Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher called on his fellow Republicans to protect medical cannabis from federal government intervention and uphold the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment.

Originally named the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, Democratic Rep. Sam Farr and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher passed a bill three years ago which prohibited the federal government from prosecuting those in medical cannabis states with federal charges. Amendments were also passed in the last two years which extended certain measures and protections which apply to those states.

Rep. Rohrabacher argued against federal intervention in legal cannabis markets and said 80 percent of Americans favored the legalization of medical cannabis.

He cited the failure of his Republic colleagues to apply “public choice economics,” or give the public complete control of the issue. Rohrabacher recommended they should return to Washington and keep the protections intact in order to let the legal cannabis industry flourish and crush the black market.

Rohrabacher scolded Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ contradictory actions since President Trump noted cannabis would be a state issue. Sessions urged Congress to drop the amendment in June and encouraged the federal government to pursue states where cannabis is legal.

The Senate Appropriations Committee defied Sessions in early July and approved another amendment which protected medical cannabis programs from the federal government. Advocates estimated Sessions’ anti-cannabis policies would be rejected in congress after his committee recommended no change to the status-quo of Obama administration cannabis memos.

Rohrabacher said the government will only stop the eradication of legal cannabis if Republicans declare themselves firmly on the side of medical progress. If the amendment is dropped, he said the cartels and black market will only grow bigger.