It doesn’t appear that the White House is eager to weigh in on a proposal advancing in Congress to stop denying people security clearances over past marijuana use.

During a press briefing on Thursday, National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby was asked about an amendment that the Senate Intelligence Committee adopted as part of a broader bill to revise the cannabis-related guidelines for intelligence community workers at agencies like CIA and NSA.

The amendment from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) isn’t a novel concept. Even top intelligence officials have complained about how hiring and security clearance policies related to marijuana have created staffing complications, as people can be denied such clearance just because they admit to past cannabis use as part of the background check process.

But asked by a reporter if the administration has “a position” on the issue, Kirby demurred.

“You’re going to have to let me take that question, sir. I don’t have anything for you on that,” Kirby, who is a retired Navy rear admiral and former Pentagon spokesman, said before quickly calling on another reporter.

Wyden’s amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Act was adopted unanimously by the committee. The text hasn’t been released yet—and the full bill must still pass through both chambers of Congress before potentially heading to the president’s desk—but the senator described it as “a common-sense change to ensure the IC can recruit the most capable people possible.”

The White House has faced significant criticism over relative inaction on the cannabis reform front. Early in the Biden administration, reports that staff had been terminated or otherwise punished because of their own admissions about previous marijuana use drew the ire of advocates.

There was some hope among advocates that a president who campaigned on reforms like decriminalization and rescheduling would at least abstain from punishing people who were honest about doing something that a majority of American adults, and past presidents and the sitting vice president, have done.

In February, the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) issued a memo to federal agencies that says admitting to past marijuana use should not automatically disqualify people from being employed in the federal government.

But even so, the administration more recently made clear that people who want to even intern at the president’s office will be required to disclose prior drug use—including any cannabis consumption that was legal under state law—and they could be denied eligibility over it.

Wyden’s amendment is more targeted, applying to intelligence agencies, but even that appears to be something that the White House is either ignorant to or unwilling to take a stand one way or the other.

Marijuana Moment reached out to the White House for comment, but a representative did not respond by the time of publication.

With respect to the earlier reports about the administration taking adverse action against staff who said they used marijuana in the past, then-Press Secretary Jen Psaki attempted to minimize the fallout over the personnel policy, without much success, and her office also stressed that nobody was fired for “marijuana usage from years ago,” nor has anyone been terminated “due to casual or infrequent use during the prior 12 months.”

However, she consistently declined to speak to the extent to which staff have been suspended or placed in a remote work program because they were honest about their history with marijuana on the federal background check form.

A press release from Wyden’s office on the amendment says that the proposal would prohibit “denial of a security clearance to IC personnel based solely on past use of cannabis.” It also suggests that he is prepared to push for even broader changes that would allow people who currently use marijuana to work in the intelligence community instead of just aiding people who have consumed in the past.

“Senator Wyden will continue to fight to ensure that ongoing cannabis use is not the basis for denying or losing a clearance,” the release says.

Barring people from receiving security clearances just for being honest about prior marijuana use significantly decreases the pool of potential applicants for critical roles, especially considering that a majority of Americans have tried cannabis at least once and more states have moved to legalize the plant for medical or recreational use.

Prior to the House vote to pass a federal marijuana legalization bill in April, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) filed an amendment to require federal agencies to review security clearance denials going back to 1971 and retroactively make it so cannabis could not be used “as a reason to deny or rescind a security clearance.” But that measure was narrowly defeated in a floor vote.

Late last year, the director of national intelligence (DNI) issued a memo saying that federal employers shouldn’t outright reject security clearance applicants over past use and should use discretion when it comes to those with cannabis investments in their stock portfolios.

A spokesperson in the DNI’s office told Marijuana Moment at the time that “increased legalization of marijuana use at state and local levels has prompted questions on how the federal government treats an individual’s involvement with marijuana to determine eligibility for national security positions or access to classified information.”

Meanwhile, FBI updated its hiring policies in 2020 to make it so candidates are only automatically disqualified from joining the agency if they admit to having used marijuana within one year of applying. Previously, prospective employees of the agency could not have used cannabis within the past three years.

Former FBI Director James Comey in 2014 suggested that he wanted to loosen the agency’s employment policies as it concerns marijuana, as potential skilled workers were being passed over due to the requirement.

“I have to hire a great work force to compete with those cyber criminals and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview,” he said at the time.

Also, in 2020, CIA said that it doesn’t necessarily believe using illegal drugs makes you a bad person.

For its part, the Drug Enforcement Administration continues to enforce its policy of automatically disqualifying applicants who’ve used marijuana in the prior three years before applying.

Federal agencies have taken different approaches to employment policies with the ever-changing marijuana landscape in the U.S.

For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently reminded its workers that they are prohibited from using marijuana—or directly investing in the industry—regardless of state law and changes in “social norms” around cannabis.

In May, a congressman sent a letter to the head of the U.S. Department of Transportation, stating that the agency’s policies on drug testing truckers and other commercial drivers for marijuana are unnecessarily costing people their jobs and contributing to supply chain issues.

Relatedly, a top Wells Fargo analyst said in February that there’s one main reason for rising costs and worker shortages in the transportation sector: federal marijuana criminalization and resulting drug testing mandates that persist even as more states enact legalization.

Meanwhile, in April, a top federal health agency proposed changes to drug testing policies for federal workers to clarify that having a doctor’s recommendation for medical marijuana or any other Schedule I drug is not a valid excuse for a positive drug test.

Also earlier this year, a coalition of more than two dozen congressional Democrats filed bill on promoting workplace investment to combat climate change, and they said they want to boost the workforce nationwide by protecting people in legal marijuana states from being penalized due to federal drug testing policies.

New Jersey Senate President Files Psilocybin Legalization Bill That Includes Home Grow Option, Unlike Current Marijuana Law

Photo courtesy of Martin Alonso.

The post White House Deflects Question About Denying Security Clearances Over Past Marijuana Use Following Senate Action appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

The leader of the New Jersey Senate filed a bill on Thursday that would legalize the possession, home cultivation and gifting of psilocybin mushrooms for adults 21 and older—with provisions that give adults even more freedoms for the psychedelic than are afforded under the state’s current marijuana laws.

The legislation from Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D), who has long championed cannabis reform in the Garden State, would further create a system of licensed businesses to provide psilocybin services in supervised settings.

Scutari’s proposed “Psilocybin Behavioral Health Access and Services Act” represents a bold development in the psychedelics reform movement that’s rapidly spread in state legislatures and through citizen-led initiatives throughout the country in recent years. And the fact that the legislation is originating from leadership who is intimately familiar with drug policy reform is a firm indicator that this is a serious endeavor.

The beginning of the bill discusses the “high prevalence” of behavioral health conditions that afflict New Jersey adults and the growing body of research demonstrating that psilocybin may serve as a valuable treatment option for certain conditions, as further evidenced by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designating the psychedelic as a “breakthrough therapy” based on preliminary clinical trials.

“It is the intent of the Legislature to facilitate the establishment of safe, legal, and affordable psilocybin service centers to provide residents of New Jersey who are 21 years of age or older with opportunities for supported psilocybin experiences to alleviate distress, provide preventative behavioral health care, and foster wellness and personal growth,” the text of the legislation, which was released on Friday, says.

But beyond creating psilocybin treatment centers, as is being done in Oregon following voter approval of a historic ballot initiative in 2020, the measure would also make it legal for adults to “possess, store, use, ingest, inhale, process, transport, deliver without consideration, or distribute without consideration, four grams or less of psilocybin.”

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“It will also not be unlawful for a person over 21 years of age to grow, cultivate, or process plants or fungi capable of producing psilocybin for personal use, or to possess the psilocybin produced if the plants and fungi are kept on the grounds of a private home or residence and are kept secure from access by persons under 21 years of age,” it says.

That’s an especially notable provision, as New Jersey’s marijuana laws do not permit adults—or even medical cannabis patients—to grow their own plants for personal use, much to the frustration of reform advocates.

The new bill from the Senate president would significantly expand on legislation he introduced in late 2020 to reduce penalties for possession of up to one ounce of psilocybin that was signed by Gov. Phil Murphy (D) last year.

Under the newly filed legislation, “engaging in this authorized conduct will not: be considered an offense under State law or the laws of any county or municipal governing body; constitute the basis to assess against any person a civil penalty, a civil sanction, or professional or administrative discipline; constitute the basis for detention, search, or arrest of any person; or constitute the basis to deny a person any right or privilege, or to seize or forfeit the assets of any person under State law or the laws of any county or municipal governing body, provided the person is at least 21 years of age.”

Additionally, people with convictions for an offense that would be made legal under the bill would be provided the opportunity to petition the courts for resentencing or expungements.

With respect to the psilocybin services program, the bill lays out basic regulations, including licensing requirements. There would be four license types—product manufacturers, service center operators, testing laboratories and service facilitators—in addition to psilocybin workers permits. The state Department of Health (DOH) would be responsible for overseeing the program and licensing.

There’s also equity built into the proposed licensing system. Manufacturing, service center and testing applicants would be eligible for a “social opportunity program” if they meet the following criteria: an applicant must be at least 51 percent ownership by people who’ve lived in an economically distressed area for five of the past 10 years and have more than 10 full-time employees (with more than half of those workers also living in a low-income area).

DOH would be tasked with developing the social opportunity program in coordination with an 18-member Psilocybin Behavioral Health Access and Services Advisory Board that would be established within the department.

