Pubdate: Tue, 16 Dec 2014
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2014 Sun-Sentinel Company
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/mVLAxQfA
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: Evan Halper, Tribune Washington Bureau
Page: 2A

MARIJUANA-FRIENDLY STATES TO GET BREAK FROM DEA

Spending Bill Ends Federal Prohibition on Medical Pot

WASHINGTON - Tucked deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending 
measure is a provision that effectively ends the federal government's 
prohibition on medical marijuana 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 marijuana.

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

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

More importantly, from the standpoint of activists, congressional 
passage of the provision marked the emergence of a new alliance in 
marijuana politics: Republicans are taking a prominent role in 
backing the right of states to allow use of a drug the federal 
government still officially classifies as more dangerous than cocaine.

"This is a victory for so many," said the measure's co-author, Rep. 
Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. The measure's approval, he said, 
represents "the first time in decades that the federal government has 
curtailed its oppressive prohibition of marijuana."

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

The movement picked up considerable momentum in recent years. The 
Drug Enforcement Administration, however, continues to place 
marijuana 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 marijuana measure, which forbids the federal 
government from using any of its resources to impede state medical 
marijuana laws, was previously rejected a half dozen times. When 
District of Columbia voters approved medical pot in 1998, Congress 
used its authority over the city's affairs to block the law from 
taking effect for 11 years.

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

But pot proponents nonetheless said they feel more confident than 
ever that Congress is drifting toward their point of view.

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

"Now the fight moves onto legalization of all marijuana," he said. 
This is the strongest signal we have received from Congress 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, 
DCalif., had the support of large numbers of Democrats for years. But 
enough Republicans joined them this year to put it over the top. 
There were 49 Republicans who voted in favor of the measure when the 
House first passed it earlier this year.

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

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