MPP's Rob Kampia Provides Update on What's Happening in Congress

With Congress returning from its August recess this week, MPP Executive Director Rob Kampia dedicated his latest Huffington Post column to discussing where things stand for marijuana policy reform on Capitol Hill.

He describes how 2015 has been the most successful year to date:

Until last year, neither chamber of Congress had ever passed any measure in support of reforming federal marijuana laws. That changed in May 2014 when the House, with 219 votes, passed a budget restriction that was intended to block the enforcement of federal marijuana laws for people and businesses acting in compliance with state laws that permit medical marijuana. That measure, sponsored by Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Sam Farr (D-CA), became law when it was included in the so-called "CRomnibus" in December 2014.

In June of this year, the House approved the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment again, this time with 242 votes. And the House wasn't alone this time; the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to include the amendment in its version of the U.S. Justice Department's funding bill by a 21-9 vote.

But unlike last year, Congress didn't stop there.

Read Rob's full piece for a list of the other victories we've had in Congress this year, as well as his thoughts on what we can expect to see in coming months.