Dems press leaders to include pot legalization provision in spending bill

A coalition of House Democrats wants an upcoming government spending bill to cut funding for a program that cracks down on cannabis cultivation.

In a letter to House leaders involved in negotiating the spending bill, known as an omnibus, 12 Democrats urge inclusion of an amendment passed earlier this year that would reallocate funds from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Domestic Cannabis Eradication-Suppression Program.

Current government funding is set to expire on Dec. 11, with multiple policy riders likely to be attached.

{mosads}The amendment, which passed by voice vote to the individual Justice Department spending bill in June, would redirect $9 million for the DEA program toward funding for the Violence Against Women Act, assisting victims of child abuse, and reducing the deficit.

The 12 Democrats argue that the cannabis eradication program has mostly seized unintentionally grown wild plants descending from industrial hemp that aren’t used in drug production.

“There is no justification for spending this kind of money on an antiquated program never shown to be effective,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) and Rep. Nita Lowey (N.Y.), the top Democrat on the Appropriations panel.

The Democratic lawmakers who signed onto the letter were Reps. Ted Lieu (Calif.), Jared Polis (Colo.), Earl Blumenauer (Ore.), Steve Cohen (Tenn.), Eric Swalwell (Calif.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Mike Honda (Calif.), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), Beto O’Rourke (Texas) and Sam Farr (Calif.).