GOP-led U.S. House sides with state medical pot laws

WASHINGTON – The federal government would be unable to block state laws permitting the use of medical marijuana under legislation approved Wednesday by the GOP-controlled House.

But lawmakers narrowly rejected an amendment that would stop the Justice Department from interfering with states like Colorado and Washington that permit the recreational use of marijuana.

The 242-186 vote on medical pot was a larger margin than a tally last year, when the House first approved it as part of a bill funding the Justice Department. Wednesday’s vote was to renew the pro-pot language as part of a bill providing funding for the coming fiscal year. The overall measure passed by a mostly party-line vote.

Most Republicans opposed the idea and the Senate is in GOP hands this year, so the outcome could still be reversed.

On Wednesday, 67 Republicans, including libertarian-minded lawmakers such as Thomas Massie of Kentucky, combined with all but a handful of Democrats in support of states that allow doctors to prescribe pot for medical uses, such as improving the appetites of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Almost half the states allow medical marijuana, which remains an illegal drug under federal law. But the federal government has adopted a hands-off approach to states that have adopted lenient marijuana laws.

The amendment to allow recreational pot use, offered by conservative Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., was rejected by a surprisingly narrow 222-206 vote. McClintock’s measure had less GOP support and more Democratic opposition than did the amendment on medical marijuana.