Gardner then sought unanimous consent for his amendment and was blocked by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who called the idea a “back door to legalization.”

“We’re the opposite of feeling defeated. We’re feeling energized,” Cannabis Trade Federation CEO Neal Levine said shortly after the amendment failed. “We just had a U.S. senator, who is in a leadership position in his party, say on the floor of Congress that he’s not going to give up this fight.”

Gardner’s amendment mirrors a bill he introduced with Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, in June. Gardner said he plans to reintroduce that bill during the next Congress. [Read More @ Denver Post]