Federal Update: Alarming threats of cannabis rollbacks and bans

MPP is closely monitoring developments on Capitol Hill, and as Congress nears the August recess, it’s clear that there are multiple threats to cannabis progress in this year’s legislative session. 

While a new Pew poll has found that 9 in 10 Americans support cannabis reform across party lines — with a 54% majority in support of full legalization of adult-use cannabis — many in Washington remain unresponsive to the will of the people.  

In June, the White House issued a budget request that called for removing a long-standing provision that protects state medical cannabis programs and patients. 

The current version of the House appropriations bill includes the "Rohrbacher-Farr” budget rider prohibiting the Justice Department from using taxpayer dollars to prosecute patients, caregivers, and providers. If the Rohrbacher-Farr protection were to be removed during the budget negotiations process, it would jeopardize crucial federal protections for state medical cannabis programs. 

The threats don’t stop there. An effort to cancel hearings on cannabis rescheduling was added into the House version of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Regulated Agencies (CJS) budget bill. In both chambers of Congress, lawmakers have attempted to add an appropriations rider to re-criminalize hemp by instituting immensely restrictive THC caps on hemp-derived products. 

In better news, Rep. Brian Mast's Veterans for Equal Access bill was added to the House MilCon-VA Appropriations bill and in the Senate Appropriations Committee. If the bill passes, VA doctors will be permitted to recommend medical cannabis to veterans. This would also be a major step forward for further dismantling the cannabis stigma, and could help build momentum towards federal legalization.

As cannabis policies move through the halls of the Capitol, stay tuned for more updates and action alerts so that you can make your voice heard and demand that lawmakers deliver the change voters are calling for.