Rohrabacher endorses bill to legalize medical pot

U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher has signed onto a bill by Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank that would legalize medical marijuana on a federal level.

Every year Rohrabacher co-sponsors the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment, which has not passed but would bar the Department of Justice from spending money to enforce marijuana cases in states that have legalized it for medical purposes. This bill goes a step further and would begin to reclassify marijuana as a prescription drug, but Rohrabacher said it was consistent with his beliefs and didn’t force states to accept medical marijuana.

“If people of a state want to keep it illegal, they themselves could prohibit that,” he said. “It goes a little bit further, but it still maintains the local and state government’s right to make the decision as to whether or not this is a proper function of government.”

This bill is not the same as one unveiled Friday by Frank on cable show “Real Time with Bill Maher,” which would decriminalize small amounts of marijuana regardless of its intended use. Rohrabacher did not state a position on that second bill.

“I’m certainly not a cosponsor of that bill,” he said. “If it ever comes to the floor I’d have to make that decision.”