Members of that board would have to include the health commissioner, deputy commissioner for public health services, the state attorney general (or their designees). Those would be ex officio, non-voting members. Additionally, the board would be comprised of a representative of the states Cannabis Regulatory Commission and 12 governor-appointed members with relevant experience.

“The purpose of the board will be to provide advice and recommendations to the DOH, upon request or upon the board’s own initiative, concerning the implementation of the bill,” the text says. Recommendations would be related to issues such as public education, research into the therapeutic potential of psilocybin, guidelines for psychedelic services, health and safety standards and more.

The proposal to create a psilocybin program comes as Scutari and other lawmakers continue working with advocates and stakeholders in the marijuana sector to hash out regulatory issues related to licensing, pricing and more amid the rollout of the state’s recreational market, which saw about $24 million in sales in the first month of implementation.

Regarding local control for the psilocybin proposal, the bill says that county or municipal governments “may adopt, by ordinance, reasonable regulations on the operation of psilocybin product manufacturers and psilocybin service centers located within that county or municipality.”

“No county or municipality will be authorized to establish any taxes or fees on the manufacture or sale of psilocybin products or the provision of psilocybin services,” it states.

The bill has been referred to the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee.

This is one of the latest examples of state lawmakers following the lead of voters in cities and states across the U.S. who have pushed for an end to the criminalization of natural plants and fungi, as well as access to psychedelics for therapeutic use.

For example, the governor of Colorado recently signed a bill to align state statute to legalize MDMA prescriptions if and when the federal government ultimately permits such use.

The governor of Connecticut signed a large-scale budget bill in May that includes provisions to set the state up to provide certain patients with access to psychedelic-assisted treatment using substances like MDMA and psilocybin.

Maryland’s governor recently allowed a bill to go into law without his signature to create a state fund to provide “cost-free” access to psychedelics like psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury.

A Massachusetts-based campaign, Bay Staters for National Medicine (BSNM), is also supporting a statewide reform push to force state lawmakers to file legislation to both legalize entheogenic substances for therapeutic use and otherwise decriminalize certain psychedelics.

The Maine Senate approved a bill in April to to create a medical psilocybin program in the state, but the House of Representatives refused to go along.

Also that month, Georgia lawmakers advanced a bipartisan resolution that calls for the formation of a House study committee to investigate the therapeutic potential of psychedelics like psilocybin and make recommendations for reforms.

The governor of Utah signed a bill in March to create a task force to study and make recommendations on the therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs and possible regulations for their lawful use.

A Missouri House committee also held a hearing that month on a GOP-led bill to legalize a wide range of psychedelics for therapeutic use at designated care facilities while further decriminalizing low-level possession in general.

The Washington State legislature recently sent a budget bill to the governor’s desk that includes a proposal to direct $200,000 in funding to support a new workgroup to study the possibility of legalizing psilocybin services in the state, including the idea of using current marijuana regulatory systems to track psychedelic mushrooms.

In March, the Hawaii Senate approved a bill to set up a state working group to study the therapeutic benefits of psilocybin mushrooms and develop a “long-term” plan to ensure that the psychedelic is accessible for medical use for adults 21 and older.

Also that month, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill to decriminalize low-level possession of psilocybin and promote research into the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic.

Rhode Island lawmakers introduced a pair of drug decriminalization bills in March—including one focused on psilocybin and buprenorphine that would authorize doctors to prescribe the psychedelic mushroom.

An Oregon Senate committee also recently advanced a bill to ensure that equity is built into the state’s historic therapeutic psilocybin program that’s actively being implemented following voter approval in 2020.

A bill to decriminalize a wide array of psychedelics in Virginia was taken up by a House of Delegates panel in January, only to be pushed off until 2023. A separate Senate proposal to decriminalize psilocybin alone was later defeated in a key committee.

California Sen. Scott Wiener (D) told Marijuana Moment in a recent interview that his bill to legalize psychedelics possession stands a 50/50 chance of reaching the governor’s desk this year. It already cleared the full Senate and two Assembly committees during the first half of the two-year session.

Washington State lawmakers also introduced legislation in January that would legalize what the bill calls “supported psilocybin experiences” by adults 21 and older.

New Hampshire lawmakers filed measures to decriminalize psilocybin and all drugs.

Legislation was also enacted by the Texas legislature last year requiring the state to study the medical risks and benefits of psilocybin, MDMA and ketamine for military veterans in partnership with Baylor College of Medicine and a military-focused medical center.

At the congressional level, bipartisan lawmakers sent a letter to DEA in January, urging that the agency allow terminally ill patients to use psilocybin as an investigational treatment without the fear of federal prosecution.

Activists and patients were recently arrested at the DEA headquarters after engaging in civil disobedience during a protest over the agency’s refusal to provide a waiver granting those patients access to psilocybin under Right to Try laws.

Illinois Awards $45 Million In Marijuana Tax-Funded Grants To Support Communities Damaged By Drug War

The post New Jersey Senate President Files Psilocybin Legalization Bill That Includes Home Grow Option, Unlike Current Marijuana Law appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

Illinois officials announced on Thursday that they are awarding $45 million in grants, using funds generated from taxes on adult-use marijuana sales, to support community reinvestment in areas “hardest hit by the failed war on drugs.”

This is the second round of funding that’s being made available through the state’s Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) program, which was established under Illinois’s adult-use cannabis legalization law.

The $45 million will support 148 programs run by organizations operating on relatively small budgets in communities designated as socioeconomically disadvantaged. The state first announced that applications for this grant round were open in December.

ICJIA Awards $45 Million in Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (#R3) Program Grants Supporting 148 programs across Illinois

Read more + view list of grantees:https://t.co/naEcbzJPFc#R3 #RestoreReinvestRenew #equitymatters pic.twitter.com/Ci0e5LIl3k

— ICJIA (@ICJIA_Illinois) June 23, 2022

“A modern and equitable cannabis industry requires equity, opportunity, and a robust investment in righting the wrongs of the war on drugs,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) said in a press release. “That means investing in our underserved communities who’ve gone far too long without the funding and resources they need and deserve to heal and prosper.”

“We’re proud to use cannabis revenue to directly support community-based organizations invested in creating opportunity,” he said.

Under Illinois’s recreational marijuana law, 25 percent of tax revenue generated from cannabis sales must support communities that are economically distressed, experience high rates of violence and have been disproportionately impacted by drug criminalization.

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority (ICJIA) said it received 512 completed submissions for the R3 grants that were then vetted by community residents and stakeholders.

Among the grant recipients are the Illinois Prison Project, Illinois Equity Staffing LLC, Lifehouse Recovery Organization, Resilience Partners NFP and Women in Need Recover, each of which received about $1.5 million. Grant amounts varied, with most in the mid-to-low six figures. Cook County, where Chicago is located, received $305,137.

Organizations that received grants through the initial R3 round last year will have their funding renewed for another year to ensure that they can continue providing services in their communities.

“Illinois is showing what it looks like to work toward repairing the harm impacting our communities, by continuing to build the infrastructure that addresses decades of disinvestment, over-incarceration, and trauma,” Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton (D) said. “As a tool connecting communities to the resources they need equitably and sustainably, R3 is at the core of our efforts to bring restorative, healing solutions to the people and regions that have for too long been unheard and underserved.”

#R3 is bringing restorative, healing solutions to people and regions hardest hit by the failed war on drugs.

I'm incredibly proud of the resources and support these 148 programs will bring to underserved communities across the state. #WeAreR3 https://t.co/3pgjLQgVb8

— Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton (@LtGovStratton) June 23, 2022

Last year, in July, state officials put $3.5 million in cannabis-generated funds toward efforts to reduce violence through street intervention programs.

Illinois officials have touted the strength of the state’s marijuana market, but they’ve stressed the importance of putting tax dollars from the program to good use in repairing the systemic harms of prohibition.

The state saw nearly $132 million in adult-use cannabis sales in April, the second highest monthly total since the market launched in 2020. The first couple of months of 2022 saw lagging sales, but state data on cannabis purchases in March and April indicates that the market is on the rebound.

From last year’s sales, Illinois generated almost $100 million more in tax revenue from adult-use marijuana sales than from alcohol in 2021, state data found.

While state officials have consistently voiced their commitment to equity, legalization’s rollout hasn’t been without hiccups and frustration among would-be licensees. Illinois regulators have faced legal challenges over the way social equity licensing applications have been managed, with complaints about the lottery system that the state later said it would work to resolve. As the market has matured, there have still lingering problems, including a court order that prohibited the state from approving 185 additional recreational cannabis shops for nearly a year before that decision was lifted last month.

In addition to providing community reinvestment funding, the governor announced in 2020 that his office had processed more than 500,000 expungements and pardons for people with low-level cannabis convictions on their records.

Pritzker also recently signed a bill that will make it so courts cannot deny petitions to expunge or seal records based on a positive drug test for marijuana.

A state-funded initiative was also recently established to help residents with marijuana convictions get legal aid and other services to have their records expunged.

It’s these types of initiatives that Toi Hutchinson recently told Marijuana Moment that she’s most proud of as she transitioned from being Pritzker’s cannabis advisor to the president of the national advocacy group, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP).

Congressional Leaders Push Marijuana Protections For Athletes And Federal Workers In New Spending Legislation

Photo courtesy of Max Pixel.

