U.S. House vote blocking feds from meddling in state medical pot laws surprises even advocates

[SOURCE: OregonLive]

An amendment barring the U.S. Department of Justice from interfering with state medical marijuana laws got a surprising boost from GOP lawmakers.

Though many Republican lawmakers remain opposed to marijuana reform, others view the federal war on drugs as overreach "and a violation of the rights of more than two dozen states that have legalized cannabis or specific components of it for medical use," the Los Angeles Times reports. The U.S. House narrowly passed the amendment Friday; it now heads to the Democratic Senate.

Writes LA Times reporter Evan Halper:

Most GOP stalwarts, of course, continue to rail against liberalization of the laws. Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, a physician, declared during floor debate that medical marijuana is a sham. Real medicine, he said, "is not two joints a day, not a brownie here, a biscuit there. That is not modern medicine."

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