The US House of Representatives voted Friday to require the US government to respect states’ laws legalizing medical marijuana and hemp. The move is an endorsement of the significant drug war rollbacks that RPI Chairman and Founder Ron Paul had promoted for years in the House and his presidential campaigns.
In September of 2008, Paul spoke in Minneapolis, Minnesota to thousands of his presidential campaign supporters about the war on drugs, zeroing in on his advocacy for ending the US government’s war on medical marijuana and hemp:
Paul, while serving in the House as a representative from Texas, cosponsored amendments to Department of Justice appropriations bills nearly identical to the medical marijuana amendment that passed in the House on Friday. The earlier amendments differed from the amendment that passed in that the earlier amendments listed the fewer places where medical marijuana was previously to some extent legal under states’ laws.
Paul introduced the Industrial Hemp Farming Act in 2005 and each congress thereafter to prohibit the US government from interfering with people growing hemp in compliance with state laws. After Paul left the House, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) reintroduced the bill.
