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| U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions |
Update: The Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment has been extended until January 19, 2018. There is still time to contact your U.S. Representative and his/her legislative deputy. It is suggested that in addition to the submitting your support via the rep's contact page and email, to also CALL your Representative.
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On December 8, 2017, the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment officially expires while the Congressional Joint Appropriations Committee continues to negotiate the appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018.
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On December 8, 2017, the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment officially expires while the Congressional Joint Appropriations Committee continues to negotiate the appropriations bill for fiscal year 2018.
Since 2015, this amendment, originally the
Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment, has effectively halted the U.S. Department of
Justice and the D.E.A. from enforcing federal law on states with medical
cannabis regulations. If erased from the appropriations bill, cannabis
industry players and regulators across the country may find themselves in
federal criminal jeopardy. In
recent statements to the press U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions called
marijuana “detrimental” and a “federal violation… subject to being enforced.”
At this time the amendment almost looks certain to
fail, or more accurately, disappear.
Unlike previous congressional sessions, the amendment will not be
brought up for a floor vote with address and debate from both sides. According to U.S. Representative Earl
Blumenauer’s office, this amendment will either be in the final version of the
2018 appropriations bill or it will be cut as part of the frantic bill writing
process that goes on when both congressional chambers get behind closed
doors. If the
Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment is cut, there are fears about how the U.S.
Department of Justice will proceed.
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| Sign-on Letter supporting a provision protecting states rights where medical cannabis laws are in place |
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| The current signers of the letter. |
Those wanting to take action can do so by
contacting your U.S. representative and asking him or her to add their name to
a letter of support for a provision in the appropriations bill for year 2018
that protects states with medical cannabis laws from federal interference.” See the letter enclosed in this post.
You should fill out the contact form on your
representative’s website.
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| Site has general contact information but no staff members |
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| Sample contact page |
However, the most effective person to contact in your representative’s office is their legislative director. Not all congressional websites list their staff members but they are usually easy to find with a simple web search. Type in your Representative’s name and legislative director, i.e, ‘Representative Blumenauer legislative director.’ Once you find the director’s name, all email addresses for the House are firstname.lastname@mail.house.gov.
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| A website listing a representative's staff members |
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| Legislative director's name found! |
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| A second confirmation that this is the right person and email address |
Likewise, you may want to also find the name of the deputy chief of staff and cc: them as well. You will want to email the enclosed letter to the legislative director for a faster response.
It is common for elected officials and staffers to
block attachments. To ensure the
letter of support has been received, you may want to call the legislative
director and let him or her know that you emailed an attachment.
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| Sample letter to Legislative Director |
Engaging democracy is hugely important, usually
tricky, and not always convenient.
However, this action does not require you to take to the streets,
protest smash and grab raids, or offer court support for federal prisoners…
yet. Let’s take action now before
the AG Sessions does.
The Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment
Trump's Victory Makes the Hinchey-Rohrabacher
Amendment Critical
US Attorney General Sessions Signals Change in
Marijuana Policy
Find Your Representative
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