The United States House of Representatives has past a $460 billion package of spending bills; included among them is a provision prohibiting the federal government from interfering with state-level medical marijuana laws.
The House voted 339 to 85 to pass the package of bills, sending them to the Senate. Included in the portion of the bill covering Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies is a provision that makes it illegal for the federal government to interfere with state medical marijuana laws. The provision has been included in multiple spending bills approved in previous years, but with a new Speaker of the House some advocates were concerned it could be removed.
Specifically the provision states:
“SEC. 531. None of the funds made available under this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, or with respect to the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, or Puerto Rico, to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”
The package of bills also includes a provision directing the Department of the Treasury, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to work with experts to assess the “adequacy of State marijuana regulatory frameworks, including commonalities and novel approaches to enforcement and oversight.”
“State Regulatory Frameworks.—The agreement urges the Department, in coordination with the Department of the Treasury, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and other agencies which may have relevant regulatory expertise, to coordinate an assessment of the adequacy of State marijuana regulatory frameworks, including commonalities and novel approaches to enforcement and oversight”, states the provision.
The full text of the six-bill package is available by clicking here. If they are passed by the Senate, they will be sent to President Biden who says he will sign them into law.
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