A growing number of congressional reps are currently working to preserve the “Rohrabacher-Blumenauer” Amendment, which has been renewed annually for several years by a bipartisan coalition despite resistance from the Justice Department. That group includes, e.g., five of Colorado’s seven representatives who (along with the state’s governor) clearly find their program worth protecting.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, on Wednesday sent a letter co-signed by 64 of their peers to House and Senate leadership.
The letter, addressed to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, urged them to extend the provision, which ‘has successfully protected patients, providers, and businesses against federal prosecution, so long as they act within the confines of their state’s medical marijuana laws.’
The missive also listed the 46 states, along with two U.S. territories [Puerto Rico and Guam] and the District of Columbia, which have enacted some form of legalization of medical cannabis, ‘from CBD oils to the full plant.’
The provision has been targeted by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who in May sent a letter to congressional leadership asking that the protection not be included in the appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2018, stating: ‘It would be unwise for Congress to restrict the discretion of the Department to fund particular prosecutions, particularly in the midst of an historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime.’
Earlier this year, the measure was approved in the Senate version of the spending bill, but not the House’s.”
Our readers are encouraged to let your representatives know how you feel about continuing to protect the rights of states to make their own determinations about cannabis until greater permanent federal reform can be achieved.
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See full article – 66 Congress members make plea to extend protection for medical marijuana states
