Today I am introducing the first in a series of bills to modernize Medicare for the future: the 'Centers of Excellence Act of 1999.'

Opposition to medical marijuana use has often focused on the belief that legalizing the drug for medical use will lead to an increase in its recreational use.

The point of making marijuana a Schedule II drug is so that it can be regulated as closely as other prescription drug with the potential for abuse.

Treating marijuana as a prescription drug will give doctors more alternatives for alleviating the pain and suffering of their patients.

I urge my colleagues to support the Medical Use of Marijuana Act.

Medicare should be given the authority to contract with certain hospitals for quality and volume--both to save money and to deliver better health care.

Like Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average, it is human nature for all Members of Congress to want their local hospitals to be above average.

Indeed, good health policy in this nation would prohibit hospitals from doing sophisticated procedures if they do not have sufficient experience.

This bill is a step in the right direction: it saves money and improves the quality of care provided to seniors and the disabled.

This bill would move marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to Schedule II of the Act, allowing physicians to prescribe marijuana to patients with a clear medical need for the drug.

Institute of Medicine studies have shown that components of marijuana relieve symptoms associated with terrible diseases such as AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and epilepsy.

Marijuana has also been proven to provide some relief to patients with glaucoma and epilepsy.