A last trump customarily refers to the final trumpet call that signals the end of an era. The Los Angeles Times is concerned the days of the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment might be drawing as abruptly to a close. That amendment to the federal spending bill prevents the Justice Department interfering with medical marijuana businesses ‘that comply with their state’s laws’, but this could fall away.
Rohrabacher-Blumenauer requires annual verification when the federal spending bill comes up for consideration. This has consistently happened since 2014. Senate already approved it this July. This approval has, however, no force unless Congress concurs too and that may not happen this time.
Congress has an instrument called the House Rules Committee, which balances in favor of the majority party. Since Congress does not have unlimited time for discussions, the Rules Committee determines the ‘rules’ governing debate over a specific measure. On September 6, the committee decided to exclude the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment from the federal spending bill debate.
According to Los Angeles Times, it made this decision at the behest of the U.S. Attorney General. The incumbent previously wrote to Congress members in May urging them to refuse the amendment because of “a historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime”. It seems he wants to give the Justice Department “free rein” to enforce the Controlled Substance Act. This archaically treats marijuana as ‘addictive as heroin and with no medical value’.
This flies to fly in the face of his boss, at least in terms of what the President said during his election campaign in Sparks, Nevada on October 29, 2015, and we quote.
“The marijuana thing is such a big thing. I think medical should happen – right? Don’t we agree? I think so. And then I really believe we should leave it up to the states. It should be a state situation …
… but I believe that the legalization of marijuana – other than for medical because I think medical, you know I know people that are very, very sick and for whatever reason, the marijuana really helps them … but in terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state issue, state-by-state.”
Does the Attorney General’s action mean the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment is dead? This is a time for calm heads, and clear thinking as the relationship between congress, senate and president finds new rhythms. It would be nice to believe a joint Congress-Senate reconciliation committee will think logically as it hammers a way through the impasse.
They should respect the will of the people in the 46 states that approved medical use of cannabis. Or else, what happens to their children facing a return to seizures? Moreover, what happens to terminally ill cancer sufferers who may die in a mist of pain? We cannot begin to understand where this fits into the Attorney General’s “historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime.” Could anybody explain?