The post Illinois Awards $45 Million In Marijuana Tax-Funded Grants To Support Communities Damaged By Drug War appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

A key House committee on Wednesday approved two amendments to a must-pass defense spending bill that deal with marijuana- related issues in the armed services.

Both measures cleared the House Armed Services Committee on voice votes during a markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

The first, from Rep. Anthony Brown (D-MD), concerns cannabis sentencing standards under military code. The other from, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), calls for a Department of Defense (DOD)-led study into the medical efficacy of cannabis over opioids for certain conditions.

Brown’s proposal would mandate that the Military Justice Review Panel “develop recommendations specifying appropriate sentencing ranges for offenses involving the use and possession of marijuana” under military code.

The panel’s recommendations would need to include a comparative analysis on sentencing standards for cannabis-based offenses versus other “comparable offenses, such as offenses involving the misuse of alcohol.” They would also need to take into account the “overall burden on the military justice system on the current approach of the Department of Defense to sentencing marijuana-based offenses.”

A report with recommendations from the panel would need to be submitted to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees within 180 days of the measure’s enactment.

“As states around the country and the House take steps to reform our approach to cannabis, we need to ensure the military justice system reflects those changes,” Brown said in a press release. “Today, cannabis-related offices are treated harshly in comparison with other comparable offenses.”

“My amendment doesn’t change current law, but what it does do is require our armed services to review and provide recommendations for potential reform,” he said. “This is an important step in our efforts to ensure our military justice system is providing fair treatment to every service member.”

ADOPTED (voice): Amendment # 1808 — Rep. Brown — Chairman’s Mark

— House Armed Services Democrats (@HASCDemocrats) June 23, 2022

In April, Brown filed a related, standalone bill that would make it so the punishment for military service members who use or possess marijuana could not exceed penalties for being drunk or incapacitated on duty. In general, the congressman’s Restoring Equity For Offenses Related to Marijuana (REFORM) Act would amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to more closely align cannabis- and alcohol- related penalties.

He separately worked to get report language attached to last year’s version of NDAA that voiced concerns about racial disparities in military drug testing practices and ordered the Pentagon to conduct a review of the issue.

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Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,500 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
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In 2019, DOD announced a policy barring all active and reserve service members from using hemp products, including CBD. DOD more broadly reaffirmed that CBD is off limits to service members in earlier notices published in 2020.

Moulton’s amendment, meanwhile, would require the secretary of defense to “conduct a study on the use of medicinal cannabis as an alternative to prescription opioids in the treatment of members of the Armed Forces on terminal leave preceding separation, retirement, or release from active duty.”

Participants in the study would include people who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, a traumatic brain injury, or any other condition involving serve pain.” The amendment further states that, in order to be selected to participate, military members would have been otherwise prescribed opioid pain medication for their conditions.

Upon completion of the study, the secretary of defense would need to “monitor the effects…on the health of former participants by conducting assessments of such former participants.” The official would additionally need to submit reports to congressional defense committees on the study at the one-year mark following its completion and also three years after it concludes.

The reports to Congress must include “a description of any such findings relating to the benefits or other effects of using medicinal cannabis as an alternative to prescription opioids” and any relevant recommendations based on the findings.

Moulton’s amendment also requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to “carry out an education initiative regarding the use of medicinal cannabis” in the treatment of the aforementioned conditions. The secretary would be required to take into consideration the “specific vulnerability to opioid abuse and substance abuse disorder of individuals transitioning from serving on active duty in the Armed Forces” and “best practices for reducing the stigmatization of medicinal cannabis.”

ADOPTED (voice) Amendment # 1994r1 — Rep. Moulton — Chairman’s Mark

— House Armed Services Democrats (@HASCDemocrats) June 23, 2022

In March, Moulton filed a standalone bill that would make it so military veterans would be “encouraged” to discuss medical marijuana treatment without the fear of losing federal benefits.

The main thrust of that legislation is to codify existing policies that allow VA doctors to talk about medical cannabis with patients as well as protections for veterans who are candid about their history with marijuana treatment. By doing so, it would enshrine these polices into law so that they could not later be changed administratively by future VA leaders.

The congressman has played an active role in introducing veteran- and cannabis-specific legislation in past sessions. In 2019, for example, he filed three House bills concerning medical marijuana for military veterans.

Both of the newly approved amendments to NDAA will still need to advance through both chambers of Congress before potentially being transmitted to the president’s desk.

Some advocates had held out hope that NDAA would be the legislative vehicle to enact bipartisan marijuana banking reform last year after the House attached the reform to the bill as a floor amendment, but it was later taken out in negotiations with the Senate.

Now, after it was announced on Wednesday that cannabis banking will not be enacted as part of the separate large-scale manufacturing bill known as the America COMPETES Act, some lawmakers and advocates are beginning to suggest that this year’s NDAA could be another vehicle to attach the reform to. It remains to be seen whether that will happen when the bill gets to the House floor and, if so, how the Senate will react this time.

Read the text of the committee-approved cannabis amendments below: 

Senate Committee Votes To Let People Who’ve Used Marijuana Work For CIA, NSA And Other Intelligence Agencies

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis/Side Pocket Images.

The post House Panel Directs Military To Review Marijuana Penalties For Soldiers And Study Medical Cannabis As Opioid Alternative appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

House Appropriations Committee leaders have included even more marijuana provisions in newly released spending bills and attached reports, including a novel section that encourages sports regulators to push international officials to “change how cannabis is treated” when it comes to suspending athletes from competition over positive tests.

The past week has seen a flurry of marijuana proposals included in appropriations legislation that covers Fiscal Year 2023 funding for various federal agencies. These latest bills and reports deal with spending packages for the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services (HHS) and Education, as well as Financial Services and General Government (FSGG).

Many of the sections have been largely carried over from past measures—such as protections for universities that research cannabis and a requested review of federal drug testing policies. But for FSGG, there’s new report language addressing an issue that came to the fore last summer after U.S. sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended from an Olympic event due to a positive test for THC.

The suspension made international headlines, received attention from the White House and prompted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to initiate a scientific review to determine whether it’s appropriate to continue penalizing athletes over marijuana, treating it like a performance enhancing drug.

Appropriators are now requesting action from the U.S. sports regulators:

“U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.—The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) manages the anti-doping program for all U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee recognized sports, which includes a program for testing athletes for performance-enhancing substances to ensure clean competition. The Committee encourages USADA to support additional research on the effects of cannabis on athletic performance, including whether marijuana use during the in-competition period delivers performance-enhancing effects, and to engage in efforts to change how cannabis is treated under the World Anti-Doping Code and World Anti-Doping Agency Prohibited List.”

The FSGG report also more broadly addresses drug testing requirement for federal workers, as previous versions have done in the past. But this time, there’s a new line that specifically urges the executive branch to apply drug testing standards with “consistency and fairness”:

“Federal Employee Hiring.—The Committee encourages OPM and the Suitability Executive Agent to continue to review policies and guidelines regarding hiring and firing of individuals who use marijuana in states where that individual’s private use of marijuana is not prohibited under the law of the State. These policies should reflect updated changes to the law on marijuana usage and clearly state the impact of marijuana usage on Federal employment. The Committee encourages the Administration to apply these policies with consistency and fairness.”

Meanwhile, in the education spending bill, there’s again a section that would prevent the Department of Education from penalizing universities simply because the institutions are conducting research into marijuana.

“SEC. 314. None of the funds appropriated by this title for the Department of Education shall be withheld from an institution of higher education solely because that institution is conducting or preparing to conduct research on marihuana as defined in 21 U.S.C. 802(16).”

To the disappointment of reform advocates, however, the legislation maintains an existing rider that many feel inhibits research into the risks and benefits of Schedule I drugs such as cannabis and certain psychedelics. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has tried to remove the section in the interest of promoting research, but her amendment was defeated on the House floor on two occassions, with most of her Democratic colleagues joining GOP members in opposition to the proposal. Here’s that text:

“SEC. 507. (a) None of the funds made available in this Act may be used for any activity that promotes the legalization of any drug or other substance included in schedule I of the schedules of controlled substances established under section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act except for normal and recognized executive-congressional communications.

(b) The limitation in subsection (a) shall not apply when there is significant medical evidence of a therapeutic advantage to the use of such drug or other substance or that federally sponsored clinical trials are being conducted to determine therapeutic advantage.”

The HHS bill further contains a lengthy section to change the names of various federal agencies and programs to swap out stigmatizing language for more neutral titles dealing with drugs and alcohol. For example, it proposes to change the “National Institute on Drug Abuse” to the “National Institute on Drugs and Addiction.”

(See the text of the relevant sections at the bottom of this story.)

Appropriators expressing interest in removing rhetorical stigmas around drug and alcohol use is a positive development from advocates’ perspective. But reform proponents have also made abundantly clear that the most significant driver of stigma is the ongoing criminalization of drugs in the criminal legal system, not the names of agencies.

In that frame of thinking, a bill such as one introduced last year by Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) to federally decriminalize all currently illicit drugs would do far more accomplish the goal of destigmatization.

The House Appropriations Committee also released other spending bills and reports this week, with lawmakers pushing multiagency coordination to create guidance on hemp manufacturing, better guidance on the marketing of CBD, updates on research into medical marijuana for veterans and investigations into “alternative treatments” for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) such as psychedelics.

