No money may be used to stop states implementing their medical marijuana laws
Making consolidated appropriations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2026, and for other purposes, section 5, Sec. 5.
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No money may be used to stop states implementing their medical marijuana laws
The document says “may not”Who acts: Department of JusticeHow: statuteSec. 5 in the PDF
What the document says
“to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”
The close of section 531 of division A. The section lists 47 states by name, along with the District of Columbia, the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico, and bars the Act's money from being used by the Justice Department to prevent any of them from implementing their own medical marijuana laws. The quotation here is the closing clause; the list of names is too long to reproduce.
What the document actually says
“to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”
That sentence, in plain words
The Justice Department may not use this money to block these state drug laws. The rule names most states and five other places.
What this is about
Marijuana is still against federal law. But this stops federal money being spent to enforce that against these state programs. A state not on the list is not covered.
No action is recorded against this proposal. That is not evidence that none has been taken, and nobody has yet read it against the record. See what the tracker does not yet cover.
Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026, Public Law 119-74, sec. 5, 140 Stat. 6 (2026). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ74/html/PLAW-119publ74.htm
This page
“No money may be used to stop states implementing their medical marijuana laws,” Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026, section 5, Sec. 5. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/commerce-justice-science-energy-water-development/proposal/sec05-medical-marijuana-limit/ (retrieved August 26, 2026).
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