Update: Congress passed a one-week Continuing Resolution, to maintain the current spending levels and Rohrabacher-Farr, meaning state medical marijuana patients and businesses will remain protected from Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice until May 5.
Hundreds of marijuana activists from across Pennsylvania recently met in Harrisburg to express their support for ending the prohibition of marijuana in the Commonwealth.
Since 2014, the Department of Justice has been prohibited from using taxpayers’ funds to enforce federal anti-marijuana laws in states that regulate its medical use.
But that could all change this week as Congress decides how to fund the federal government for the remainder of this fiscal year.
NORML held a ‘Faces of Marijuana Prohibition’ event on Capitol Hill on April 19th, in cooperation with the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, where congressional staff heard first-hand from those most adversely impacted by the criminalization of marijuana.
We have seen progress in a number of states with bills now before the the Governors of Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Oregon, and soon-to-be Indiana.
Here are the bills from around the country that we’ve tracked this week and as always, check http://norml.org/act for legislation pending in your state.
[UPDATE: On Thursday, April 5, members of the House and Senate concurred on an amended version of SB 386, which significantly curtails patient protections included in the initial version of the bill. The amended bill now awaits action from Gov. Jim Justice, who is expected to sign it in to law.]
Less than a month after forming Las Vegas NORML, the organization’s founding members recently traveled to the Nevada State House to lobby lawmakers in support of protections for marijuana patients and advocates.