U.S. House votes to protect state-level marijuana laws in Colorado, elsewhere

Jun 3, 2015, 2:14pm MDT
Updated Jun 3, 2015, 2:39pm MDT
Molly Armbrister
Denver Business Journal

The U.S. House of Representatives today approved an amendment to the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations bill denying the use of federal funds to interfere with medical cannabis patients or providers in states where medical marijuana is legal.

The measure passed by a margin of 242 to 186 that included more than 65 Republicans, according to a release.

An amendment proposed by Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, and Rep. Tom McClintock, R-California, would have extended the same protections to non-medical retail marijuana businesses and consumers in states where adult use has been legalized, but the measure failed 206 to 222.

Colorado's marijuana business has been allowed to operate since recreational marijuana became legal on Jan. 1, 2014 largely because of a 2013 decision by the U.S. Justice Department to allow Colorado and Washington to create their own structures for regulating marijuana, even though it is illegal at the federal level.

The decision by the House signifies willingness in another branch of the federal government to allow leeway for states that have legalized marijuana.

“The federal government shouldn’t be swooping into Colorado to decide how we regulate marijuana any more than it should be swooping into Louisiana to tell them how they should regulate fried crawfish,” Polis said. “In Colorado, we’ve seen that regulating the marijuana industry is a far more successful approach than leaving the market in the hands of criminal cartels. With each passing year, Congress moves one step closer to leaving marijuana policy up to the states, where it belongs. I’m confident that with time, we’ll finally get there.”

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