Those provisions came out of Fiscal Year 2023 spending legislation for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies, as well as Military Construction, Veterans Affairs (VA), and Related Agencies.

Another base bill that came as a particular disappointment to advocates and reform-friendly lawmakers covered funding for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS).

Despite a concerted push from lawmakers, the base spending legislation did not include requested provisions to protect all states and tribal adult-use marijuana programs. Rather, it simply maintained a longstanding riders preventing the Justice Department from using its appropriated funds to intervene in the implementation of state-legal medical cannabis and hemp programs.

This means will again need to make their case for the broader protections’ inclusion as amendments—either in committee or on the House floor, as in past years.

Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), who has championed the broader language in past appropriations cycles, told Marijuana Moment on Thursday that lawmakers are working “to see if there are opportunities with the committee or with floor action” to get the language included and enacted this time around.

“It should be not a heavy lift. It makes so much sense to have the federal government not interfere,” he said. “The principle has been embraced. It should be low hanging fruit.”

“Politically, this is something that—it’s not just Democrats, there are a number of Republicans that support this concept,” the congressman said. “Yeah, I’m disappointed. And that’s another thing we’re working on.”

In 2019 and 2020, the House attached the sweeping state and tribal protections to its version of the appropriations legislation as amendments adopted on the floor, but they’ve yet to be incorporated into any final package enacted into law. CJS legislation didn’t end up making it to the floor in 2021, but supporters had planned an amendment that year as well.

Recently released spending legislation for various agencies has also featured providing providing protections for immigrants who use cannabis, freeing up marijuana-related advertising and providing the industry with access to the banking system. There are also additional provisions concerning hemp.

Those are parts of Fiscal Year 2023 spending bills for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) and U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA).

For the Interior appropriations base bill that was released this week, there’s a section on tribal marijuana protections (with some new caveats that have raised questions about tribes potentially being held to a different standard than states).

In a related development, a Senate committee held a listening session on Friday that explored cannabis issues for Native Americans, touching on areas such as tribal sovereignty in the marijuana space, agreements with state governments and taxation.

A coalition of nine U.S. senators also sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland in March, urging him to direct federal prosecutors to not interfere with marijuana legalization policies enacted by Native American tribes.

The Labor, HHS and Education funding bill cleared subcommittee on Thursday, and the FSGG measure is scheduled to be marked up by the full House Appropriations Committee on Friday.

Importantly, it remains to be seen whether the Senate will accept any of the House-led cannabis and drug policy proposals. Senate appropriators have not yet released their spending bills for FY23, and typically wait until after the House has acted, so it’s not yet clear which issues will ultimately get reconciled by the two chambers and adopted into law.

Here’s the text of the HHS bill on revising drug-related names of federal agencies and programs:

“SEC. 242. (a) The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), the Comprehensive Smoking Education Act (15 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.), the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–198), Public Law 92–255, as amended (21 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.), the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.), and title 5 of the United States Code are each amended (including in headings)—(1) by striking “National Institute on Drug Abuse” each place it appears and inserting “National Institute on Drugs and Addiction”; and (2) by striking”‘National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse” each place it appears and inserting “National Advisory Council on Drugs and Addiction”.
(b) Title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281 et seq.) is amended—
(1) in section 464H(b)(5), by striking “National Institute of Drug Abuse” and inserting “National Institute on Drugs and Addiction”;
(2) in sections 464L, 464M(a), 464O, and 494A, by striking “drug abuse” each place it appears and inserting “drug use”;
(3) in section 464L(a), by striking “treatment of drug abusers” and inserting “treatment of drug addiction”;
(4) in section 464M(a), by striking “prevention of such abuse” and inserting “prevention of such use”;
(5) in section 464N—
(A) in the section heading, by striking “‘DRUG ABUSE RESEARCH CENTERS” and inserting “DRUGS AND ADDICTION RESEARCH CENTERS”;
(B) in subsection (a)—
(i) in matter preceding paragraph (1), by striking “National Drug Abuse Research Centers” and inserting “National Drugs and Addiction Research Centers”; and
(ii) in paragraph (1)(C), by striking “treatment of drug abuse” and inserting “treatment of drug addiction”; and
(C) in subsection (c)—
(i) in the subsection heading, by striking “DRUG ABUSE AND ADDICTION RESEARCH” and inserting “DRUGS AND ADDICTION RESEARCH CENTERS”;
(ii) in paragraph (1), by striking “National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network and inserting “National Drug Addiction Treatment Clinical Trials Network”; and
(iii) in paragraph (2)(H), by striking “reasons that individuals abuse drugs, or refrain from abusing drugs” and inserting “reasons that individuals use drugs or refrain from using drugs”; and
(6) in section 464P—
(A) in subsection (a)—
10 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking “drug abuse treatments” and inserting “drug addiction treatments”; and
(ii) in paragraph (6), by striking “treatment of drug abuse” and inserting “treatment of drug addiction”; and
(B) in subsection (d)—
(i) by striking “disease of drug abuse” and inserting “disease of drug addiction”;
(ii) by striking “abused drugs” each place it appears and inserting “addictive drugs”; and
(iii) by striking “drugs of abuse” and inserting “drugs of addiction”.
(c) Section 464N of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285o–2), as amended by subsection (b)(5), is further amended by striking “drug abuse” each place it appears and inserting “drug use”.
(d) Any reference in any law, regulation, map, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the National Institute on Drug Abuse shall be considered to be a reference to the National Institute on Drugs and Addiction.
…
SEC. 244. (a) The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended (including in headings)—
(1) by striking “Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration” each place it appears and inserting “Substance Use And Mental Health Services Administration”;
(2) by striking “Center for Substance Abuse Treatment” each place it appears and inserting “Center for Substance Use Services”; and
(3) by striking “Center for Substance Abuse Prevention” each place it appears and inserting “Center for Substance Use Prevention Services”.
(b) Title V of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 290aa et seq.) is amended—
(1) in the title heading, by striking “SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION” and inserting “SUBSTANCE USE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION”;
(2) in section 501— (A) in the section heading, by striking “SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION” and inserting “SUBSTANCE USE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION”; and
(B) in subsection (a), by striking “(hereafter referred to in this title as the ‘Administration’)” and inserting “(hereafter referred to in this title as ‘SAMHSA’ or the ‘Administration’)”;
(3) in section 507, in the section heading, by striking “CENTER FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT” and inserting “CENTER FOR SUBSTANCE USE SERVICES”;
(4) in section 513(a), in the subsection heading, by striking “CENTER FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT” and inserting “CENTER FOR SUBSTANCE USE SERVICES”; and
(5) in section 515, in the section heading, by striking “CENTER FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION” and inserting “CENTER FOR SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION SERVICES”.
(c) Section 1932(b)(3) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x–32(b)(3)) is amended in the paragraph heading by striking “CENTER FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION” and inserting “CENTER FOR SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION SERVICES”.
(d) Section 1935(b)(2) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300x–35(b)(2)) is amended in the paragraph heading by striking “CENTER FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION” and inserting “CENTER FOR SUBSTANCE USE PREVENTION SERVICES”.
(e) Subtitle C of title IV of Public Law 99–570, as amended (25 U.S.C. 2401 et seq.) is amended (including in headings) by striking “Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration” each place it appears and inserting “Substance Use And Mental Health Services Administration”.
(f) The Social Security Act is amended in sections 1861, 1866F, and 1945 (42 U.S.C. 1395x, 1395cc–6, 1396w–4) by striking “Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration” each place it appears and inserting “Substance Use And Mental Health Services Administration”.
(g) Section 105(a)(7)(C)(i)(III) of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106(a)(7)(C)(i)(III)) is amended by striking “Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration” and inserting “Substance Use And Mental Health Services Administration”.
(h)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), any reference in any law, regulation, map, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment of such Administration, or the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of such Administration shall be considered to be a reference to the Substance Use And Mental Health Services Administration, the Center for Substance Use Services of such Administration, or the Center for Substance Use Prevention Services of such Administration, respectively.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be construed to alter or affect section 6001(d) of the 21st Century Cures Act (42 U.S.C. 290aa note), providing that a reference to the Administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration shall be construed to be a reference to the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use.”

Bipartisan Bill To Expand Medical Marijuana Access For Military Veterans Refiled In Congress

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.

The post Congressional Leaders Push Marijuana Protections For Athletes And Federal Workers In New Spending Legislation appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

SAFE Banking out of COMPETES; Senate panel passes marijuana security clearance amendment; Vets bill; NC House GOP blocks reform; PA banking approved

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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW

House and Senate leaders have agreed that cannabis banking language will not be enacted via the large-scale manufacturing bill known as the America COMPETES Act.

• Lead SAFE Banking Act sponsor Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) said he will continue to push for its inclusion, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) told Marijuana Moment that supporters will pursue “every single avenue” to get the legislation enacted, including potentially through the new version of the National Defense Authorization Act that cleared committee this week.

The Senate Intelligence Committee unanimously approved an amendment from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) to stop blocking people from working in the intelligence community—including at the CIA and NSA—”based solely on past use of marijuana.”

Reps. Troy Carter (D-LA) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA) filed a bipartisan bill that would allow state-legal marijuana businesses to list on stock exchanges like Nasdaq and NYSE.

Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Brian Mast (R-FL) filed a bipartisan bill to allow Department of Veterans Affairs doctors to issue medical cannabis recommendations to military veterans.

