Adult-use of cannabis might be inching toward a more uniform legal standard, thanks to the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives. In a historic decision, the House approved the Blumenauer-McClintock-Norton amendment on Thursday, June 20. The amendment, if signed into law, will “prohibit the Department of Justice from interfering with state cannabis programs,” as the bill states.
“The importance of this vote on the Blumenauer amendment cannot be overstated,” according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Currently, the federal government is still both willing and able to prosecute marijuana users even in states where adult-use marijuana is legal, as it is still a federal crime. This new amendment would effectively shield nearly a third of the American population living in states where recreational cannabis is legal. Currently, only state-legalized medical cannabis use is protected from federal interference due to the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment, which passed for the first time in 2014.
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The amendment is attached to a large appropriations bill providing funds to the Department of Justice for 2020, which still needs the approval of the U.S. Senate. The amendment passed the House with 267 votes in favor and 165 votes against, showing an increasingly large amount of support for cannabis reform among the representatives. A similar measure had been proposed in 2015 but failed to pass the House. Since 2015, the number of states where cannabis is legal rose from four to 11.
Just like the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment, the Blumenauer-McClintock-Norton one will need to be renewed every year as part of the federal budget and is not permanently enshrined in the law.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), who has spearheaded cannabis reforms in the House, also oversaw the passage of an amendment protecting cannabis programs among Native American tribes.
“Our cannabis laws are out of date and out of touch, and tribes deserve full protection from the federal government,” Blumenauer said. “This would prohibit the Department of Justice from spending money to interfere in any tribal cannabis programs, [...] regardless of surrounding state laws.”
