21 states plus the District of Columbia currently allow medical marijuana. Legislation is pending in an additional six states to do the same.

The amendment would not prevent the feds from going after those who are not in compliance with state laws. (Who determines compliance? The feds, of course.)

From Rohrabacher's press release:

“Patients and providers currently run the risk,” said Rohrabacher, “of having a federal SWAT Team-like police force raid their home or their place of business because of consumption of a plant. The militarization of the police force in order to prevent grandma from smoking an herb that will ease her pain during her last days on this earth is the type of thing that ought to make every conservative shudder.

“The harassment from the Drug Enforcement Agency,” he continued, “is something this body [Congress] should not tolerate. Businesspeople who are licensed and certified to provide doctor-recommended medicine within their own states have seen their businesses locked down, assets seized, and customers driven away.”

Senator Patrick Leahy raised this issue at the Senate Judiciary Committee last September:

“It is important, especially at a time of budget constraints, to determine whether it is the best use of federal resources to prosecute the personal or medicinal use of marijuana in states that