HIV. Opponents of heroin maintenance were the only Swiss representatives invited to testify, one of whom asked the United States to "liberate" Switzerland from the "junta which has taken over" the country's drug policy. A few Congressmen branded syringe exchange programs as precursors to heroin maintenance, and two witnesses implicated the Drug Policy Foundation in the world-wide conspiracy to legalize drugs.

October 1, 1997 — The House Judiciary Committee held hearings on the "Medical Marijuana Referenda Movement in America." Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bill McCollum (R-Fla.) accused medical marijuana proponents of cynically exploiting "the suffering of the terminally ill to advance a drug legalization agenda," while Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) declared that it is wrong and "sends the wrong message" to use tax dollars to study the medical properties of marijuana. Barr added: "All civilized countries are under assault by the legalizers."

February 26, 1998 — Rep. Bill McCollum introduced House Resolution 372, "Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that marijuana is a dangerous and addictive drug and should not be legalized for medicinal use." The resolution claims that a majority of U.S. states have been "targeted by out-of-state organizations which advocate drug legalization for 'medical' marijuana initiatives" and urges the defeat of those initiatives. The headline of McCollum's April 16 press release proclaimed: "Medical Marijuana Initiatives are Front for Drug Legalization Movement."

April 29, 1998 — The House approved H.R. 3717 to "Prohibit Federal Funds for Needle Distribution Programs." The sponsor, Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-N.Y.), avoided the traditional legislative process by sending the bill straight to the House floor without holding committee hearings to judge its merits. The bill passed 287-140, with 213 Republicans and 74 Democrats voting in favor. The companion bill (S. 1959) now awaits action by the Senate.