Well we knew it was going to happen, and happen it did indeed! Congress ends the Federal Ban on Medical Marijuana.
Deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending measure Congress added a provision that effectively ends the federal government’s prohibition on medical marijuana. This bans federal agents from policing its users or raiding dispensaries in any state or district where it is legal.
The spending plan, with the medical pot provision within it, became law when President Obama signed it last Friday. In states that had legalized medial marijuana, police could still prosecute for using or distributing medical marijuana because federal law trumps state law. This provision represents a massive turning point in the probation of marijuana.
Bill Piper, a lobbyist with the Drug Policy Alliance said: “The war on medical marijuana is over. Now the fight moves on to legalization of all marijuana.”
At present, thirty-two of the 50 states and the District of Columbia have already legalized some form of marijuana use, or its ingredients, for medication. For this reason, the new law “is a victory for so many,” says Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a Californian Republican and co-author of the provision. “This is […] the first time in decades that the federal government has curtailed its oppressive prohibition of marijuana.”
“The federal government should never get in between patients and their medicine,” said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland).
The benefits of cannabis are numerous, which is why the herb needs to be legally available in every state. Studies have shown that cannabis oil helps treat everything from glaucoma and multiple sclerosis to nerve and seizure disorders, and chronic pain. In addition, hemp is not only a nutritious food (hemp seed), the crop can be used to make clothes, building materials, and fuel – among other uses.
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Source: LA TIMES
