This week, Representatives Dana Rohrabacher, Earl Blumenauer, and allies in the House of Representatives have again offered the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment to protect lawful state medical marijuana programs from the federal government. Now, Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions may deny the democratic process and not allow the amendment to be considered for a full vote of the House.
Giving remarks to the Native American Housing Association, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson strayed into the marijuana reform debate. Unfortunately, the doctor did not know his facts.
Last week, a US District Court blocked federal prosecutors from continuing a case against a medical marijuana cultivation company as a result of the current, albeit limited, congressional protections from the Department of Justice.
Washington State Governor Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson responded to a July 24 letter from US Attorney General Jeff Sessions, in which Sessions’ made multiple allegations all based on a single misleading 2016 report.
This bill prohibits state-sanctioned marijuana consumers and businesses from being prosecuted by the federal government.
The initial recommendations are completely silent to the fact that medical marijuana access is associated with reduced rates of opioid use and abuse, opioid-related hospitalizations, opioid-related traffic fatalities, and opioid-related overdose deaths.
Today, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) successfully offered and passed the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment in the Senate Appropriations Committee to protect lawful medical marijuana programs from the Department of Justice.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, the amendments lead sponsor, testified before the committee that it was “a critical area of literally life and death.”