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[Chargers Beat Writer]

Congress just banned the federal government from interfering with state medical marijuana laws

http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/12/14/congress-just-banned-federal-government-interfering-state-medical-marijuana-laws/#pqIaiSCkGpMvE74Z.99

Dispensaries in the 23 states that have legalized medical marijuana can all breathe a sigh of relief. The massive “Cromnibus” spending bill passed Saturday night includes an amendment that essentially shuts down the DEA’s pricey prosecution of state-sanctioned medical marijuana.

The amendment bans the Justice Department from using funds to “prevent [medical marijuana states] from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”

The bill now awaits approval from President Obama.

The Obama administration has regularly raided and prosecuted medical marijuana dispensaries regardless of state laws. According to a study by Americans for Safe Access, the administration has spent $80 million each year prosecuting medical marijuana, amounting to $200,000 every day and $300 million since Obama took office.

The amendment won’t eliminate all the legal problems medical marijuana producers face due to federal marijuana prohibition. It does not address banking issues that prohibit them from depositing their profits, for example. But advocacy groups are hailing it as a significant step in the right direction.

“The federal government will finally respect the decisions made by the majority of states that passed medical marijuana laws,” Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.), a co-sponsor of the amendment along with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), told The Huffington Post. “This is great day for common sense because now our federal dollars will be spent more wisely on prosecuting criminals and not sick patients.”

The amendment will also shield industrial hemp production from the DEA. Industrial hemp production is legal in eighteen states and has been approved by the Obama administration, but just this year the DEA seized hemp seeds intended for a legal research program.

A majority of Americans support leaving marijuana laws up to the states, according to a recent study from Third Way. 78 percent support legalizing medical marijuana, and 67 percent support granting states who pass legalization a safe haven from federal laws. 60 percent prefer state control over marijuana legalization, rather than federal.

Meanwhile, the fate of weed in Washington D.C. post-Cromnibus remains in question. A group of congressmen banded together to quietly include a measure intended to freeze D.C.’s legalization by pulling funds to enact it.

But now some lawmakers think there’s a loophole in the language that could end up making weed even more freely available in the District.
“Based on a plain reading of the bill and principles of statutory interpretation, it is arguable that the rider does not block D.C. from carrying out its marijuana legalization initiative,” said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), speaking on the House floor last week.

Instead of blocking legalization, some now argue it would allow legalization to move forward but prevent enacting regulation to go along with it—leaving marijuana legal but unregulated.

Read more at http://redalertpolitics.com/2014/12/14/congress-just-banned-federal-government-interfering-state-medical-marijuana-laws/#Y3wlXWpQKdOo7usa.99