Pubdate: Thu, 05 Jun 2014
Source: Reno News & Review (NV)
Copyright: 2014, Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.newsreview.com/issues/reno/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2524
Author: Dennis Myers

HISTORIC VOTE CAST

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted 218 to 189 on May 30 to 
withhold federal funds for the enforcement of federal laws that 
interfere with state government-approved medical marijuana programs.

All four Nevada House members supported the amendment, which was 
added to a criminal justice funding bill (H.R. 4660).

The vote was treated in California as a message to President Obama 
and his U.S. attorneys in that state who have cracked down on medical 
dispensaries in spite of Obama's pledges to leave state programs 
alone. The amendment was sponsored by California Reps. Dana 
Rohrabacher, a Republican, and Sam Farr, a Democrat. It tapped into 
some Republican libertarian sentiment, which-when joined with 
traditional Democratic votes-resulted in a very rare pro-marijuana 
vote in Congress. It's not clear whether there has been another 
pro-marijuana vote in the House since 1937, when the plant was banned 
at the behest of alcohol and timber lobbies and over the objections 
of the American Medical Association.

170 Democrats and 49 Republicans voted for the amendment, 172 
Republicans and 17 Democrats against.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom