Congress quietly ends federal government's ban on medical mar1juana

K-Low_4_Prez · Dec 17, 2014

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-medical-pot-20141216-story.html

Tucked deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending measure is a provision that effectively ends the federal government's prohibition on medical mar1juana and signals a major shift in drug policy.

The bill's passage over the weekend marks the first time Congress has approved nationally significant legislation backed by legalization advocates. It brings almost to a close two decades of tension between the states and Washington over medical use of mar1juana.

Under the provision, states where medical pot is legal would no longer need to worry about federal drug agents raiding retail operations. Agents would be prohibited from doing so.
The war on medical mar1juana is over. Now the fight moves on to legalization of all mar1juana. - Bill Piper, a lobbyist with the Drug Policy Alliance

The Obama administration has largely followed that rule since last year as a matter of policy. But the measure approved as part of the spending bill, which President Obama plans to sign this week, will codify it as a matter of law.

Pot advocates had lobbied Congress to embrace the administration's policy, which they warned was vulnerable to revision under a less tolerant future administration.

More important, from the standpoint of activists, Congress' action marked the emergence of a new alliance in mar1juana politics: Republicans are taking a prominent role in backing states' right to allow use of a drug the federal government still officially classifies as more dangerous than cocaine.
lRelated Study offers support for the notion of e-cigarettes as a gateway drug

"This is a victory for so many," said the measure's coauthor, Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa. The measure's approval, he said, represents "the first time in decades that the federal government has curtailed its oppressive prohibition of mar1juana."

By now, 32 states and the District of Columbia have legalized pot or its ingredients to treat ailments, a movement that began in the 1990s. Even back then, some states had been approving broader decriminalization measures for two decades.

The medical mar1juana movement has picked up considerable momentum in recent years. The Drug Enforcement Administration, however, continues to place mar1juana in the most dangerous category of narcotics, with no accepted medical use.

Congress for years had resisted calls to allow states to chart their own path on pot. The mar1juana measure, which forbids the federal government from using any of its resources to impede state medical mar1juana laws, was previously rejected half a dozen times. When Washington, D.C., voters approved medical mar1juana in 1998, Congress used its authority over the city's affairs to block the law from taking effect for 11 years.
cComments

Even as Congress has shifted ground on medical mar1juana, lawmakers remain uneasy about full legalization. A separate amendment to the spending package, tacked on at the behest of anti-mar1juana crusader Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), will jeopardize the legalization of recreational pot in Washington, D.C., which voters approved last month.

mar1juana proponents nonetheless said they felt more confident than ever that Congress was drifting toward their point of view.

"The war on medical mar1juana is over," said Bill Piper, a lobbyist with the Drug Policy Alliance, who called the move historic.

"Now the fight moves on to legalization of all mar1juana," he said. "This is the strongest signal we have received from Congress [that] the politics have really shifted. ... Congress has been slow to catch up with the states and American people, but it is catching up."

The measure, which Rohrabacher championed with Rep. Sam Farr, a Democrat from Carmel, had the support of large numbers of Democrats for years. Enough Republicans joined them this year to put it over the top. When the House first passed the measure earlier this year, 49 Republicans voted aye.

Some Republicans are pivoting off their traditional anti-drug platform at a time when most voters live in states where medical mar1juana is legal, in many cases as a result of ballot measures.

Polls show that while Republican voters are far less likely than the broader public to support outright legalization, they favor allowing mar1juana for medical use by a commanding majority. Legalization also has great appeal to millennials, a demographic group with which Republicans are aggressively trying to make inroads.

Approval of the pot measure comes after the Obama administration directed federal prosecutors last year to stop enforcing drug laws that contradict state mar1juana policies. Since then, federal raids of mar1juana merchants and growers who are operating legally in their states have been limited to those accused of other violations, such as money laundering.

"The federal government should never get in between patients and their medicine," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland).

evan.halper@latimes.com
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percicles · Dec 17, 2014

SamFisher · Dec 17, 2014

A separate amendment to the spending package, tacked on at the behest of anti-mar1juana crusader Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), will jeopardize the legalization of recreational pot in Washington, D.C., which voters approved last month.
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^ DC is going to decriminalize mar1juana anyway; Congressional Republicans can only block DC city initiatives if they require federal funds. There's not really anything about decriminalization that requires federal funding (in fact it probably saves money)

GanjaRocket · Dec 17, 2014

Texas will be green before we know it

Harrisment · Dec 17, 2014

GanjaRocket said: ↑

Texas will be green before we know it
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We need at least to get medical use approved. Unfortunately I think we will be the last state to do it.

PhiSlammaJamma · Dec 17, 2014

Are Texans now preparing their smokers for BBQ mar1juana?

heypartner · Dec 17, 2014

Harrisment said: ↑

We need at least to get medical use approved. Unfortunately I think we will be the last state to do it.
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I disagree (out of optimism). The one thing different about Texas vs other states like Utah is that Texas is about ready to see Colorado's financial growth from this new "industry." Texas will see that money and want it too.

The original thought was mar1juana legalization will only affect tax revenue from the legal sell of it. Turns out, the industry is much larger than that.

Energy (new patented special lights)
Labs (testing and rating, some of it required by the FDA)
Security (these cultivators now can buy legal security)

and the big one

Banks that are completely removed from the FDIC regulations.

GanjaRocket · Dec 17, 2014

Texas will love the revenue.. startups would love Austin even more.

Maybe new cultures will develop and along with that more new niches and industries

Severe Rockets Fan · Dec 17, 2014

Holy **** that's awesome news! Thanks Obama! :grin:

MoonDogg · Dec 17, 2014

Junkyard_Dog · Dec 17, 2014

If they could at least get a ballot going to decriminalize it(at least having less then an ounce for a start anyway) I think people would vote for that. Save tax payer money right there

mr. 13 in 33 · Dec 17, 2014

Turbo · Dec 17, 2014

Glory be... The funk's on me!

Torn n Frayed · Dec 17, 2014

Got that Pax Vape otw...

Blake · Dec 17, 2014

They also passed legislation to allow banks to handle derivatives in holding companies that are FDIC backstopped.

Hooray for letting banks gamble with trillions of dollars they don't have and formally allowing the taxpayers to backstop it!

jayhow92 · Dec 17, 2014

So what does this mean for stocks in mar1juana?

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Congress quietly ends federal government's ban on medical mar1juana

K-Low_4_Prez Member

percicles Contributing Member

SamFisher Contributing Member

GanjaRocket Member

Harrisment Member

PhiSlammaJamma Member

heypartner Contributing Member

GanjaRocket Member

Severe Rockets Fan Takin it one stage at a time...

MoonDogg Member

Junkyard_Dog Member

mr. 13 in 33 Member

Turbo Contributing Member

Torn n Frayed Member

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