The GOP-controlled House voted recently in favor of blocking the federal government from interfering with states that permit the use of medical marijuana.
The somewhat surprising 219-189 vote came as the House debated a bill funding the Justice Department’s budget. This is the first time the U.S. Congress has voted to lessen restrictions on marijuana.
The amendment by conservative GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California — the first state to legalize medical marijuana — came as almost half the states have legalized marijuana for medical uses, such as improving the appetites of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.
“Public opinion is shifting,” Rohrabacher said, noting a recent Pew Research Center that found 61 percent of Republicans support medical marijuana. The numbers are higher for independents and Democrats.
“Despite this overwhelming shift of public opinion, the federal government continues its hard line of oppression against medical marijuana,” he said.
Twenty-eight states have passed legislation allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana and its derivatives for various illnesses. The laws are at odds with federal policy, which includes marijuana on the schedule of banned substances. Rohrabacher’s amendment requires U.S. Attorneys to respect state laws on medical marijuana. “Patients will no longer have to worry that the federal government will try to put them in jail,” he says, “or put their suppliers out of business.”
Two years ago, the feds cracked down on more than 800 pot shops in Los Angeles, ordering 70 of them to shut their doors. Santa Cruz Democrat Sam Farr, a co-sponsor of Rohrabacher’s amendment, described a federal raid in his district; the city responded by opening city hall to the pot dispensary.
Oregon Democrat Earl Blumenauer told opponents that “this train has already left the station.”
Opponents said that marijuana is regulated too loosely by the states and harms the brain.
Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., cited a recent Drug Enforcement Administration study that said that many in the medical marijuana movement are using it as “a means to an end,” meaning legalization for recreational use.
“Congress is officially pulling out of the war on medical marijuana patients and providers,” said Dan Riffle, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project.
The measure is attached to the appropriations bill for the Justice Department and now goes to the Senate, where its future is uncertain.
California’s senior Senator Dianne Feinstein, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, strongly opposes the amendment. She issued a statement Friday saying federal law enforcement officials “must have the ability to shut down marijuana dispensaries that fail to operate under strict medical marijuana guidelines.”
“I am sympathetic to the need for patients with legitimate medical needs to have access to medical marijuana,” Feinsteins said, but “rogue medical marijuana dispensaries” with “little or no medical bona fides” are “prevalent throughout California,” and present major challenges for communities across the country.
Feinstein says federal officials have shut down more than 400 “rogue” dispensaries in California since 2012.
The Huntington Beach Republican urged voters to let their representatives know their opinions – yeah or nay – on medical marijuana.