North Carolina House Republicans voted in a closed-door meeting not to let a Senate-passed medical cannabis bill advance.

The Pennsylvania House Commerce Committee amended and approved a Senate-passed marijuana banking bill.

/ FEDERAL

The U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Thailand sent a warning to American citizens about the scope of Thailand’s new cannabis laws.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency tweeted, “Hemp offers new economic opportunities for America’s farmers, and we are pleased to offer #cropinsurance coverage to hemp producers.”

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) tweeted about receiving an award from the Epilepsy Foundation “recognizing my leadership on CBD and medical marijuana research.”

/ STATES

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed a bill changing background check processes for medical cannabis businesses.

Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried, currently the agriculture commissioner, posted a video of her remarks at a cannabis equity summit she hosted.

New York regulators approved an application process for marijuana processing business, awarded additional cultivation licenses and hired a chief equity officer.

Maine regulators filed notice of rulemaking on marijuana testing, edibles potency, delivery and curbside pickup.

Connecticut regulators received more than 37,000 lottery applications for an initial round of 56 recreational marijuana business licenses.

Michigan regulators published a guide on cannabis business compliance best practices.

Nevada regulators will consider marijuana consumption lounge rules and other business issues on Tuesday.

—
Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,500 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
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/ LOCAL

Washington, D.C.’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8C adopted a resolution supporting proposed drug decriminalization and harm reduction legislation.

District attorneys in some New York counties are resisting moves to clear past marijuana convictions.

The Albuquerque, New Mexico City Council approved measures to regulate cannabis edibles.

Denver, Colorado officials sent clarification for people planning to qualify for a marijuana business license under the social equity program using income criterion.

The New York City Council’s Committee on Consumer and Worker Protection will hold an oversight hearing on the cannabis licensing process on Tuesday.

/ INTERNATIONAL

Thai lawmakers are considering legislation to limit home cannabis cultivation and tax large-scale growers. Separately, the Medical Sciences Department developed kits people can use to test whether cannabis exceeds the 0.2 percent THC legal limit. And the Embassy in Jakarta issued a warning that bringing marijuana to Indonesia can result in a death sentence.

Kenya’s National Authority for the Campaign against Drug Abuse is raising concerns about the potential legalization of marijuana.

The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada City Council’s Governance and Priorities Committee and the Board of Police Commissioners held a joint meeting to discuss drug decriminalization.

Devon and Cornwall, England’s police commissioner said marijuana should be more strictly classified.

/ SCIENCE & HEALTH

A review concluded that “positive treatment effects were seen for some [medical cannabis] products in pain, nausea and vomiting, appetite, sleep, fatigue, chemosensory perception and paraneoplastic night sweats in patients with cancer, appetite and agitation in patients with dementia and appetite, nausea and vomiting in patients with AIDS.”

A study found that “cannabis and alcohol use negatively impact visual function” but that “driving performance was only significantly affected by the higher alcohol dose.”

/ ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS

A poll of U.S. adults found that 41 percent would give up cannabis in exchange for a lifetime of always having clean floors.

The Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada said it is “aware of harmful errors related to the accidental selection of the wrong cannabis product for medical use online, delivery of an incorrect cannabis product, and use of the wrong product at home.”

/ BUSINESS

Curaleaf Holdings Inc., Ascend Wellness Holdings Inc., Verano Holdings Corp., Acreage Holdings Inc. and Green Thumb Industries Inc. are being fined by New Jersey regulators for allegedly selling recreational marijuana during hours that are supposed to be reserved for serving medical cannabis patients.

Curaleaf blocked employees who are represented by a union from receiving holiday pay for Juneteenth.

Challenges to two Compass Pathways psilocybin patents were blocked by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

Verano Holdings Corp. announced it filed updated financial statements.

Parallel is asking a federal court to dismiss a shareholder lawsuit alleging securities fraud.

/ CULTURE

Runner Sha’Carri Richardson said she regretted doing an interview with the Today Show about her suspension from the Olympics over marijuana, and called out the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for its drug testing rules.

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The post Cannabis biz could trade on stock exchange under new bill (Newsletter: June 24, 2022) appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

A key Senate committee approved a measure this week that would prohibit the federal government from denying people the security clearances they need to work at intelligence agencies simply because they’ve used marijuana.

The measure from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) cleared the Senate Intelligence Committee on a voice vote on Wednesday. It is now attached to the Intelligence Authorization Act, which must still move through both chambers before potentially heading to the president’s desk.

If enacted, it would mark a significant development in federal cannabis workplace policies, affecting agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Agency (NSA).

“I applaud the committee for including my provisions, in particular an amendment ensuring that past marijuana use will not disqualify intelligence community applicants from serving their country,” Wyden, who is also working with leadership on a bill to federally legalize cannabis, said in a press release on Thursday. “It’s a common-sense change to ensure the IC can recruit the most capable people possible.”

The cannabis amendment was approved by the committee in an unanimous vote, The Wall Street Journal first reported.

Staff with Wyden’s office told Marijuana Moment that the Intelligence Committee’s rules restrict how the text of legislation within its jurisdiction can be released. It may be a number of weeks before the provisions of the new cannabis amendment are publicly available.

But the brief description of the measure is fairly straightforward, seeking to resolve a hiring policy that lawmakers and even past heads of the intelligence community have described as problematic.

The senator’s press release says the proposal would prohibit “denial of a security clearance to IC personnel based solely on past use of marijuana.”

“Senator Wyden will continue to fight to ensure that ongoing marijuana use is not the basis for denying or losing a clearance,” the release says.

Barring people from receiving security clearances just for being honest about prior marijuana use significantly decreases the pool of potential applicants for critical roles, especially considering that a majority of Americans have tried cannabis at least once and more states have moved to legalize the plant for medical or recreational use.

Prior to the House vote to pass a federal marijuana legalization bill in April, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) filed an amendment to require federal agencies to review security clearance denials going back to 1971 and retroactively make it so cannabis could not be used “as a reason to deny or rescind a security clearance.” But that measure was narrowly defeated in a floor vote.

Late last year, the director of national intelligence (DNI) issued a memo saying that federal employers shouldn’t outright reject security clearance applicants over past use and should use discretion when it comes to those with cannabis investments in their stock portfolios.

A spokesperson in the DNI’s office told Marijuana Moment at the time that “increased legalization of marijuana use at state and local levels has prompted questions on how the federal government treats an individual’s involvement with marijuana to determine eligibility for national security positions or access to classified information.”

Meanwhile, FBI updated its hiring policies in 2020 to make it so candidates are only automatically disqualified from joining the agency if they admit to having used marijuana within one year of applying. Previously, prospective employees of the agency could not have used cannabis within the past three years.

Former FBI Director James Comey in 2014 suggested that he wanted to loosen the agency’s employment policies as it concerns marijuana, as potential skilled workers were being passed over due to the requirement.

“I have to hire a great work force to compete with those cyber criminals and some of those kids want to smoke weed on the way to the interview,” he said at the time.

Also, in 2020, CIA said that it doesn’t necessarily believe using illegal drugs makes you a bad person.

For its part, the Drug Enforcement Administration continues to enforce its policy of automatically disqualifying applicants who’ve used marijuana in the prior three years before applying.

Federal agencies have taken different approaches to employment policies with the ever-changing marijuana landscape in the U.S.

For example, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently reminded its workers that they are prohibited from using marijuana—or directly investing in the industry—regardless of state law and changes in “social norms” around cannabis.

The White House recently made clear that people who want to even intern at the president’s office will be required to disclose prior drug use—including any cannabis consumption that was legal under state law—and they could be denied eligibility over it.

Still, the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM) separately issued a memo to federal agencies that says admitting to past marijuana use should not automatically disqualify people from being employed in the federal government.

The Biden administration previously found itself facing criticism after reports surfaced that it had fired its own White House staffers over marijuana.

Then-Press Secretary Jen Psaki attempted to minimize the fallout of the White House personnel policy, without much success, and her office also stressed that nobody was fired for “marijuana usage from years ago,” nor has anyone been terminated “due to casual or infrequent use during the prior 12 months.”

However, she consistently declined to speak to the extent to which staff have been suspended or placed in a remote work program because they were honest about their history with marijuana on the federal background check form.

In May, a congressman sent a letter to the head of the U.S. Department of Transportation, stating that the agency’s policies on drug testing truckers and other commercial drivers for marijuana are unnecessarily costing people their jobs and contributing to supply chain issues.

Relatedly, a top Wells Fargo analyst said in February that there’s one main reason for rising costs and worker shortages in the transportation sector: federal marijuana criminalization and resulting drug testing mandates that persist even as more states enact legalization.

Meanwhile, in April, a top federal health agency proposed changes to drug testing policies for federal workers to clarify that having a doctor’s recommendation for medical marijuana or any other Schedule I drug is not a valid excuse for a positive drug test.

Also earlier this year, a coalition of more than two dozen congressional Democrats filed bill on promoting workplace investment to combat climate change, and they said they want to boost the workforce nationwide by protecting people in legal marijuana states from being penalized due to federal drug testing policies.

Bipartisan Bill To Expand Medical Marijuana Access For Military Veterans Refiled In Congress

The post Senate Committee Votes To Let People Who’ve Used Marijuana Work For CIA, NSA And Other Intelligence Agencies appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

A bipartisan bill to provide military veterans with access to medical marijuana was reintroduced in Congress on Thursday.

Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Brian Mast (R-FL), co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, are the chief sponsors of the Veterans Equal Access Act. The measure has been introduced several times in recent years with bipartisan support but has yet to be enacted.

The legislation is narrowly tailored, simply allowing doctors at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to recommend medical marijuana to their patients in states where it’s legal. The sponsors recently urged colleagues to sign on to the legislation in a letter circulated to congressional offices.

Blumenauer acknowledges that some in Congress might not be ready to join the majority of Americans who support legalization, but said the incremental veterans reform is an example of legislation that could be enacted sooner rather than later.

“I think the prospects have never been better,” Blumenauer told Marijuana Moment in a phone interview on Thursday. “This is one where there’s overwhelming bipartisan support.”

“We have ill treated our veterans,” the congressman said. “There was a time when we passed out opioids to them like Tic Tacs while we denied them the ability to use their VA doctor to be able to deal with medical cannabis, which would have been safer and more effective.”

—
Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,500 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—

The reform, which is identical to committee-approved versions from past years and also cosponsored by Cannabis Caucus co-chair Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), was previously pursued through the appropriations process as an amendment.

But lawmakers have shifted gears to focus on the standalone bill following pushback from VA, which has consistently opposed modest marijuana reform proposals that relate to the department.

Mast, for his part, is a disabled veteran himself who was selected to co-chair the caucus after a prior GOP leader, Rep. Don Young (R-AK), passed away.

The Veterans Equal Access Act is an especially concise bill that would provide a modest but impactful reform for the veteran community.

It states that the secretary of VA must “authorize physicians and other health care providers employed” by the department to 1) “provide recommendations and opinions to veterans who are residents of states with state marijuana programs regarding the participation of veterans in such state marijuana programs” and 2) “complete forms reflecting such recommendations and opinions.”

VA doctors are currently allowed to discuss medical cannabis with patients, but they’re not specifically authorized to issue recommendations, even in states that have legalized the plant for medical or recreational use.

“This is something where the drumbeat is stronger,” Blumenauer said. “There’s a certain political potency—which I think people need to rediscover. People need to be more engaged politically. That’s part of what needs to happen.”

The Congressional Budget Office conducted a fiscal analysis of an earlier version of the bill in 2020, finding that it would not cost the government anything to implement.

Separately, there have reportedly been high-level talks in both chambers about advancing a package of incremental cannabis reform bills this year, including marijuana policy that pertains to veterans. It’s yet to be seen if that potential package would feature this veterans measure in particular.

The new standalone veterans bill has the support of several major cannabis and veterans advocacy groups, including Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IVAV), AMVETS, Veterans Cannabis Coalition, NORML, Drug Policy Alliance, Council for Federal Cannabis Regulation, U.S. Cannabis Council, Better Organizing to Win Legalization and National Cannabis Industry Association.

VA, meanwhile, has consistently testified against even modest bills aimed at encouraging it to conduct more research on the potential medical benefits of cannabis for military veterans.

The department also recently made clear that it won’t provide support for treatment involving marijuana as part of a new grants program aimed at preventing veteran suicide.

VA’s position on marijuana has been a source of consistent frustration for advocates and veteran service organizations who have been pushing for expanded research into the therapeutic potential of cannabis.

House and Senate committees held joint hearings in March to hear from veterans service organizations (VSOs) about how Congress and the federal government can better serve their constituents, and several of the groups brought up the need to ease restrictions on marijuana.

Separately, military veterans would be “encouraged” to discuss medical marijuana treatment without the fear of losing federal benefits under a bill sponsored by Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA).

The main thrust of that legislation is to codify existing policies that allow VA doctors to talk about medical cannabis with patients as well as protections for veterans who are candid about their history with marijuana treatment. By doing so, it would enshrine these polices into law so that they could not later be changed administratively by future VA leaders.

Read the text of the veterans medical cannabis bill below: 

23 State Attorneys General Call On Congress To Address Marijuana Copycat Products That Resemble Common Food Brands

The post Bipartisan Bill To Expand Medical Marijuana Access For Military Veterans Refiled In Congress appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

State-legal marijuana businesses would be able to be listed on national stock exchanges and access key financial services under a bipartisan congressional bill that was filed on Thursday.

The Capital Lending and Investment for Marijuana Businesses (CLIMB) Act is being sponsored by Reps. Troy Carter (D-LA) and Guy Reschenthaler (R-PA).

While a main thrust of the legislation is to free up cannabis industry access to financial lending and investment opportunities, in part by providing protections for private financial institutions and government agencies that provide such services to traditional markets, one section stands out as especially novel.

It would provide safe harbor for national securities exchanges and market participants that “have listed, list, or intend to list, or permits the trading, or facilitates the offering, listing, or trading on a national securities exchange, of the securities of a cannabis-related legitimate business or a service provider.”

That’s a wordy way of saying that cannabis businesses would be permitted to list on major stock exchanges like Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). It would represent a boon for the burgeoning industry, legitimizing their presence on Wall Street.

The bill more broadly says that no federal agency would be allowed to penalize a business or governmental authority for “receiving funding, appropriations, grants, contracts, or other forms of monetary or non-monetary assistance from a government authority, or from marketing, offering, or selling any security, banking, or insurance or other financial services product” just because the business or individual “provides business assistance to a cannabis-related legitimate business or service provider.”

So, for example, the bill would theoretically protect an agency like the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) from being penalized another agency (e.g. Justice Department) for providing its services to state-legal cannabis companies. However, it contains no language actually mandating that SBA begin providing such services to the industry.

“The bipartisan CLIMB Act is a huge opportunity to bring equity and equal opportunity into our nation’s burgeoning cannabis industry,” Carter said in a press release. “From my work on the Small Business Committee and by working directly with small, minority, and veteran-owned cannabis businesses, it’s clear that access to capital remains one of the biggest barriers to entry and to success in the industry.”

“By bringing symmetry into the business ecosystem with the CLIMB Act, we can help communities that have long been harmed by the criminalization of marijuana move to now be leaders in the business sphere—and that’s what the American Dream is all about,” he said.

Reschenthaler emphasized that “American cannabis companies are currently restricted from receiving traditional lending and financing, making it difficult to compete with larger, global competitors.”

“The CLIMB Act will eliminate these barriers to entry, and provide state legal American cannabis companies, including small, minority, and veteran-owned businesses, with access to the financial tools necessary for success,” the congressman said. “This bipartisan legislation will boost the economy, create jobs, and level the playing field for American businesses.”

This legislation takes a targeted approach to cannabis reform in the financial and regulatory sector, whereas another bipartisan bill that advocates and stakeholders are pushing for—the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act—would more broadly safeguard financial institutions that work with marijuana businesses from being penalized by federal regulators.

With respect to SAFE Banking, however, news broke on Thursday that one possible vehicle for the reform may have hit a dead end, with congressional leaders agreeing not to keep the cannabis language in a large-scale manufacturing bill called the America COMPETES Act.

“CLIMB offers imperative financial access for women and minority entrepreneurs in cannabis,” Women Grow President Gia Morón said. “While SAFE Banking presents a security harbor for cash deposits, that only addresses one critical role in business banking. Women and minority owned enterprises in cannabis continue to face lack of access to lending, grants, and investment options.”

National Cannabis Industry Association CEO Aaron Smith added that the new legislation is “a much-needed reform that will help level the playing field for main street cannabis businesses across the country.”

Read the text of the CLIMB Act below:

Voters In Five Texas Cities Will Decide On Marijuana Decriminalization In November, Activists Say

The post Marijuana Businesses Could Be Listed On Stock Exchanges And Access Financial Services Under New Bipartisan Bill appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

Marijuana banking reform will not be included in a large-scale manufacturing bill that’s being negotiated in a bicameral conference committee, congressional leaders from both parties have agreed.

In the interest of getting the larger legislation passed more expediently before the August recess, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) met this week to scale the bill down.

That included ceding to a Republican demand to keep the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act out of the legislation, Punchbowl News first reported on Thursday.

It was never a guarantee that the cannabis banking bill would make it into the America COMPETES/USICA conference report, despite the House including it in its version before heading to conference. Schumer, for his part, has repeatedly suggested he is uncomfortable moving the narrow financial reform ahead of broader justice-focused cannabis legalization, and his office had tempered expectations about the possibility of SAFE being enacted through the manufacturing bill early on in the bicameral talks.

Lead SAFE Banking Act sponsor Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) reacted strongly to the news that bicameral leaders had agreed to keep his legislation from advancing yet again.

“The Senate continues to ignore the public safety risk of forcing cannabis businesses to deal in all cash,” he told Marijuana Moment. “In the wake of the Senate’s inaction, people continue to be killed, businesses continue to be robbed, and employees and business owners in the cannabis industry continue to be excluded from the financial system.”

The news that an agreement has been made at the highest levels of congressional leadership is a source of serious frustration for supportive lawmakers, stakeholders and advocates. Now Perlmutter will in all likelihood need to pursue a different vehicle for the reform, which has passed the House in some form six times at this point, although he said he will keep pushing to include it in the current legislation despite leaders’ decision.

“I will continue to push for SAFE Banking to be included in COMPETES, other legislative vehicles, or for the Senate to finally take up the standalone version of the bill which has been sitting in the Senate for three and a half years,“ he said.

News in @PunchbowlNews AM: marijuana banking and climate provisions are out of USICA bill.

