Action Alert: Protect State Cannabis Programs

In the coming days, the House of Representatives will vote on protecting adult-use cannabis businesses, consumers, and state programs from the federal government and we need your help now.

The Blumenauer-Norton-Lee-McClintock amendment states that no funds from the Department of Justice may be used to prevent any adult-use cannabis states from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of cannabis. While the amendment didn’t make it into the federal budget last year, the House did approve it in a 267-165 vote.

This year, we’re working to increase that vote margin in the House in order to send a strong message to the Senate and the White House.

You can help us send that message by calling your Representative and tell them to VOTE YES on the Blumenauer-Norton-Lee-McClintock amendment to the Commerce, Science, and Justice appropriations bill.

Find your Representative by clicking here and check our Congressional Scorecard to see where your Representative stands on our industry’s issues!

Here are some talking points to guide your call:

• • Since 2014, Congress has passed annual spending bills that have included a provision protecting medical cannabis businesses, patients, and programs from undue prosecution by the Department of Justice.
  • The bipartisan Blumenauer-Norton-Lee-McClintock amendment simply expands those protections to include all state marijuana programs, including the 11 states that have legalized cannabis for adults over the age of 21.
  • A similar amendment was approved by the House in last year’s appropriations process by a 267-165 vote.
  • Today, more than one in five Americans reside in a jurisdiction where the adult use of cannabis is legal under state law.
  • This amendment does not legalize marijuana at the federal level; it simply respects those states that have decided replace prohibition with a system of regulation.
  • We urge you to VOTE YES on the Blumenauer-Norton-Lee-McClintock amendment to the Commerce, Science, and Justice appropriations bill.

Our industry supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, tens of millions in tax revenue, and billions in economic activity – so please, call and help us protect what we have built together.