Republicans on Capitol Hill voted in favor of recognizing state medical marijuana laws in what appears to be a shift in the GOP's stance against marijuana.
In a 219-189 vote from the Republican-controlled House, the conservatives showed support for letting states pass laws that legalize medical pot without interference from the federal government, the Associated Press reported. Recreational marijuana is legal in Colorado and Washington and 20 other states allow medical marijuana use. But marijuana is still illegal under federal law.
"Public opinion is shifting," Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher said according to the AP. Rohrabacher referenced the results of a recent Pew Research Center poll where 61 percent of Republicans supported medical marijuana. California, where Rohrabacher is from, was the first state to legalize medical marijuana.
"Despite this overwhelming shift of public opinion, the federal government continues its hard line of oppression against medical marijuana," he said.
The Justice Department has already said it will not interfere with state marijuana laws as long as it does not contradict certain federal laws, such as the selling of pot to minors, according to USA Today.
But opponents say allowing pot use damages the brain, the AP reported. They also say states need to pass stronger marijuana regulation laws.
Medical marijuana supporters are just using it "as a means to an end," to get recreational pot use legalized, Representative Andy Harris, a Republican from Maryland, said according to the AP.
"This train has already left the station," Democrat Representative Earl Blumenauer, from Oregon, said in response to the critics.
Experts say the only reason why the vote, largely supported by Democrats, was able to pass is because more Republicans supported it this time.
"It received more support from Republicans than ever before," Dan Riffle from the Marijuana Policy Project told Forbes. "Republicans recognize that marijuana prohibition is a failed Big Government program that infringes on states' rights."
