The House made a series of weed-friendly votes on Wednesday, coming inches within passing an amendment that would have banned the Justice Department from interfering with all state recreational marijuana laws.
Although the amendment narrowly failed, 206-222, they did vote to maintain a similar ban on using funds to interfere with state medical marijuana laws. That measure passed 242-186—23 more votes than it gained when it first passed last year, by The Hill’s count.
“Last year, passing this amendment was unprecedented. This year, it was predictable. Medical marijuana has gone from ‘controversial’ to ‘conventional’ on Capitol Hill,” the Marijuana Policy Project’s Dan Riffle said in a statement.
Tom Angell, chairman of the Marijuana Majority, told The Hill that Congress is no longer treating marijuana as “a third-rail issue that was too dangerous to touch.”
The votes were attached to the Justice Department’s funding bill.
They also passed an amendment protecting state hemp laws from DOJ prosecution, as well as several other funding measures which all together took $23 million away from DEA funding and repurposed the money towards helping abuse victims and purchasing body cameras.
The day’s events had frequent marijuana advocate Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) feeling so confident he predicted the end of the drug war within the next five years.
On CSPAN, @repblumenauer predicts federal war on #marijuana will be over within five years.
http://t.co/nyPDcZscXN pic.twitter.com/fzuXAN9XAf
— Marijuana Majority (@JoinTheMajority) June 3, 2015
Meanwhile, at the state level, a Louisiana medical marijuana bill passed the legislature on Thursday and headed to Bobby Jindal’s desk. Jindal has said he plans to sign it.
