U.S. congressional amendments to protect state-legal marijuana businesses are gaining unprecedented traction.  For the first time, an amendment to protect medical marijuana businesses from Justice Department interference recently was included in a spending bill.  And the full House on Thursday passed by a 267-165 vote a broader amendment to protect all state-legal MJ businesses, including adult-use companies. The amendment is part of the fiscal year 2020 Commerce-Justice-Science spending bill.  Looking ahead, it’s unclear whether the provision will receive support in the Senate.

MJBizDaily takeaway: For the time being anyway, it appears that federal marijuana reform will occur incrementally, with small gains that reflect a gradual shift in favor of legalization on Capitol Hill.