A push to reform the nation's marijuana laws, which has been led by Texas border Congressman Beto O'Rourke, has hit a road bump with the slap down of several week-related amendments before the House Rules committee.
"That may be a reflection of this administration's priority to revisit the failed war on drugs policies of the last four decades," he tells Newsradio 1200 WOAI.
O'Rourke was pushing an amendment that would have done away with a driver's license suspension that comes along with drug convictions. It was originally part of a "get tough on crime" approach to the war on drugs. And while he's unhappy it was shot down, he's more concerned about the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment, which offers protection to states that pass their own marijuana laws.
"For a country that has spent more than $1 trillion on this war, and has almost nothing to show for it, to double down on this failed strategy is just bizarre to me," he says.
The amendment, which has been included in budgets since 2014, blocks the Justice Department from using federal tax dollars to go after states that have legalized marijuana, whether it's for recreational or medicinal use.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been sending signals to Congress that he plans to crack down on marijuana sales. In May, he shot a letter to lawmakers, asking them to allow the Justice Department to prosecute businesses and individuals in states where medical marijuana is legal.
“I believe it would be unwise for Congress to restrict the discretion of the department to fund particular prosecutions, particularly in the midst of an historic drug epidemic and potentially long-term uptick in violent crime,” Sessions wrote.
O'Rourke feels that, ultimately, this is an issue that Congress will have to decide. There is a bill that would end the prohibition of marijuana. A total of 30 states allow its use in one form or another.
"I'm hopeful that in some other way, the will of the country will prevail."