Court: Budgetary Amendment Bars Federal Prosecution of State-Compliant Medical Marijuana Providers

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Federal officials are not permitted to engage in the criminal prosecution of those who are engaged in activity related to medical marijuana absent evidence that the defendants are in clear violation of state law, according to a unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ruling broadly interprets a 2014 federal budgetary amendment prohibiting the US Justice Department from spending any funds “to prevent … states … from implementing their own state laws that authorize the…