Buried in the 1,600-page federal budget bill just passed by Congress is a rider reforming federal policy on medical marijuana that could, if made permanent, be a game-changer, according to drug-law reform advocates. This isn’t the first time such an amendment has been passed. And the last time, the Drug Enforcement Administration decided to interpret it in such a pro-raid, pro-prosecution way that a federal court judge in California stepped in to blast that interpretation, saying it "defies language and logic," "tortures the plain meaning of the statute" and is "at odds with fundamental notions of the rule of law."
Even if the provision does become permanent, it remains a far cry from the action short of outright legalization that would make the biggest difference: ordering marijuana off Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, which categorizes weed as more dangerous than cocaine. Evan Halper reports:
The bill's passage over the weekend marks the first time Congress has approved nationally significant legislation backed by legalization advocates. It brings almost to a close two decades of tension between the states and Washington over medical use of marijuana.
Under the provision, states where medical pot is legal would no longer need to worry about federal drug agents raiding retail operations. Agents would be prohibited from doing so. [...]
"The war on medical marijuana is over," said Bill Piper, a lobbyist with the Drug Policy Alliance, who called the move historic.
Saying this will end the federal-state tension over marijuana is a decidely premature prediction. However, the inclusion of the medical marijuana provision marks the emergence of an alliance with many Republicans on board. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California, a conservative who co-authored the proposal, said, "This is a victory for so many" and marks “the first time in decades that the federal government has curtailed its oppressive prohibition of marijuana."
Jacob Sullum at Reason, the libertarian publication that has for decades championed drug-law relaxation or repeal, sees the Rohrabacher rider as a good thing, but writes that it may not be quite the game-changer some view it as being. The problems, he says, are that the rider expires at the end of the fiscal year in September and the prohibition may not stop prosecutions and raids in some states where the rules governing who are legitimate suppliers of medical marijuana are “fuzzy.”
Sullum makes good points, but overall his is a pinched reading of the congressional move. The quiet inclusion of this provision is another wave—or, if you prefer, a major ripple—in the sea-change underway with America’s attitude about marijuana laws. It’s hard to imagine another decade passing without full nationwide legalization of pot.
If that new alliance in Congress wants to make a big difference and make it now, it needs to direct the Drug Enforcement Administration or the Food and Drug Administration to remove marijuana from Schedule I. Or just do it itself, the way it has added drugs to the schedule in the past.
That single act, taking marijuana off the list it should never have been on in the first place would save billions of dollars in policing, stop the ruination of the lives of so many people, end related property forfeitures, reduce corruption in law enforcement and weaken the drug cartels that have engendered so much bloody violence.
Moving marijuana off Schedule I wouldn’t, of course, be the end of needed changes. For example, anybody who has lost lifetime access to student loans, grants and other federal assistance as a result of marijuana convictions, should have their rights restored. And everyone convicted on marijuana charges should, if those were the only charges against them, be released from jail or prison, pardoned and their criminal records expunged. It’s the least that should be done for people victimized by this terrible law.
Unfortunately, there will be no compensation for the collateral damage it has caused to families and society. Nevertheless, a belated wising up about marijuana will at least bring to an end the destruction pot prohibitionists have imposed on the nation for so many decades.
•••
My thanks to artisan for pointing out that this isn’t the first time this amendment has passed.
