The Appropriations Bill recently passed by the US Congress and signed by the President extended protection for state medical marijuana programs. The extension lasts through September 30, 2017, when Congress will need to either reauthorize the language or let the provisions expire.
Section 537 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2017 prohibits the use of federal funds to prevent states from implementing their own laws that allow for the use, cultivation, distribution, or possession of medical cannabis. That language was initially passed by Congress in 2014 as the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment and is now known as the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment.
In August, 2016, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in United States v. McIntosh, 833 F.3d 1163, 1177 (9th Cir. 2016), unanimously ruled that the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment bars the federal government from taking legal action against any individual involved in medical marijuana related activity absent evidence that the defendant is in clear violation of state law.
Because the provision is included as part of a Congressional spending package and does not explicitly amend the US Controlled Substances Act, members must re-authorize the amendment annually.
