What is the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment?
Kelly Weimert
May 11th, 2017
Policy, Top News
United States Supreme Court Pillars of Justice and Law
Given marijuana’s mixed legality across the United States — with some states legalizing it medicinally, some recreationally, a few across the board, and some not legalizing it at all — there exists a lot of uncertainty among cannabis businesses and individual users as to which practices they can utilize without the risk of prosecution.
To reduce the legal haze around marijuana, in 2014 congress passed what’s known as the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, which is a law that prohibits the Department of Justice (DOJ) from interfering with state medical marijuana laws.
The fight to pass this amendment dates back to 2003 when the bill was first introduced, and finally ended ten years later as legalization — particularly for medical reasons — gained increased bipartisan support with the majority of the country being in favor of legalization.
Still, the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment has received its fair share of pushback from the DOJ since being passed, which initially interpreted the amendment to mean that they still had the authority to prosecute individuals and organizations, even when they’re acting in compliance with state medical marijuana laws.
The DOJ then went on to attempt to prosecute marijuana growers who were growing legally in their state. Fortunately, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the DOJ’s interpretation of the law is wrong and these legal growers cannot be prosecuted under the law as it stands.
That said, the protection for individual users and cannabis businesses the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment provides continues to be threatened largely due to newly-appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ stance on marijuana use.
Sessions has notoriously compared marijuana to heroin in terms of its detriment to life, stating: “I reject the idea that America will be a better place if marijuana is sold in every corner store. And I am astonished to hear people suggest that we can solve our heroin crisis by legalizing marijuana — so people can trade one life-wrecking dependency for another that’s only slightly less awful.”
And while even cursory research into the impact of marijuana on health will show that Sessions’ comparison is unfounded — there have been zero deaths by cannabis overdose in the history of its use while heroin killed 12,989 Americans in a single year — he remains one of the primary authorities on the matter.
Given that Sessions is holding firm on his antiquated marijuana stance, it’s more critical than ever that the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment remains in effect. And because it has yet to be signed into permanent law, the amendment must be renewed each year, creating increased uncertainty in an already foggy landscape of the future of marijuana legalization.
Fortunately for cannabis businesses and individual users, the amendment was renewed in April and will remain in effect until September of this year. And while this should undoubtedly be considered a win for medical marijuana advocates, in the larger scheme of things, it’s only a short-term win that is expected to be continually threatened by the Trump administration’s stance on marijuana policy as a whole.
Bottom Line for Medical Marijuana Patients and Cannabis Businesses
Due to the current administration’s position on marijuana, cannabis advocates will need to continue to fight for increased access to the drug, even for medical purposes. But it’s a fight for which they have a lot of backing.
Few political issues have as much bipartisanship support as the legalization of medical cannabis, and this support has continued to rise with each passing year and is showing no signs of slowing down. Additionally, for a country that’s divided on so many ideological issues at present, America remains refreshingly unified on the matter as more and more people across the political spectrum voice support for cannabis legalization.
So, while the future of marijuana reform remains uncertain, the renewal of the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment last month indicates that progress is safe for another season, and the growing support for legalization in the face of Sessions’ opposition is promising for both individual users and cannabis businesses.
This article was published by CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN), owner and operator of CFN Media, the industry’s leading agency and digital financial media network dedicated to the burgeoning CBD and legal cannabis industries. Call +1 (833) 420-CNFN for more information.
About Kelly Weimert
Kelly is a full-time freelance writer based in Austin, TX. A happy hybrid of geek and hippie, when she's not nestled into her couch crankin' out crafty prose with her miscreant Chihuahua, you can find her frolicking outside to keep her sanity in check.
Search CannabisFN
Press Coverage
Psychedelics Index
Top Videos
The producers of O’ Cannabiz have decades of experience producing national-profile events and creating global connections between business communities in the arts, broadcasting, media and technology. They have organized trade summit initiatives with governments around the world. And they have worked closely with sponsors in all levels of Canadian government.
Matt Hawkins is the founder and managing principal of Cresco Capital Partners, LLC (“Cresco”), a private equity firm focused specifically on investing in the legalized cannabis industry. Since its inception in the summer of 2015, Cresco has made 14 investments out of its first fund and is currently raising this fund, Fund II. Prior to the […]
Resolve Digital Health Inc. committed to establishing a standard of care missing from the medical cannabis industry until now.
Empower Inc. (CSE: EPW) is a growing network of physician-staffed health clinics focused on helping patients improve and protect their health.
Network Partners
About CFN Media Group
CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN) owns and operates CFN Media Group, the premier agency and financial media network reaching executives, entrepreneurs and consumers worldwide. Through its proprietary content creation, video library, and distribution via www.CannabisFN.com, CFN has built an extensive database of cannabis interest, assisting many of the world’s largest cannabis firms and CBD brands to build awareness and thrive. For more information, please visit www.cfnenterprisesinc.com.
Disclaimer: Matters discussed on this website contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, may from time-to-time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and will increase or decrease such positions without notice. The Information contains forward-looking statements, i.e. statements or discussions that constitute predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, estimates, or projections as indicated by such words as "expects", "will", "anticipates", and "estimates"; therefore, you should proceed with extreme caution in relying upon such statements and conduct a full investigation of the Information and the Profiled Issuer as well as any such forward-looking statements. Any forward looking statements we make in the Information are limited to the time period in which they are made, and we do not undertake to update forward looking statements that may change at any time; The Information is presented only as a brief "snapshot" of the Profiled Issuer and should only be used, at most, and if at all, as a starting point for you to conduct a thorough investigation of the Profiled Issuer and its securities and to consult your financial, legal or other adviser(s) and avail yourself of the filings and information that may be accessed at www.sec.gov, www.pinksheets.com, www.otcmarkets.com or other electronic sources, including: (a) reviewing SEC periodic reports (Forms 10-Q and 10-K), reports of material events (Form 8-K), insider reports (Forms 3, 4, 5 and Schedule 13D); (b) reviewing Information and Disclosure Statements and unaudited financial reports filed with the Pink Sheets or www.otcmarkets.com; (c) obtaining and reviewing publicly available information contained in commonlyknown search engines such as Google; and (d) consulting investment guides at www.sec.gov and www.finra.com. You should always be cognizant that the Profiled Issuers may not be current in their reporting obligations with the SEC and OTCMarkets and/or have negative signs at www.otcmarkets.com (See section below titled "Risks Related to the Profiled Issuers, which provides additional information pertaining thereto). For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice and that of their own professional advisers. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, may be compensated for its Services in the form of cash-based and/or equity-based compensation in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure, please visit: https://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/. A short time after we acquire the securities of the foregoing company, we may publish the (favorable) information about the issuer referenced above advising others, including you, to purchase; and while doing so, we may sell the securities we acquired. In addition, a third-party shareholder compensating us may sell his or her shares of the issuer while we are publishing favorable information about the issuer. Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this article contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and will increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice and that of their own professional advisers. CFN Media Group, which owns CannabisFN, may be compensated for its Services in the form of cash-based and/or equity- based compensation in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure please visit: https://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/.
Copyright © Accelerize Inc. · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Legal Disclaimer
