Congress enacts the Rohrabacher–Farr Amendment, barring DOJ raids on state-compliant medical cannabis

On December 16, 2014, President Barack Obama signed the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2015 (Public Law 113-235), which included Section 538—better known as the Rohrabacher–Farr Amendment (and in later years the Rohrabacher–Blumenauer or Joyce Amendment). For the first time Since the Controlled Substances Act was enacted in 1970, Congress used its power of the purse to shield state medical marijuana programs from federal interference.

A 13-year effort on the House floor

Co-sponsored by Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and Democratic Rep. Sam Farr of California, the amendment had been introduced repeatedly since 2003 and failed six times before passing the U.S. House of Representatives on May 30, 2014 by a bipartisan vote of 219–189 (with 49 Republicans joining 170 Democrats).

How the spending rider works

• The statutory ban: The rider states that none of the funds made available to the Department of Justice may be used to prevent listed states, D.C., or territories “from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”
• Enforced by federal courts: In August 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in United States v. McIntosh that the amendment didn’t just protect state officials—it barred federal prosecutors from spending money to prosecute private medical cannabis patients and dispensary operators who complied with state medical cannabis laws.
• Renewed every year: Because it is an appropriations rider rather than permanent standalone legislation, Congress has renewed the medical cannabis protection in every federal spending package since December 2014.