Federal Judge Tells Justice Dept they Cannot Prosecute Medical Marijuana Patients…Again

Federal Judge Tells Justice Dept they Cannot Prosecute Medical Marijuana Patients...Again - Weed Finder™ NewsA federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Justice Department cannot prosecute medical marijuana businesses if those businesses are in compliance with applicable state laws.

The court had been asked to rule on whether the Justice Department had proper authority to press forward with federal drug charges in 10 cases involving medical marijuana dispensaries and growers in California and Washington state.

In 2014, Congress passed a bipartisan measure, known as the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, prohibiting the Justice Department from using federal funds to prevent states from ”implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.” The agency interpreted the measure to mean only that it couldn’t stop state governments from carrying out their medical marijuana laws — not that it couldn’t prosecute cases against individuals or businesses in those states.

The Justice Department’s interpretation infuriated the bill’s sponsors. Last fall, a federal judge issued a scathing rebuke of the DOJ, saying that its reading of the bill ”defies language and logic,” “tortures the plain meaning of the statute” and is “at odds with fundamental notions of the rule of law”…

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(Federal Judge Tells Justice Dept they Cannot Prosecute Medical Marijuana Patients…Again – Weed Finder™ News  |  Article Credit: Christopher Ingraham via The Washington Post)

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