Crackdown vote down

This month, millions of medical-marijuana supporters nationwide cheered a long-shot congressional effort in Washington, D.C., to defund the federal crackdown on medical cannabis.

The Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical-marijuana amendment promised to send a strong message to President Barack Obama that the Department of Justice should stop obstructing state medical-marijuana laws.

The amendment to House Resolution 5326, which funds the Department of Justice, read: “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.”

But the amendment failed in the House on Wednesday, May 9, at 11:42 p.m. on a tallied vote of 163-262.

The California Congressional delegation voted 34-18 in favor of the amendment, though, notes Dale Gieringer, California head of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

“California Democrats voted overwhelmingly in favor of medical marijuana,” Gieringer wrote, “including [House] Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who did not vote last time because she was speaker, and Rep. Jerry McNerney, who changed his vote from last time.”

“A puzzling ’no’ came from liberal Democrat Maxine Waters, who has previously been a reliable and vocal supporter of drug- and prison-reform measures,” Gieringer stated.

California Republicans still favor government spending on a drug “nanny state,” said Gieringer, “with the notable libertarian-leaning exceptions of [Reps. Dana] Rohrabacher, [Tom] McClintock, Ed Royce and John Campbell.”

The amendment was a long shot that had been tried five times prior, from 2003 to 2007. According to National Cannabis Industry Association lobbyist in Washington, D.C., Steve Fox, the amendment’s five-year absence in the House speaks volumes about a milder enforcement climate nationwide.

The return of the amendment also matters, as it closely tracks the intensifying, multipronged federal crackdown on medical cannabis. More than a dozen U.S. attorneys have threatened state employees with jail for implementing lawful state medical-marijuana programs.

The 2012 amendment arose quickly and seemingly out of nowhere, Fox said, indicating patient outcry is reaching representatives’ ears.

“It seems to have struck a chord, there’s absolutely no doubt about it,” Fox said.

And the mix of support in 2012 contains more of the GOP than before, Gieringer stated.

“It picked up substantially more Republican support than the last time around in 2007… the trend indicates growing bipartisan support for changing federal policy,” he stated.