Last year, Congress blocked the Justice Department from prosecuting marijuana use in states that have legalized it. But now DOJ does not want to comply.
Congress included the amendment in last year’s Cromnibus spending bill, banning the DOJ from using funds to prosecute state-legalized marijuana use.
DOJ is determined to ignore the law, telling the LA Times last week that they have their own interpretation of the amendment. DOJ spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush claimed that the amendment only applies to “impeding the ability of states to carry out their medical marijuana laws,” and does not apply to cases against individuals or organization.
Reps. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) have now sent a letter chastising DOJ for their “emphatically wrong” interpretation of their law.
As the authors of the spending restriction, Farr and Rohrabacher said the purpose of t enforcement resources on those operating legally under the law.
“In fact, we can imagine few more efficient and effective ways of ‘impeding the ability of states to carry out their medical marijuana laws’ than prosecuting individuals and organizations acting in accordance with those laws,” the letter said.
“Rest assured,” they write, “the purpose of our amendment was to prevent the Department from wasting its limited law enforcement resources on prosecutions and asset forfeiture actions against medical marijuana patients and providers, including businesses that operate legally under state law.”
The full letter, available here, ends, “…we respectfully insist that you bring your Department back into compliance with federal law by ceasing marijuana prosecutions and forfeiture actions against those acting in accordance with state medical marijuana laws.”
The amendment is a popular measure–recent polls have found broad support for granting states a safe haven from federal marijuana laws.
