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Rand Paul Pushes Marijuana Amendments On Funding Bill

Published 2 days ago on January 20, 2018 By Tom Angell

As Congress works to end a federal government shutdown that began at midnight on Friday, a Republican senator is trying to insert marijuana into the process.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has filed two far-reaching cannabis amendments that he wants to be part of a deal to reopen the government.

One measure would prevent the Justice Department from interfering with state recreational legalization and medical cannabis laws, a big concern in the wake of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s recent rescission of Obama-era guidance that has generally allowed local marijuana policies to be implemented without federal harassment:

______

SA 1910. Mr. PAUL submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill H.R. 195, to amend title 44, United States Code, to
restrict the distribution of free printed copies of the Federal
Register to Members of Congress and other officers and employees of the
United States, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the
table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:
Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act to
the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of
the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii,
Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri,
Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New
York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon,
Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas,
Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia,
Wisconsin, and Wyoming, to prevent the State from
implementing State laws that authorize the use, distribution,
possession, or cultivation of marijuana on non-Federal lands
within the respective jurisdiction of the State.
______


Paul’s other amendment concerns the ability of banks to open accounts for marijuana businesses without running afoul of federal regulators:

______

SA 1909. Mr. PAUL submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill H.R. 195, to amend title 44, United States Code, to
restrict the distribution of free printed copies of the Federal
Register to Members of Congress and other officers and employees of the
United States, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the
table; as follows:

At the appropriate place, insert the following:
Sec. __. None of the funds made available by this Act may
be used by the Department of Justice for activities that are
not in compliance with the February 14, 2014, Department of
Justice memorandum from James M. Cole, Deputy Attorney
General, entitled ''Guidance Regarding Marijuana Financial
Crimes'', and the memoranda incorporated therein.
______


A top Treasury Department official testified before senators this week that the Trump administration is currently weighing whether to tear up an Obama-era memo on cannabis banking in line with Sessions’s move to rescind the broader Justice Department guidance on state marijuana laws.



It is unclear if either of Paul’s amendments will actually be considered and voted on as part of a deal to re-open the federal government following the Friday shutdown.

The lapse in spending legislation has put medical cannabis patients and providers at greater risk because an existing protection preventing the Justice Department from undermining medical marijuana laws has now expired, but drug enforcement has not. Under a federal contingency plan, anti-drug agents and prosecutors are exempt from furlough.

If Congress passes another bill to fund the government, the medical cannabis protections will go back into effect through whatever date to which the legislation continues spending levels. People complying with broader full-scale marijuana legalization laws will remain at risk of federal enforcement actions, however, unless Paul’s relevant amendment is adopted.

Earlier this week, House leaders effectively blocked an amendment to protect state marijuana laws from federal interference from being considered on the floor.