The federal government will finally respect marijuana state-laws, as Congress passed a $1.1 trillion federal spending bill Saturday containing measures to protect medicinal marijuana and hemp operations where it's legal on a state-level.

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The DEA under the Obama administration has targeted many marijuana dispensaries with countless raids and arrests, even if the operations were following state laws. According to a report by Americans for Safe Access, the government spent $80 million last year alone targeting medical marijuana operations, translating to about $200,000 every day.

However, a part of the spending bill passed by Congress is an amendment that would forbid the Department of Justice from spending funds to target medical marijuana dispensaries within the 23 legal medical marijuana states.

"This legislation makes it clear that the DEA has no business interfering in states' medical marijuana laws," said Mason Tvert, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project. "Taxpayer money should not be used to punish seriously ill people who use medical marijuana and the caregivers who provide it to them."

In addition to medical marijuana operations being protected by the Department of Justice, the amendment within the spending bill also protects legal hemp operations as well.

Obama signed a law in February legalizing the production of hemp, which 18 states currently allow. Hemp doesn't contain any THC - the main psychoactive ingredient that gives consumers the "high" feeling - and is instead cultivated for industrial purposes such as clothing, paper and fuel.

Marijuana advocates feel the passage of the federal spending bill is a big step in the right direction to put an end to marijuana prohibition, but the bill has some negative effects as well. Because Congress have the final say over how Washington D.C. spends its money, the measure to legalize marijuana in the city that gained 70 percent of approval during the midterm elections could be blocked. 

Tagsmedical marijuana, hemp, Congress