Plus, inside Democrats' ACA subsidies jam. https://t.co/n9guFvDjxO

— Punchbowl News (@PunchbowlNews) June 23, 2022

One possibility would be to include the legislation is a package of incremental reforms that is apparently being discussed as an alternative to a comprehensive legalization bill that Schumer and colleagues are finalizing.

It could also potentially get a ride in the latest version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The House included cannabis banking provisions in its version of that bill last year, but could not reach an agreement with the Senate to enact it as part of the final package. The House Armed Services Committee marked up the 2023 version of NDAA on Wednesday, and it is possible that SAFE Banking could be added as a floor amendment once more.

But in any case, the lack of SAFE Banking in America COMPETES is a setback, especially considering the number of lawmakers from both chambers who insisted that the issue is a priority and vowed to push for its inclusion.

America COMPETES conferees such as House Financial Services Committee Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and the third-highest-ranking Democratic member in the Senate, Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), were especially vocal about getting the reform accomplished through the manufacturing bill.

The conference committee on the America COMPETES Act held its first meeting on that bill last month, with multiple appointed conferees urging the body to attach the SAFE Banking Act language in the interest of economic competitiveness and public safety.

The standalone Senate version of the SAFE Banking Act currently has 42 cosponsors, including nine Republicans.

That reluctance on the Senate side to advance the issue was also the subject of a letter that Perlmutter sent to leadership last month.

In a previous statement to Marijuana Moment, Perlmutter pointed out that “more than two-thirds of the conferees have already voted for or cosponsored the SAFE Banking Act.”

The congressman has even made a point to talk about enacting the reform legislation during committee hearings on ostensibly unrelated or wider-ranging legislation, like at a recent House Rules Committee hearing.

Despite recently saying that he’s “confident” that the Senate will take up his bill this session, Perlmutter recognized that while he’s supportive of revisions related to criminal justice reform, taxation, research and other issues, he knows that “as we expand this thing, then we start losing votes, particularly Republican votes and we got enough votes in the Senate to do it” as is.

Additionally, nearly a quarter of all senators sent a bipartisan letter this month urging that cannabis banking be included in the final bill.

Congress has been facing pressure on multiple fronts to get the marijuana banking bill across the finish line with America COMPETES.

That includes pressure from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), banking associations representing all 50 states and one U.S. territory and the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA).

Outside of the direct financial sector, an organization representing mayors from across the U.S. adopted a resolution last week imploring Congress to pass a bill to safeguard banks that work with state-legal marijuana businesses from federal penalties.

The GOP Senate sponsor of the banking bill recently released an ad that features the CEO of the Montana Bankers Association explaining what he sees as the benefits of the incremental reform legislation.

Separately, a coalition of marijuana advocacy groups recently launched a campaign meant to promote education about the need for the incremental reform, highlighting what they see as the social and economic equity advantages of freeing up businesses in the industry to access traditional financial services.

Last month, a coalition of cannabis regulators representing 40 U.S. states and territories separately explained to Congress what the current lack of access to traditional financial services means—not just for the businesses and the programs they oversee, but for the regulators navigating this federal-state conflict themselves.

The non-partisan Cannabis Regulators Association (CANNRA), which doesn’t take a stand on legalization itself, sent a letter to congressional leaders, outlining areas of concern for their states’ respective marijuana markets under the status quo of federal prohibition.

But not everyone is accepting the idea that SAFE Banking alone will provide the relief and resources to disadvantaged communities that proponents are arguing it will.

Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition has also weighed in on the cannabis banking conundrum, arguing in a Marijuana Moment op-ed that the SAFE Banking Act is insufficient. The group says advocates should push to add provisions to the bill providing interim safeguards for Community Financial Depository Institutions (CFDIs) and Minority Depository Institutions (MDIs), as well as measures to prevent predatory lending and promote loan availability for people from disadvantaged communities.

Meanwhile, the governor, attorney general and other top officials in Washington State sent a letter to congressional leaders last month, again emphasizing the urgent need to pass marijuana banking reform as a public safety imperative.

The number of banks that report working with marijuana businesses ticked up again near the end of 2021, according to recently released federal data.

It’s not clear if the increase is related to congressional moves to pass a bipartisan cannabis banking reform bill, but the figures from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) signal that financial institutions continue to feel more comfortable servicing businesses in state-legal markets.

Some Republicans are scratching their heads about how Democrats have so far failed to pass the modest banking reform with majorities in both chambers and control of the White House, too. For example, Rep. Rand Paul (R-KY) criticized his Democratic colleagues over the issue in December.

Voters In Five Texas Cities Will Decide On Marijuana Decriminalization In November, Activists Say

The post Marijuana Banking Reform Will Not be Enacted As Part Of Manufacturing Bill, Congressional Leaders Agree appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

A Pennsylvania House committee on Wednesday approved a Senate-passed bill to protect banks and insurers that work with medical marijuana businesses against being penalized by state regulators.

The House Commerce Committee advanced the legislation from Sens. John DiSanto (R) and Sharif Street (D), with two amendments, in a 22-1 vote. This action comes about two months after the full Senate passed the measure.

Chairman Brad Roae (R) filed both amendments. One clarifies that banking protections only apply to state-legal medical cannabis businesses and not to any broader recreational marijuana businesses that may become legal in the state in the future. The other, more technical change, removes a specific mention of the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and replaces that with a broader reference to a “federal financial regulatory agency.”

While one member described the first amendment “redundant,” it was still adopted, as was the other revision. Because the bill has now been changed from its Senate-passed form, it will have to return to that chamber for concurrence if it passes on the House floor.

Minority Chairman John Galloway (D) hinted at additional amendments that could come before the full House, saying that there are “certain things the district attorneys and the Attorney General pointed out—they seem to be technical in nature, but they’re important.”

“But we’ve got to move this bill along. We’re running out of time, and it’s a good bill,” he said. “So I’m going to support it and look forward to working this bill over the finish line.”

The Pennsylvania legislation is another example of how states are working to provide protections to financial institutions that are willing to service the cannabis market as Congress continues to stall on a federal fix.

—
Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

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The bill would not immunize banks and insurers from potential federal repercussions—but it’s an interim step meant to signal to the financial sector that they at least won’t face penalties under state law.

DiSanto and Street previously circulated a co-sponsorship memo to colleagues ahead of the banking bill’s introduction that addressed the public safety problems posed to marijuana businesses without access to traditional financial services, forcing many to operate with large volumes of cash that make them targets of crime.

The House introduced its own version of the marijuana banking bill in April that also included tax relief provisions for the industry that were removed from the Senate measure prior to passage.

The move to provide state-level protections could add pressure on congressional lawmakers to enact a federal change, such as the bipartisan Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act that has passed the House in some form six times at this point, only to stall in the Senate.

There are currently efforts underway to include the federal banking reform in a large-scale manufacturing bill known as the America COMPETES Act that’s in bicameral conference, but its prospects are uncertain. Separately, SAFE Banking could be a component of a package of incremental marijuana proposals that are being considered in high-level bicameral talks.

Additionally, congressional leaders are proposing a number of marijuana policy changes in recently released spending legislation, including a provision to provide banking protections to give the cannabis industry access to the banking system.

The text of the Pennsylvania legislation states that a “financial institution authorized to engage in business in this Commonwealth may provide financial services to or for the benefit of a legitimate cannabis-related business and the business associates of a legitimate cannabis-related business.” The same protections would also be codified for insurers.

However, it specifies that the bill would not require banks or insurers to provide services to medical marijuana businesses.

The legislation says that state government agencies cannot “prohibit, penalize or otherwise discourage a financial institution or insurer from providing financial or insurance services to a legitimate cannabis-related business or the business associates of a legitimate cannabis-related business.”

It also says agencies cannot “recommend, incentivize or encourage a financial institution or insurer” to not provide services just because a business is associated with marijuana.

Further, state agencies could “not take adverse or corrective supervisory action on a loan made to a legitimate cannabis-related business,” the text says.

Meanwhile, a panel of Pennsylvania lawmakers approved an amendment earlier this month that seeks to make it so medical marijuana businesses can receive state tax deductions for expenses they’re currently prohibited from claiming under federal tax law.

The amendment from Rep. Aaron Kaufer (R) was attached to a broader tax code reform bill that advanced through the House Finance Committee.

The legislation would only apply to medical marijuana businesses’ state taxes, meaning those firms would still have to grapple with an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E that precludes businesses that work with federally controlled substances from making key tax deductions in their federal filings. But under the amended legislation, they could see some relief from the state.

Outside of Pennsylvania, New York’s governor recently signed a budget proposal that similarly includes provisions to let marijuana businesses take state tax deductions that are available to other industries despite an ongoing federal ban on cannabis.

These are the types of policies that advocates and stakeholders have been pushing Congress to enact at the federal level, but it remains to be seen when that might happen.

Rodney Hood, a board member and former chairman of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), has repeatedly emphasized the urgent need for a federal resolution to the marijuana banking problem. He recently applauded efforts by lawmakers in states like Pennsylvania to address the issue within their jurisdictions, but he said it’s not enough.

An organization representing mayors from across the U.S. recently adopted a resolution imploring Congress to pass a bill to safeguard banks that work with state-legal marijuana businesses from federal penalties.

Separately, an association that represents state financial regulators from across the U.S. is also putting pressure on Congress to pass the SAFE Banking Act as part of America COMPETES.

