Protection for medical cannabis states may continue through the beginning of 2017 due to federal lawmakers passing a short-term spending bill. Extending the funding bill, which keeps the government operating, (currently expires Dec. 9) may also extend Section 542 (a rider to the funding bill) of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016. This act states that funds may not be used to stop legal medical cannabis states from implementing their laws, Marijuana.com reported:
In August, a federal court ruled — over Justice Department objections — that the provision doesn’t 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. Advocates began 2016 feeling confident they’d 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.
Speaker Paul Ryan stated last week that the House would follow a request from President-elect Donald Trump to push a stopgap bill that would enable the government to continue running at the same pace through March, as per The New York Times. Senate Republicans were not necessarily aware of those plans at the time. The Times reported, quoting Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as saying, “Discussions are also ongoing about how to fund the government and for how long.”
According to Reuters, (who reported that some Democrats and Republicans do not agree with the short-term funding move) Donald Trump’s administration would like to have a “say-so on how spending is allocated” once he is in office, Ryan said. A senior member of the appropriations committee, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., told The Hill that there may be additions to the short-term bill:
Several members have called for more defense spending as well as additional relief for flood victims. House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) said Thursday he would personally push to complete the president’s request for supplemental war spending, which the chairman called “terribly important.”
Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) and others said pushing this year’s appropriations process into next March will make it tougher to write next year’s spending bills. It will shorten the timeline for the appropriations process, which makes it even tougher as GOP leaders pursue a complex budget tactic called reconciliation.
It is not clear what, if anything, the new administration will do toward existing medical cannabis or recreational cannabis laws in U.S. states. Donald Trump has said he stands behind states’ rights and would not get in the way of legal cannabis states, including recreational states such as Colorado. Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions is his nomination for attorney general. Sessions is a supporter of states’ rights, but against cannabis legalization and use.
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