Author: Kyle Jaeger
[ad_1] Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says that while the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) reported decision to propose marijuana rescheduling is a “historic step forward,” he remains “strongly committed” to advancing cannabis banking and legalization legislation this session. As DEA prepares to formally initiate rulemaking to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Schumer said in a statement on Tuesday that this isn’t the end of marijuana policy reform this Congress. “It is great news that DEA is finally recognizing that restrictive and draconian cannabis laws need to change to catch up…
[ad_1] The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has made a historic decision—agreeing with the top federal health agency and moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The decision comes more than 50 years after cannabis was first listed as a strictly prohibited drug, on par with heroin and defined as a substance with no known medical value and a significant abuse potential. Moving marijuana to Schedule III, as recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), also carries major implications for state-legal cannabis businesses. When it’s implemented, it will mean that…
[ad_1] There may be a path forward for a North Carolina medical marijuana legalization bill to be enacted into law this session if it’s combined with legislation to regulate intoxicating hemp products, the state Senate’s top Republican says. But a Democratic senator also said the bill is going to need broader provisions decriminalizing cannabis possession if it’s going to maintain his support. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R) said he’s had bicameral discussions about the prospect of moving the measure from Sen. Bill Rabon (R) this year with a House bill that would require a license to sell hemp-derived…
[ad_1] Officials with the nation’s top marijuana prohibitionist advocacy group say they are hearing that the results of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) cannabis scheduling review will be announced “very soon,” possibly as soon as “today or tomorrow.” DEA has spent the last eight months considering a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommendation to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Now leaders of the organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) say they’re seeing indications that DEA’s review is complete and will be revealed imminently. “We’re hearing a lot of…
[ad_1] The Republican vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee says he would support a hybrid marijuana banking and cryptocurrency regulation bill, saying “our country will benefit” if both reforms are enacted. In an interview with Bloomberg, Rep. French Hill (R-AR) was asked to weigh in on ongoing talks about merging the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act and the cryptocurrency legislation. “I would vote for if it were coupled. I have supported the SAFE Banking Act for nine years in Congress now, which would allow cannabis dealers in states where it’s legal to have access to the…
[ad_1] Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) “continues to oppose marijuana banking,” a spokesperson for his office told Marijuana Moment on Monday. And another Senate source says that GOP leadership’s opposition to the reform as a policy matter is obstructing the path to advancing the cannabis measure as part of must-pass aviation legislation—rather than being it being a question of germaneness to the aviation bill, as one top industry group claimed last week. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has repeatedly described the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act as a top legislative priority for the remainder of…
[ad_1] The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case involving a trucker who sued a cannabis company after he was fired over a positive THC test that he says was caused by consuming a hemp-derived CBD product. Douglas Horn filed a lawsuit against the business, Medical Marijuana, Inc., in 2015 under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. He alleged that the company falsely advertised the product as having “0% THC,” which is why he decided to try it for pain management. A lower court sided with Horn and allowed the RICO suit to proceed, but the…
[ad_1] The governor of New Mexico can be heard saying on a newly leaked recording that she was “offended” when the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reacted to her concern about a recent surge in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seizures of marijuana from state-licensed businesses in her state by saying, “Who cares? They make a lot of money.” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) told DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, “Well first of all, it’s patients’ medicine,” she said to an unnamed federal official she was speaking with in the new recording, describing herself as “cranky” with the…
[ad_1] Congressional lawmakers have abandoned plans to pursue a marijuana banking bill through unrelated must-pass aviation legislation, determining that it’s “insufficiently germane,” according to a top industry association that cited sources familiar with the decision. That might come as unwelcome news for supporters, including stakeholders who were alerted to the development by an internal U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC) email on Thursday. But there are still other legislative paths for the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act this session, including the continued possibility of advancing it as a standalone measure. Plans to attach the cannabis bill, as well as…
[ad_1] The Kansas Senate has rejected a motion to revive a medical marijuana legalization bill after a GOP member forced a vote on the issue. The chamber struck down the motion to take up the bill from Sen. Robert Olson (R) in a 12-25 vote on Friday. This comes weeks after a legislative committee shot down a separate medical cannabis pilot program bill. The legislation Olson sought to bring up, SB 135, was shelved by a legislative panel a year ago amid pushback from law enforcement. Sen. Cindy Holscher (D) was among those who voted in favor of the proposal…
[ad_1] The Biden reelection campaign says the Trump administration “took marijuana reform backwards” by rescinding Justice Department guidance that promoted discretion in federal cannabis prosecutions. In an email distributed on Thursday, the Biden-Harris campaign touted the vice president’s White House roundtable with recent pardon recipients who received clemency for drug-related convictions and contrasted various criminal justice reform initiatives with the record of former President Donald Trump, who is the presumptive Republican nominee in this year’s presidential election. Vice President Kamala Harris’s event—where she again touted President Joe Biden’s mass cannabis pardons—comes in “stark contrast with the Trump administration’s failures on…
[ad_1] The Republican governor of Texas says that cities seeking to locally decriminalize marijuana—including one that’s set to vote on the reform next week—don’t have the authority to “override” state law. Three months after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) sued five cities over voter-approved cannabis decriminalization policies, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) addressed the forthcoming vote in Lubbock, where the reform is on the local May 4 ballot. The governor told KAMC that his concern was “bigger” than the question of decriminalization itself and was more a matter of localities superseding state laws. “Local communities such as towns, cities and…