C A N N A COM PLIA NC E LEGAL
Rohrabacher: Representing Cannabis in the House BY CHRIS LARKIN
T
he opposition to federal cannabis legalization in Congress comes mostly from
Republicans. That’s why the conservative voice of Dana Rohrabacher (R-Costa Mesa) is so uniquely important to the pro-marijuana[cannabis] cause. The Republican U.S. House of Representatives member – along with six other Republicans and six Democrats -- recently introduced the Respect State Marijuana[Cannabis] Laws Act of 2017 (now called the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer bill). It aims to prohibit the feds from interfering with state laws regarding cannabis. “My answer is to leave it up to the states and not have the federal government superimpose this type of prohibition on the American people that they don’t want,” Rohrabacher said on his cell phone from LAX, awaiting a flight from his district to Washington. According to Rohrabacher, draconian federal antimarijuana[cannabis] laws represent both “a humanitarian waste and a monetary waste of billions of dollars.” “On top of taking resources for other government services that we’re short on,” he said, “we’re taking a significant number of people who are not doing anything that causes harm to other people and causing them great harm by arresting them in the name of protecting ourselves.” Rohrabacher -- who has served Congress since 1989 -made headlines last year when he admitted using medical
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marijuana[cannabis] to alleviate arthritis in his arms. “I was a heavy surfer and I wore away the cartilage in my joints,” says the Coronado native. “It was only a painrelieving salve. I didn’t think that was so dramatic.” His personal connection to the cause traces back further -- to a hip replacement his late mother had two decades ago. “It was very painful for her and she had sunk into a depression and lost her appetite because of it,” he says. “So as I’m sitting there, trying to get my mother hungry again, I realized that marijuana[cannabis] could really have played a positive role in her recovery and happiness -- not only in getting rid of the pain but also getting her appetite back. It hit me right in the face how important it was to get rid of this stupid regulation of our lives.” (Rohrabacher said his mother never used the drug illegally.) Currently, the Cole Memo -- issued by the Department of Justice in 2013 -- is the only assurance states with legalized medical marijuana[cannabis] have that the federal government won’t suddenly decide to prosecute them under federal law. As long as certain guidelines are met -- for instance, preventing the distribution of marijuana[cannabis] to minors and criminal enterprises -- the memo states that the federal government is less likely to consider that state’s marijuana[cannabis] business a threat.
