Global Ganja Report

On Dec. 18, Congress approved a $1.1 trillion dollar spending bill—and in the process approved a provision promising to keep federal law enforcement out of medical marijuana operations in states that have passed acts legalizing them. The provision, known as the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, was first approved in December of last year. The rider for a second year bars the use of Department of Justice funds "to prevent such States from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana."

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) co-sponsored the measure with Sam Farr (D-CA), who said: "States with medical marijuana laws are no longer the outliers; they are the majority. This vote showed that Congress is ready to rethink how we treat medical marijuana patients in this country. This amendment gives states the right to determine their own laws for medical marijuana use; free of federal intervention. It also gives patients comfort knowing they will have safe access to the medical care legal in their state without the fear of federal prosecution."

The measure comes as part of the controversial spending bill that is preventing the US government from shutting down. However, the feds have sought to get around the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment this past year. Despite the clear language of the measure, the DEA argued in a leaked memo that it only prevented them from going after state governments, not individuals or businesses. Outraged, the bill's sponsors called for an investigation, and in October a federal judge in California issued what the Washington Post called a "scathing decision," finding that the DEA's interpretation "defies language and logic" and "tortures the plain meaning of the statute." (Lost Coast Outpost, High Times)

Graphic: Herbal Remedies

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