The revisions make it clear that the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act — passed in 1988 — remains in place, and that federal employees “are required to refrain” from the use of either cannabis or other federally controlled substances “whether on or off duty.” Employees who do not do so will face disciplinary action.
Today, 37 members of Congress, led by Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chairs Barbara Lee and Earl Blumenauer, including Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, sent a letter to President Biden calling upon him to issue a blanket pardon to those with federal nonviolent marijuana offenses.
Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reiterated his support for ending marijuana criminalization to Rachel Maddow of MSNBC as part of the foundational “three stools” of policy to address in this session of Congress
“My commitment is that if I am leader [of the US Senate], I am going to do everything I can to put the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act on the floor of the Senate. The odds are very high it will pass.”
House lawmakers are preparing for a September floor vote on legislation – The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement Act a/k/a The MORE Act — to remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act. The forthcoming vote would mark the first time since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, which placed cannabis in the same category as heroin as a Schedule I controlled substance, that a Congressional chamber has voted to remove marijuana from its prohibitive classification.
Voters in several states will have the opportunity to decide at the ballot whether to legalize cannabis for either adult-use or for medical purposes. In addition, numerous local, state, and federal races involve candidates who have made marijuana legalization a key part of their platform.
Some opponents of marijuana policy reform have manipulated the Speaker’s comments to imply that she was opining that cannabis therapy has been proven specifically to be successful for the treatment of COVID-19.
Later this month, there will be a crucial vote in the US House of Representatives…