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Photo Courtesy of Allie Beckett.
Federal Medical Marijuana Protections Expire This Month
By Tom Angell on September 7th, 2016
Three weeks.
Thats how long until a law that protects people who are following state medical marijuana laws from being prosecuted by the federal government is set to expire.
First enacted in 2014 and then again in 2015, the provision prevents the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and other Department of Justice agencies from spending money to interfere with the implementation of state medical cannabis laws.
But the amendment is only temporary, applying to specific years appropriations bills, and must be re-enacted annually. The current fiscal year ends on September 30 just 23 days from now and theres no guarantee that Congress will include the medical marijuana protections in the spending legislation covering Fiscal Year 2017.
There is a lot at stake for patients and nobody seems to be noticing, Mike Liszewski of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) told Marijuana.com.
Heres how the measure appears in the current fiscal years bill:
But the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made it clear that the protections provide only temporary relief. They wrote:
And this year the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the amendment by a vote of 21-8.
But due to unrelated disputes over gun policy and the right of transgender people to access public bathrooms, House Republicans have begun locking down the amendment process. Whereas appropriations bills are typically brought to the floor under open rules through which any member can offer almost any amendment as long as its germane to the overarching bill, leadership has begun bringing bills forward under structured rules so that only certain approved amendments can come to the floor.
In June, for example, the House Rules Committee blocked floor votes on amendments concerning marijuana businesses access to banking services and Washington, D.C.s ability to spend its own money legalizing and regulating cannabis sales.
Advocates now fear that the Rules Committee and its powerful chairman, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), who opposes marijuana law reform, will similarly block the medical cannabis protections from being voted on. If that happens, it will be left up to a conference committee of members from both chambers to decide whether to include the medical marijuana language that the Senate Appropriations Committee put into that chambers version of the spending bill.
Liszewski, of ASA, is worried about what could happen to patients safe and legal access to medical cannabis if the amendment isnt renewed, saying that so far federal medical marijuana prosecutions have been stopped dead in their tracks by the measure but that its protections are wafer-thin because they need to be renewed every year.
If the amendment does not make it into the Department of Justices budget for the next fiscal year, the federal prosecutions can resume completely unimpeded once again, he said, adding that the results of the presidential election could put patients in even greater jeopardy.
If the amendment does not make in the bill this year and we end of with Chris Christie as attorney general, raids and prosecutions of dispensaries could once again become commonplace, Liszewski said, referring to the New Jersey governor who many advocates fear could be named as the nations top law enforcement official if Donald political name is elected president.
If that happens, patients will have their supply of medicine disrupted, which will harm their ability to treat their conditions with their physician-recommend medicine sold in accordance with state law, he said.
In the meantime, Congress is likely to pass a short-term extension of the current fiscal years funding in order to keep the federal government operating past the end of the month while deals are worked out for a final Fiscal Year 2017 spending package. As part of that process, it is expected that the medical marijuana protections would be extended along with most or all other provisions from the current fiscal year, but only for another month or two.
But looking ahead to 2017, it remains to be seen whether medical cannabis patients and providers who are following state laws will be able to maintain peace of mind that the DEA wont knock down their doors and send them to prison.
TAKE ACTION HERE: http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/51046/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=16524
http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2016/09/federal-medical-marijuana-protections-expire-this-month/
Photo Courtesy of Allie Beckett.
Federal Medical Marijuana Protections Expire This Month
By Tom Angell on September 7th, 2016
Three weeks.
Thats how long until a law that protects people who are following state medical marijuana laws from being prosecuted by the federal government is set to expire.
First enacted in 2014 and then again in 2015, the provision prevents the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and other Department of Justice agencies from spending money to interfere with the implementation of state medical cannabis laws.
But the amendment is only temporary, applying to specific years appropriations bills, and must be re-enacted annually. The current fiscal year ends on September 30 just 23 days from now and theres no guarantee that Congress will include the medical marijuana protections in the spending legislation covering Fiscal Year 2017.
There is a lot at stake for patients and nobody seems to be noticing, Mike Liszewski of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) told Marijuana.com.
Heres how the measure appears in the current fiscal years bill:
Sec. 542. None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, or with respect to either the District of Columbia or Guam, to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.
Last month a federal court ruled over Justice Department objections that the provision doesnt merely block the U.S. government from stopping states from passing their own medical marijuana laws but also prevents federal prosecutors from going after patients and providers who are operating in accordance with those local policies.
But the three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit made it clear that the protections provide only temporary relief. They wrote:
DOJ is currently prohibited from spending funds from specific appropriations acts for prosecutions of those who complied with state law. But Congress could appropriate funds for such prosecutions tomorrow. Conversely, this temporary lack of funds could become a more permanent lack of funds if Congress continues to include the same rider in future appropriations bills. [Emphasis added.]
Advocates began 2016 feeling confident theyd be able to enact the amendment again. After all, huge bipartisan majorities of the House of Representatives are on record in support. In 2014 the measure passed 219-189. Last year the margin of victory grew to 242-186.
And this year the Senate Appropriations Committee approved the amendment by a vote of 21-8.
But due to unrelated disputes over gun policy and the right of transgender people to access public bathrooms, House Republicans have begun locking down the amendment process. Whereas appropriations bills are typically brought to the floor under open rules through which any member can offer almost any amendment as long as its germane to the overarching bill, leadership has begun bringing bills forward under structured rules so that only certain approved amendments can come to the floor.
In June, for example, the House Rules Committee blocked floor votes on amendments concerning marijuana businesses access to banking services and Washington, D.C.s ability to spend its own money legalizing and regulating cannabis sales.
Advocates now fear that the Rules Committee and its powerful chairman, Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), who opposes marijuana law reform, will similarly block the medical cannabis protections from being voted on. If that happens, it will be left up to a conference committee of members from both chambers to decide whether to include the medical marijuana language that the Senate Appropriations Committee put into that chambers version of the spending bill.
Liszewski, of ASA, is worried about what could happen to patients safe and legal access to medical cannabis if the amendment isnt renewed, saying that so far federal medical marijuana prosecutions have been stopped dead in their tracks by the measure but that its protections are wafer-thin because they need to be renewed every year.
If the amendment does not make it into the Department of Justices budget for the next fiscal year, the federal prosecutions can resume completely unimpeded once again, he said, adding that the results of the presidential election could put patients in even greater jeopardy.
If the amendment does not make in the bill this year and we end of with Chris Christie as attorney general, raids and prosecutions of dispensaries could once again become commonplace, Liszewski said, referring to the New Jersey governor who many advocates fear could be named as the nations top law enforcement official if Donald political name is elected president.
If that happens, patients will have their supply of medicine disrupted, which will harm their ability to treat their conditions with their physician-recommend medicine sold in accordance with state law, he said.
In the meantime, Congress is likely to pass a short-term extension of the current fiscal years funding in order to keep the federal government operating past the end of the month while deals are worked out for a final Fiscal Year 2017 spending package. As part of that process, it is expected that the medical marijuana protections would be extended along with most or all other provisions from the current fiscal year, but only for another month or two.
But looking ahead to 2017, it remains to be seen whether medical cannabis patients and providers who are following state laws will be able to maintain peace of mind that the DEA wont knock down their doors and send them to prison.
TAKE ACTION HERE: http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/51046/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=16524
http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2016/09/federal-medical-marijuana-protections-expire-this-month/
