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Congress Passes Historic Medical Marijuana Amendment as Part of Federal Spending Bill

Dec 15, 2014

and Related Agencies Appropriations Act., Commerce, Dana Rohrabacher, Department of Justice, District of Columbia, Drug Enforcement Administration, federal spending bill, hemp, justice, Sam Farr, science



The bill includes an amendment that prohibits the Department of Justice — which includes the Drug Enforcement Administration — from using funds to interfere with state medical marijuana laws. A similar amendment has been offered seven times in Congress,Congress logo failing in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2012. The House finally approved it in May when it was offered by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) as an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. 
The federal spending bill also prohibits the U.S. Justice Department from interfering with state-level hemp laws.
Unfortunately, the bill also contains a provision that is meant to interfere with the implementation of Washington, D.C.'s recently approved marijuana initiative, and effectively blocks the District from regulating marijuana.