U.S. border patrol agents would be prevented from using its funds to seize marijuana from state-licensed businesses under a newly filed amendment to a large-scale spending bill.
Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) submitted the amendment for consideration as part of 2025 Fiscal Year appropriations legislation covering the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The move appears to be responsive to recent reporting about Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents seizing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cannabis from state-legal businesses in New Mexico over recent months.
The amendment, which would need to be made in order for floor consideration by the House Rules Committee, reads:
SEC_. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used to seize cannabis or products containing cannabis that are possessed, sold, or transferred by a cannabis distributor, licensed by a State, or a business in a State where cannabis has been legalized for recreational or medicinal use.
This is the latest in a series of drug policy-related amendments to be filed from lawmakers across the aisle that they’ve sought to attach to spending bills. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) has also filed an amendment to the DHS measure—as well as to separate appropriations legislation covering State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs—that would prevent the relevant agencies from testing job applicants for cannabis in states where it’s legal.
While Garcia has repeatedly attempted to enact that reform as part of numerous legislative packages, this is the first time that the language of the Vasquez amendment has been introduced.
The Rules committee is expected to meet next week to decide which amendments to the bills can receive floor votes.
The controversy over CBP seizures of marijuana from state-licensed businesses has prompted responses from multiple levels of government.
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