Since December 2014, Congressional appropriations for the Department of Justice have included the following provision:

None of the funds made available under this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of [an enumerated list of states and territories who have legalized medical marijuana], to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, Pub. L. No. 117-328, § 531, 136 Stat. 4459, 4561 (2022) (the "Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment").

The questions presented are:

(1) Given this prohibition on the use of appropriated funds, under what circumstances may the Department of Justice criminally investigate and prosecute an individual who is licensed or otherwise authorized to use, distribute, possess, or cultivate medical marijuana?

(2) Does the burden fall on the Government to show it is in continued compliance with appropriation law; or does it fall with the Petitioner-defendant to demonstrate "substantial compliance" with state laws and regulations regarding medical marijuana, as the First Circuit has held or that he or she is in "strict compliance," as the Ninth Circuit has held?

(3) What would be the proper test for the Petitioner-defendant to demonstrate either strict or substantial compliance?

Whether the Department of Justice may criminally investigate and prosecute individuals licensed for medical marijuana under the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, and what standard of compliance applies