DEA to back off on pot meds

Sergeant Green Leaf Wellness Center operates from this small building in Georgetown, Colorado, which has a population of 1,023 people. But the dispensary is conveniently located near an on-off ramp for Interstate 70, less than an hour from Denver and on the way to the popular ski areas of Breckenridge and Vail. (STAFF PHOTO / MICHAEL POLLICK)
Sergeant Green Leaf Wellness Center operates from this small building in Georgetown, Colorado, which has a population of 1,023 people. But the dispensary is conveniently located near an on-off ramp for Interstate 70, less than an hour from Denver and on the way to the popular ski areas of Breckenridge and Vail. (STAFF PHOTO / MICHAEL POLLICK)

Sergeant Green Leaf Wellness Center operates from this small building in Georgetown, Colorado, which has a population of 1,023 people. But the dispensary is conveniently located near an on-off ramp for Interstate 70, less than an hour from Denver and on the way to the popular ski areas of Breckenridge and Vail. (STAFF PHOTO / MICHAEL POLLICK)

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, reports the Los Angeles Times.

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.

NORML.org provides the specifics: an amendment sponsored by California Reps. Dana Rohrbacher and Sam Farr to the $1.1 trillion spending bill states, “None of the funds made available in this act to the Department of Justice may be used … to prevent … states … from implementing their own state laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”

Following Congress’ passage of the legislation, Farr said: “The federal government will finally respect the decisions made by the majority of states that passed medical marijuana laws. This is great day for common sense because now our federal dollars will be spent more wisely on prosecuting criminals and not sick patients.”

Similar language prohibiting the Justice Department from undermining state-sanctioned hemp cultivation programs was also included in the bill.

Also contained in the appropriations measure is a rider sponsored by Maryland Republican Andy Harris that seeks to limit DC officials’ ability to fully implement a November 2014 municipal initiative depenalizing the personal adult possession and cultivation of cannabis. At this time however, it remains unclear whether the enacted language is written in a manner that can actually do so.

On Saturday, The Washington Post reported that DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson “plans to ignore the provision” and that he will “send a bill implementing Initiative 71 to Congress in January for a 30-day review, during which federal lawmakers can veto it or let it stand.” Such a review is necessary before any DC initiative can become law.

Washington DC’s Initiative 71, which was approved by 70 percent of District voters, removes criminal and civil penalties regarding the adult possession of up to two ounces of cannabis and/or the cultivation of up to six plants.

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

Just as importantly, Congress’ action marked the emergence of a new alliance in marijuana politics: Republicans are taking a prominent role in backing states’ right to allow use of a drug the federal government still officially classifies as more dangerous than cocaine.