Medical use of marijuana faces federal obstacle

A cloud is looming over Ohio and every other state with a medical marijuana system.

A little-known federal budget amendment that protects growers, processors, sellers and the professionals who work with them might expire this year at the behest of the Trump administration.

Now known as the

Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment, the measure prohibits the U.S. Justice Department from enforcing federal law against medical marijuana in places where it’s legal, as it’s been in Ohio since last year. The state has been accepting applications and issuing licenses for prospective producers and sellers in hopes of getting medical marijuana to market within a year — although those plans hit a speed bump last week when it was learned that a man who contracted to review cultivator applications had a drug-dealing conviction on his record.

Formerly known as the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment, the protection of medical marijuana had been renewed in budgets since 2014. But in September, it hit an obstacle of its own.

The House Rules Committee blocked a floor vote to keep it in the budget. An avowed marijuana opponent, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been pressuring Republicans to axe the measure.

“This is something that’s being watched very closely,” “Investors like certainty. Nobody wants to invest $1 million in a facility that’s going to get raided.” said Thomas Rosenberger, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association of Ohio, a trade group.

The entire federal budget is up in the air, with Congress last week passing a short-term funding measure to keep the government open through Dec. 22.

If Rohrabacher-Blumenauer isn’t part of a longer-term deal, there could be chaos in the medical-marijuana systems in the 29 states where it’s legal. Patients could lose medicine, the professional licenses of doctors and lawyers could be threatened and investors could see their stakes disappear.

“Investors like certainty,” said Michael Correia, national governmentrelations manager for the National Cannabis Industry Association. “Nobody wants to invest $1 million in a facility that’s going to get raided.”

With more than half of the states approving medical marijuana and eight approving recreational use, some advocates say the political winds have blown past Sessions and other marijuana opponents in the Trump administration.

“We’re really not all that worried,” said Carrie Eickleberry, deputy director of the Ohio chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. “If (Sessions) tries to move forward, he’s going to get a lot, lot of backlash.”

However, the politics of the issue are less than clear. A few deep-red states such as Louisiana and Arkansas have legalized medical marijuana, but most that have are blue to deep blue, such as California, where it’s been legal for two decades.

In Ohio, Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown has in the past supported blocking the feds from going after medical marijuana, but most other members oo the state’s congressional delegation didn’t respond when asked whether they supported continued protections.

But the position of Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth, might be evolving.

“Congressman Renacci has voted against the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment in the past because the use of medical marijuana has not been recognized either at the federal level or in Ohio,” a spokeswoman for Renacci, who is running for governor, said in an email. “With the change in Ohio law, the congressman would reconsider his opposition to the amendment and discuss with community leaders the implementation of the new state law.”

Meanwhile, those in state government tasked with overseeing the medical marijuana program are staying the course.

“The Ohio Department of Commerce is following the legislative guidelines set up by HB 523,” the law legalizing medical marijuana, Stephanie Gostomski, a spokeswoman, said in an email. “Our responsibility is to fulfill all statutory mandates in establishing Ohio’s medical marijuana program. The department cannot speculate on any decisions made at the federal level, but our program officials will continue to monitor any developments.”