New Attempt to Defund DEA’s Anti-Cannabis Program

A new bipartisan bill has been put forward in the U.S. House of Representatives to quash an anti-marijuana program under the Drug Enforcement Agency.

The initiative, officially called the Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program, allows the DEA to distribute federal money to state and local governments to help them seize cannabis and destroy cultivation sites. In 2013, the DEA used $18 million for the program, according to Forbes.

The new congressional bill would ban the use of federal funds for the program, effectively abolishing it. The measure would also prohibit the transfer of any property to local governments if the property was intended to be used to support the DEA’s suppression program.

The bill – dubbed the Stop Civil Asset Forfeiture Funding for Marijuana Suppression Act – was introduced by Congressmen Ted Lieu, a California Democrat, and Justin Amash, a Michigan Republican.

The bill is the latest in a string of ongoing bipartisan attempts in Congress to reform federal marijuana laws.