Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment

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The Hinchey-Rohrabacher medical marijuana amendment (House Amendment 272) was offered by Congressmen 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 [http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll733.xml].

Amendment Text

At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following:TITLE VII—ADDITIONAL GENERAL PROVISIONSSec. 701. None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to the States of Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, to prevent such States from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana. [http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r110:79:./temp/~r110KwQ1Sm:e161173:]

Analysis

If passed, the amendment would have prohibited the DEA and the United States Department of Justice from spending taxpayer money to raid, arrest, or prosecute medical marijuana patients and providers in the 12 states where medical marijuana is legal. It would not have prevented the DEA from arresting individuals who are involved in marijuana-related activities unconnected to medical use. As a result of as a result of the amendment’s defeat, medical marijuana patients and caregivers acting in accordance with state laws are still at risk of federal prosecution.

History

As of this writing in 2007, there have been only six 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 [http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c105:4:./temp/~c1055kbko1::].The Hinchey amendment has been introduced on the House floor five 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.


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