Senate Committee Defunds DEA and DOJ Efforts to Undermine State Medical Marijuana LawsAmendment Expected to be Signed Into Law by Pres. Obama as Part of Spending Deal. Nationwide Bi-partisan Momentum for Drug Policy Reform Grows Stronger In yet another huge victory for marijuana reform, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted today by 21 to 9 to approve an amendment offered by Senator Mikulski (D-MD) to protect state medical marijuana laws from federal interference by the Department of Justice and Drug Enforcement Administration. The amendment mirrors one that passed the House last week 242-186, and was sponsored by Rep Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Rep Farr (D-CA). What were witnessing today are the death throes of the federal governments war on medical marijuana, said Michael Collins, Policy Manager at Drug Policy Alliances Office of National Affairs. Last week the House sent a resounding message to the DEA and DOJ stop the interference and let states legalize medical marijuana. Today, the Senate echoed that message. Currently, 23 states, the District of Columbia and Guam have legalized marijuana for a variety of medicinal purposes and an additional 16 states have passed laws to allow access to CBD oils, a non-psychotropic component of marijuana that has proven uniquely effective in managing epileptic seizures that afflict children. Four states Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington have legalized marijuana like alcohol. In 2016, voters in Arizona, California, Maine, Massachusetts, and Nevada are expected to decide ballot initiatives on the question of legalizing marijuana for adult use. A slew of recent polls show that significant majorities of both Democrats and Republicans strongly believe that the decision of whether and how to regulate marijuana should be left up to the states. There is huge momentum in the Senate on the issue of marijuana reform. We now have the votes in the House and Senate to legalize medical marijuana, and leadership in both chambers should allow bills like the CARERS Act to move forward, said Bill Piper, Director of Drug Policy Alliances Office of National Affairs. This press release first appeared at DrugPolicy.org 