“While the significance of Congress passing the first stand-alone cannabis policy reform bill should not be overlooked, in truth, we don’t need more research to know definitively that prohibition is a misguided and disastrous policy.”
Category: Congress
The House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties held a hearing entitled “Developments in State Cannabis Laws and Bipartisan Cannabis Reforms at the Federal Level.”
The House Committee on Appropriations voted today to approve an amendment that would prevent the Department of Justice from interfering with legal adult-use marijuana programs as part of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations legislation for Fiscal Year 2023.
Sixty-eight percent of Americans say that Congress should pass legislation so that marijuana businesses can “access banking services and products in states” where it is legal.
Legislation would incentivize state and local governments to expunge the criminal records of tens of millions of Americans who have previously been convicted of marijuana offenses.
Republican Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) introduced the States Reform Act, a comprehensive bill that repeals the federal prohibition of marijuana, expunges federal non-violent marijuana crimes, promotes local ownership in the emerging regulated industry, and places certain restrictions on the advertising of regulated cannabis products, among other federal reforms.
The House Veterans Affairs Committee (HVAC) will conduct a legislative hearing on Wednesday, October 13th, which will include consideration of the bipartisan VA Cannabis Research Act of 2021, HR 2916.
Members of the House Judiciary Committee just advanced the HR 3617: The Marijuana, Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act of 2021. The Act repeals the long-standing federal prohibition of marijuana by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act — thereby ending the existing state/federal conflict in cannabis policies and providing state governments with greater authority to regulate marijuana-related activities, including retail sales.