Trump signs stopgap spending bill extending federal medical marijuana protections a few more weeks

In a win for the security of medical marijuana patients and businesses, legal protections from the federal government crackdown have been extended as Trump signs a temporary spending bill last week. The protections, known as the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer amendment, were running out of it's limited time until the extention was filed through January 19. The amendment was put in place in 2014 to prohibit the Department of Justice from using federal funds to harm state legalized medical marijuana programs. Without these protections it's unclear what measures would be taken to hurt patients and businesses.Before it was secured for another temporary extension, the amendment had been extended once before and has been heavily supported by 66 members of Congress who contributed in a letter to the House and Senate to protect it's regulations. 

This is the second time Rohrabacher-Blumenauer protections have been temporarily extended as part of stopgap spending measures. It comes less than a month after a letter was made public in which 66 members of Congress urged Senate and House leaders to extend the medical marijuana protections that have been in place since December 2014. Those protections, previously known as Rohrabacher-Farr, prohibit the U.S. Department of Justice from using federal funds to prevent certain states “from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana.