Difference between revisions of "Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment"

Revision as of 19:07, 7 March 2015

The Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment (House Amendment 272) is legislation that prevents the Department of Justice from spending money to prevent the implementation of state medical marijuana laws. The amendment was offered by Representatives Maurice Hinchey and Dana Rohrabacher to amend the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Bill, H.R. 3093, on July 25, 2007 in the U.S. Congress. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 262-165. Eventually, the Amendment was passed by the US House on May 29, 2014, but was never voted on in the Senate. The amendment was passed by both houses of Congress in December 2014 as part of a $1.1 trillion spending bill. The full text of the 2014 House Amendment is as follows:

SEC. 558. None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, to prevent such States from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.

History

As of 2007, there had been only seven House floor votes on medical marijuana in U.S. history. The first House vote on the issue was on a non-binding resolution opposing medical marijuana that passed by a 311-94 margin in 1998.

The Hinchey amendment has been introduced on the House floor seven times. The vote totals are as follows.

• In 2004, the amendment was introduced by Congressmen Sam Farr (D-CA) and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA). Representative Hinchey was on medical leave at the time. In 2012, following Hinchey's retirement, the amendment was again introduced by Rohrabacher.