Congressional Committee Blocks Marijuana Rescheduling in New Spending Bill
A Republican-controlled House committee has introduced a new spending bill that includes provisions to block the Justice Department from rescheduling marijuana. The bill also maintains a longstanding rider that protects state medical cannabis programs from federal interference, but with new language authorizing enhanced penalties for sales near schools and parks.
The House Appropriations Committee released the text of the spending measure covering Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) on Monday. The bill contains language hostile to marijuana rescheduling efforts, which have been ongoing under the Biden administration.
Specifically, the bill would block the Justice Department from using its funds to reschedule or deschedule marijuana. The Biden administration had recommended moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act, but the process has been delayed due to challenges from witnesses in administrative hearings.
The bill also maintains a longstanding rider that prevents the Justice Department from using its funds to interfere with state medical marijuana programs. However, it stipulates that the Justice Department can still enforce a section of U.S. code that calls for increased penalties for distributing cannabis within 1,000 feet of an elementary school, vocational school, college, playground, or public housing unit.
The CJS bill also keeps intact a rider that prevents the Justice Department from interfering with state hemp research programs.
Meanwhile, a retired professional football player who has become an advocate for marijuana policy reform met with top Trump administration officials at the White House last week to discuss the ongoing federal cannabis rescheduling process. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has previously expressed support for legalizing cannabis, but has since deferred to the DEA on marijuana rescheduling.
Separately, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) was photographed reviewing a document that appears to be a draft contract to provide services to a firm affiliated with the major marijuana company Trulieve. Gaetz has previously expressed support for rescheduling cannabis and has suggested that the GOP could win more of the youth vote by embracing marijuana reform.
A survey conducted by a GOP pollster affiliated with Trump found that a majority of Republicans back a variety of cannabis reforms, including rescheduling. Notably, they are even more supportive of allowing states to legalize marijuana without federal interference compared to the average voter.
Congressional researchers have reiterated that lawmakers could enact marijuana reform themselves with “greater speed and flexibility” if they so choose, while potentially avoiding judicial challenges.
