House Passes Bill to Block Federal Enforcement of Cannabis Laws in U.S. States and Territories
In a bipartisan vote of 267 to 165, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to the DOJ appropriations bill that would, among other things, prevent the DOJ from using appropriated funds to enforce federal anti-marijuana laws in states that have legalized the "use, distribution, possession, or cultivation" of medical and adult-use (see Amendment No. 17).
For the past several years, the appropriations bill has prevented the DOJ from using its appropriated funds to take any action that would interfere with state-legal medical marijuana businesses/users. With this vote, the House has chosen to extend that prohibition to state-legal adult use (i.e., recreational marijuana activities). It is a development that the amendment's sponsor - Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) - has sought for the past several years (even prior to election to Congress). If incorporated into the final DOJ appropriations bill, federal prosecutors would be prevented from using any funds in its general budget for investigating or prosecuting state-legal marijuana activity, regardless of whether the conduct involves medical use.
Commentary
The restrictions in the DOJ appropriations bills have a far greater impact on actual risk of federal prosecution of compliant marijuana businesses or individual sellers or users than the Cole Memo or any other DOJ policy pronouncements ever did. The extension of the appropriated funds restrictions from state-legal medical use to general adult use marijuana businesses is a huge stride toward eliminating the risk of federal prosecutions for compliant cannabis activities. Once the final budgets are in place for FY 2020, there may be a whole lot of businesses and individuals across the country who can rest assured that, as long as they comply with state laws, the risk of federal charges for violating national drug laws is nearly nil. If the Senate also passes either the SAFE Banking Act or the STATES Act in the coming Congress, then the equally large risk of anti-money laundering violations will be similarly reduced.