California Congressman Urges Conservatives To Protect Weed From Feds

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher just called on his fellow Republicans to think seriously about medical weed laws in the U.S. More specifically, in his statement, the California Congressman urges conservatives to protect weed from federal interference.

Rohrabacher To Conservatives: Protect Legal Weed

Representative Rohrabacher published his thoughts today in a guest opinion piece in The Washington Post. It essentially reads like an open letter to the Republican Party and to conservatives more generally.

Throughout, Rohrabacher stressed the importance of medical marijuana. In particular, he talked about a veteran friend who suffers from seizures after his time in the military.

Rohrabacher said that none of the prescriptions—including opioids—prescribed to his friend by Veterans Affairs doctors worked. But medical cannabis did.

Rohrabacher pointed out that this is only anecdotal evidence of medical marijuana’s therapeutic benefits. But, he said, “studies continue to yield promising results” that back up these types of anecdotes.

He added: “Medical marijuana can dramatically improve the lives of people with epilepsy, post-traumatic stress disorder, arthritis, and many other ailments.”

That’s why he wants to protect medical marijuana programs from federal interference. As Attorney General Jeff Sessions continues threatening a federal crackdown on state medical marijuana programs, Rohrabacher is calling on conservatives to protect states’ rights to legalize medical weed.

Rohrabacher’s Work With Cannabis

As a Republican, Rohrabacher seems an unlikely champion of legal weed. After all, the Republican Party officially chose not to support medical marijuana on its official platform during last year’s elections.

Despite this, Rep. Rohrabacher has been one of the most active supporters of states with medical marijuana programs. A couple of years ago, he wrote an amendment to federal spending bills that kept the federal government from interfering with states that have legalized weed.

His amendment, which is known as the Rohrabacher-Far Amendment, has passed two years in a row. It’s been influential in building up legal protections for weed-legal states.

But now, the whole thing is coming under attack in the age of Trump. In June, Attorney General Jeff Sessions asked Congress to drop the amendment.

Doing so would remove important protections and would pave the way for a federal crackdown on legal medical marijuana programs.

Rohrabacher’s statement today came in direct response to Sessions’ request. For him, it comes down to states’ rights.

“I should not need to remind our chief law enforcement officer nor my fellow Republicans that our system of federalism, also known as states’ rights, was designed to resolve just such a fractions issue,” he wrote.

Ultimately, Rohrabacher wants to see his amendment kept in place. “My colleagues should then return to Washington and keep my amendment intact, declaring themselves firmly on the side of medical progress,” he wrote.

Final Hit: California Congressman Urges Conservatives To Protect Weed From Feds

With his latest statement, Rohrabacher continues his efforts to legalize and protect medical cannabis. With today’s publication, the California congressman urges conservatives to protect weed from federal interference.

And if anybody has doubts about the validity of medical cannabis, Rohrabacher invited them to travel to California to “visit a medical marijuana research facility.”

As far as he’s concerned, science has already provided all the proof needed to validate medical marijuana programs.