The bill was defeated by a vote of 273 to 152 after much debate about states' rights.

"It is a travesty for the federal government to send agents into my state and throw people in a cage for doing something that people in my state say is legal," Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif) told the House as it debated the bill.

Opponents of the measure argued that states don't have the authority to override a federal law. "You can't have states passing laws to nullify some of the things we do here," said Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) "If we want to change drug laws, you should come and change those laws."

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington have medical-marijuana laws that allow patients to use marijuana under a doctor's recommendation to treat the pain associated with their medical problem.

Marijuana use for medical purposes remains illegal under federal law.

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