The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to pass an amendment that prevents the Department of Justice from spending taxpayer dollars to enforce federal anti-cannabis laws in otherwise legal cannabis sates, according to NORML.
The Blumenauer-McClintock-Norton-Lee amendment protects legal marijuana programs by restricting spending on anti-marijuana efforts in the majority of states that regulate the use of either recreational or medical cannabis.
“This is the most significant vote on marijuana policy reform that the House of Representatives has taken this year,” said National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws political director Justin Strekal in a news release. “The importance of this bipartisan vote cannot be overstated as today; nearly one in four Americans reside in a jurisdiction where the adult use of cannabis is legal under state statute. It is time for Congress to acknowledge this reality and retain these protections in the final spending bill.”
Strekal also noted this move on the part of the House should be followed by the end of prohibition and the era of cannabis criminalization.
The vote comes after several moves to adjust spending when it comes to anti-cannabis laws, tracing back to 2014. Since then, members of Congress have passed spending bills that protected those involved in the legal use, production, and dispensing of medical cannabis from prosecution by the Department of Justice.
With the new amendment, activities associated with the production and sale of cannabis to adults in the 11 states that have legalized recreational use are protected as well.
Similar language was passed in the Democrat-led House last year, but the provision was removed from the final spending package by the conference committee.