An amendment has been filed to a House spending bill that would explicitly protect states that have legalized marijuana.
A bipartisan coalition of lawmakers have filed an amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies spending bill, that will soon be considered by the House Rules Committee. The amendment was filed by Representatives Tom McClintock (R), Early Blumenauer (D), Barbara Lee (D) and Holmes Norton (D). The latter three recently filed a sperate amendment to allow legal marijuana sales in Washington DC.
The new amendment would explicitly prevent the Department of Justice from using federal funds to “prevent any State, Washington D.C., or any territory of the United States from implementing any law of that jurisdiction that authorizes the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of marijuana.”
Congress has previously approved a similar amendment that protects state medical marijuana laws, but it does not apply to laws allowing recreational marijuana use.
The House Rules Committee is set to also soon consider an amendment to the Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) appropriations bill that would prevent applicants from being drug tested for marijuana when applying for most federal jobs.
Earlier this month the full United States Senate approved a bill that would allow Veterans Affairs doctors to legally recommend medical marijuana to their patients.
