Congressmen Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Justin Amash (R-MI) have introduced legislation, HR 3518, to eliminate the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program.
The DEA program distributes funds to state and local law enforcement agencies for the purpose of locating and destroying marijuana cultivation sites. HR 3518 reads, “[B]eginning in fiscal year 2015, and for each fiscal year thereafter, no amounts in the Fund may be used for the Domestic Cannabis Suppression/Eradication Program of the Drug Enforcement Administration, or any substantially similar program.”
In 2014, the federal government spent an estimated $ 18 million on the program to destroy 4.3 million plants, mostly in California. In years past, the funding was primarily used for the purpose of uprooting feral marijuana plants (aka ditchweed).
“As multiple states legalize marijuana across our nation, it is a huge waste of federal resources for the DEA to eradicate marijuana. The federal government should focus its precious resources on other issues and let the states innovate in the cannabis field.” Representative Lieu said in a statement following the bill’s introduction.
Representative Amash added, “Civil asset forfeiture allows innocent people to have their property taken without sufficient due process, and this program encourages civil asset forfeiture by allowing the DEA to use the proceeds of seized property to fund marijuana prohibition enforcement. This is especially troubling given that the federal government should not be expending resources on marijuana prohibition—enforcement is a state-level issue, and an increasing number of states are deciding to back off from prohibition.”
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National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws – Advocacy Campaigns
