Marijuana news: U.S. House vote blocking feds from meddling in state medical pot laws surprises even advocates (video)


An amendment barring the U.S. Department of Justice from interfering with state medical marijuana laws got a surprising boost from GOP lawmakers.

Though many Republican lawmakers remain opposed to marijuana reform, others view the federal war on drugs as overreach "and a violation of the rights of more than two dozen states that have legalized cannabis or specific components of it for medical use," the Los Angeles Times reports. The U.S. House narrowly passed the amendment Friday; it now heads to the Democratic Senate.

Writes LA Times reporter Evan Halper:

Most GOP stalwarts, of course, continue to rail against liberalization of the laws. Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, a physician, declared during floor debate that medical marijuana is a sham. Real medicine, he said, "is not two joints a day, not a brownie here, a biscuit there. That is not modern medicine."

But in a sign of how the times are changing, he found himself challenged by a colleague from his own caucus who is also a doctor. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) spoke passionately in favor of the bill. "It has very valid medical uses under direction of a doctor," he said. "It is actually less dangerous than some narcotics prescribed by doctors all over the country." Georgia is among the many states experimenting with medical marijuana. A state program there allows its limited use to treat children with severe epileptic seizures.

Here's a clip of Republican U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher's closing remarks on the debate early Friday:

In a piece for The Huffington Post, Ryan J. Reilly writes that the narrow vote for the amendment surprised even marijuana advocates, including Tom Angell, chairman of the Marijuana Majority.

"While I always knew it would happen sooner than most political observers thought, it's still hard to believe this just happened," Angell told Reilly.

The Marijuana Policy Project's Dan Riffle said he thought the amendment had a chance of passing.

"When I saw the vote total, I was shocked -- not so much that it passed, but by the margin," Riffle told the Huffington Post.. "I figured we might get lucky and pass it by 5-10 votes, but never thought a 30 vote margin was a possibility."

Oregonian senior political reporter Jeff Mapes noted in a story on Friday that Oregon's U.S. Rep. Greg Walden was among the Republicans who supported the amendment. (Mapes reports that Oregon's delegation, which includes U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a sponsor of the amendment and an outspoken proponent of marijuana reform, voted for the measure.)

The unanimous vote appeared to be a recognition of how deeply entrenched medical marijuana is in Oregon.  The state was one of the first to approve medical marijuana, in a 1998 ballot measure.  Last year, the Legislature passed a law allowing regulated dispensaries to open (although several localities have sought to prohibit them).

Medical marijuana was approved the same year in Washington state, but three of the state's Republican representatives voted against the House amendment.  They are Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, who represents southwest Washington, and Reps. Dave Reichert and Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

-- Noelle Crombie