| Rand Paul. |
Late last month, the U.S. House voted to defund DEA medical marijuana raids in Colorado and other states that have legalized MMJ — an unprecedented development that was greeted with cheers by many cannabis reformers.
But the next step in the legislative process — passage by the U.S. Senate — hit a snag despite support by two extraordinarily odd political bedfellows: Kentucky’s Rand “Son of Ron” Paul, a firebrand touted in many quarters as a 2016 Republican presidential hopeful, and New Jersey’s Cory Booker, a liberal Democrat and unapologetic pal of President Barack Obama.
Last Thursday, Dan Riffle, director of federal policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, announced that the Paul-Booker amendment to the the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act might see action that day or the next.
In expectation of this exciting event, Riffle released the following statement: “Poll after poll shows 70-80 percent of Americans support medical marijuana. Even among conservatives, most oppose enforcement of federal marijuana laws in states where marijuana is legal for some purpose. Having two rising stars like Rand Paul and Cory Booker team up to introduce this amendment just shows how popular the issue has become, and that our outdated federal marijuana laws are inevitably going to change.”
Denver Westword has more.