Will Bill to End Federal Prohibition of Medical Marijuana Pass?

While Congress is fighting about almost everything, one thing, it seems, they can agree on, is ending medical marijuana prohibition.

On Thursday, a bipartisan group including U.S. Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Corey Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Mike Lee (R-UT) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) reintroduced the CARERS Act with new 2015 branding.

The CARERS Act of 2017, also known as The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act) basically allows states with medical marijuana to continue doing it, but legally. More importantly, it would allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to recommend it to veterans as a treatment, as well as create some important paths for research.

The original bill was submitted in 2015 but it wasn’t able to get a hearing due to a lack of Republican support.

Don Murphy, director of conservatice outreach for the Marijuana Policy Project, notes that this is not only an opportunity to advance cannabis law, but it is also a win for states’ rights.

Medical marijuana suporters hop that the reintroduction of the CARERS Act is the first of many steps this Congress will take to end the federal prohibition of medical marijuana. The addition of Sens. Lee and Murkowski as original co-sponsors will hopefully inspire other Republicans to seriously consider this legislation and the extreme federal overreach that it seeks to correct. The federal government should not be meddling in state laws that allow medical marijuana to help those in need.

Currently, 29 states and Washington D.C. have medical programs, which are technically illegal under federal law. The majority of Americans support medical marijuana legalization, with an April Quinnipiac University poll finding that 94% of U.S. voters support medical marijuana programs.

Will this bill find the same fate that it did last year, or will it find the support it needs to end medical marijuana prohibition.

Ariana Marisol is a contributing staff writer for REALfarmacy.com. She is an avid nature enthusiast, gardener, photographer, writer, hiker, dreamer, and lover of all things sustainable, wild, and free. Ariana strives to bring people closer to their true source, 

Mother Nature. She graduated The Evergreen State College with an undergraduate degree focusing on Sustainable Design and Environmental Science.