A coalition of cannabis regulators representing 40 U.S. states and territories recently explained to congressional lawmakers just what the current lack of access to traditional financial services means—not just for the businesses and the programs they oversee, but for the regulators navigating this federal-state conflict themselves.

23 State Attorneys General Call On Congress To Address Marijuana Copycat Products That Resemble Common Food Brands

The post Pennsylvania Marijuana Banking Bill Clears House Committee After Passing Full Senate appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

A Senate-passed bill to legalize medical marijuana in North Carolina is effectively dead this session, with House Republican lawmakers reportedly deciding not to allow it to advance further following an internal caucus vote.

The legislation from Sen. Bill Rabon (R) cleared the Senate earlier this month in a strongly bipartisan vote. But questions were already being raised about its prospects in the House, where GOP leadership had been consistently signaling that they were reluctant to move the legislation this year.

Now, Axios reports that the House GOP’s vote at the closed-door meeting all but seals the fate of the cannabis reform, “giving it a slim chance of becoming law” during the current session.

“We’re disappointed that the Republican caucus did not come to an agreement to move medical cannabis legislation forward,” Kevin Caldwell, Southeast legislative manager for Marijuana Policy Project, told Marijuana Moment.

“It’s certainly going to hold back patient access to safe, lab-tested medicine for at least six more months—if not longer,” he said, “And we just hope that all parties can agree on legislation that meets the needs of the patients, as well as all the concerns of the stakeholders.”

Rabon’s NC Compassionate Care Act had advanced through four Senate committees before finally reaching the floor. The momentum seemed to bode well for reform, but GOP members reportedly conferenced internally, choosing not to give the bill a committee hearing in the House as the deadline for the legislative session quickly approaches.

House Speaker Tim Moore (R) was among those key lawmakers who downplayed the idea of enacting the legislation this year, saying recently that “there are a lot of concerns with this bill.”

Presumably, those problems could have been raised and potentially addressed if the measure was allowed to go through the committee process in the House, but now it appears that won’t happen.

“I think it’s something that’s going to really require further study,” Moore said earlier this month, echoing comments that he’s made in recent weeks about not wanting to take up the measure until next session. “The Senate brought this bill quickly to the floor. This is one of the more controversial subjects in our in our state and in our nation.”

The comment about the expediency of the Senate’s approach to this legislation is questionable, as it received ample committee consideration going back to July 2021.

Here’s what the NC Compassionate Care Act would accomplish: 

Patients would be allowed to access cannabis if they have a “debilitating medical condition” such as cancer, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis and post-traumatic stress disorder.

The committee substitute adopted in in August by the Senate Judiciary Committee changed the list somewhat to allow patients with terminal illnesses and have six months to live, as well as those with conditions resulting in hospice care, to also qualify for cannabis.

Patients could possess up to one and a half ounces of marijuana, but home cultivation would not be permitted.

The definition of what constitutes a “cannabis-infused” product was also changed in the latest substitute version. Such products include “a tablet, a capsule, a concentrated liquid or viscous oil, a liquid suspension, a topical preparation, a transdermal preparation, a sublingual preparation, a gelatinous cube, gelatinous rectangular cuboid, lozenge in a cube or rectangular cuboid shape, a resin or wax.”

Smoking and vaping would also be allowed, but doctors would need to prescribe a specific method of delivery and dosages for patients under the revised legislation. And they would need to reevaluate patients’ eligibility for the program at least once a year.

The bill provides for up to 10 medical marijuana suppliers who control the cultivation and sale of cannabis. Each supplier can operate up to four dispensaries.

Under the bill, a Compassionate Use Advisory Board would be established, and it could add new qualifying medical conditions.

Separately, a Medical Cannabis Production Commission would be created to ensure that there’s an adequate supply of cannabis for patients, oversee licensing and generate enough revenue to regulate the program.

Advocates are still hoping to see further revisions to expand the proposed program and promote social equity.

The measure would further create a North Carolina Cannabis Research Program to “undertake objective, scientific research regarding the administration of cannabis or cannabis-infused products as part of medical treatment.”

There are also protections for patients included in the latest version. It stipulates that employees and agents of the state must treat possession of cannabis for qualified patients the same as any other prescribed controlled substance.

Further, the bill includes limitations on where marijuana can be smoked or vaped, and includes restrictions on the locations and hours of operation for medical cannabis businesses. It also allows regulators to place a “limitation on the number of written certifications a physician may issue at any given time.”

—
Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

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A recent poll from the Carolina Partnership for Reform found that 82 percent of North Carolina voters are in favor of legalizing medical cannabis—including 75 percent of Republicans, 87 percent of unaffiliated voters and 86 percent of Democrats.

A separate question found that 60 percent of voters back adult-use legalization.

The survey showed an increase in support for medical cannabis legalization since voters were prompted with the question earlier this year, with the results showing that with three in four say patients should have access to marijuana for medical use.

While advocates have their doubts about broad reform being enacted in North Carolina this session, Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger (R) has acknowledged that opinions are shifting when it comes to marijuana in the state, and he said that Rabon specifically “for a long time has looked at the issue.”

A task force convened by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) backed decriminalization as part of a series of policy recommendations on racial equity that were released in 2020. The group also said prior cannabis convictions should be expunged and the state should consider whether to more broadly legalize marijuana.

Under current law, possessing more than half an ounce up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis is a class 1 misdemeanor, subject to up to 45 days imprisonment and a $200 fine. In 2019, there were 3,422 such charges and 1,909 convictions, with 70 percent of those convicted being nonwhite.

23 State Attorneys General Call On Congress To Address Marijuana Copycat Products That Resemble Common Food Brands

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.

The post North Carolina House Republicans Block Senate-Passed Medical Marijuana Bill appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

State AGs push action on marijuana “copycat” foods; MLB allows CBD sponsorships; NE medical cannabis ballot push

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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW

The House Appropriations Committee posted spending bill reports that include provisions on hemp industry challenges, CBD marketing, medical cannabis for veterans and research on the therapeutic benefits of marijuana and psychedelics.

Twenty-three state attorneys general sent a letter calling on Congress to pass legislation allowing major food brands to take action against unlicensed marijuana sellers who “market illicit copycat THC edibles to children.”

MLB is now reportedly allowing baseball teams to be sponsored by CBD companies.

Nebraska activists announced they’ve collected 120,000 signatures to put medical cannabis initiatives on the November ballot, but are “begging” voters to help get the tens of thousands more they need to qualify before a deadline in the next two weeks.

In a new Marijuana Moment op-ed, Ari Hoffnung of Bridge West Consulting argues that New York should fund programs to aid social equity businesses through a new Cannabis License Transfer fee to be applied on high-dollar mergers and acquisitions.

/ FEDERAL

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre acknowledged that an “unfortunate mistake” by U.S. officials prevented American basketball player Brittney Griner, who is being detained in Russia after allegedly being caught with cannabis vapes at an airport, from being able to call her wife.

The Department of Justice and attorneys for a proposed safe consumption site for illegal drugs have once again agreed to a delay on the deadline for the Biden administration to reveal its position in the case as “productive” negotiations continue. The government’s response is now due August 8.

The Food and Drug Administration is preparing a proposed rule to establish a maximum nicotine level in cigarettes and other tobacco products. It is also reportedly preparing to take Juul products off the market.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Drug Testing Advisory Board discussed cannabis testing issues at a meeting.

South Carolina Democratic congressional candidate Annie Andrews tweeted, “I support legalizing cannabis. But unlike @NancyMace, I believe it should be legal, taxed, and regulated in all 50 states. Her proposal would do absolutely nothing for SC. But that’s what she always does.”

/ STATES

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill on cannabis beverages. Separately, the Assembly Business and Professions Committee approved legislation requiring cities to allow medical marijuana delivery.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) named new members to the Cannabis Advisory Board. Separately, the lieutenant governor tweeted, “It is incumbent upon us to create a socially responsible cannabis industry here in NYS that ensures jobs and opportunity for minorities who have long been subject to unfair enforcement when it comes to cannabis use.”  And regulators announced that a firm run by former basketball player Chris Webber will co-manage the state’s $200 million Cannabis Social Equity Investment Fund.

North Carolina House Agriculture Committee leaders removed provisions to permanently legalize hemp from the Farm Bill.

The Pennsylvania House Health Committee amended a kratom regulation and consumer protection bill to instead simply lower the legal age for purchase from 21 to 18.

A Kentucky representative who is sponsoring a medical cannabis bill said he doesn’t believe Gov. Andy Beshear (D) has the authority to legalize it by executive order.

A Montana senator spoke about how lawmakers may address marijuana legislation in 2023.

A new Colorado law allows marijuana industry workers to receive responsible-vendor designations.

The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that in light of decriminalization, the odor of marijuana does not provide probable cause but only reasonable suspicion.

Massachusetts cannabis regulators and staff will meet with a mediator to discuss issues related to the governance of the agency.

Michigan regulators published an advisory bulletin on changes to the marijuana business employee background check process.

Oklahoma regulators said they expect their medical cannabis oversight budget request to increase for fiscal year 2023.

Utah regulators sent an update on the medical cannabis program.

—
Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
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/ LOCAL

The Linn County, Oregon Board of Commissioners voted to place a measure on the November ballot to ban psilocybin production, manufacturing and service centers.

The Hunterdon County New Jersey sheriff said he wants to ban police officers from using marijuana.

Albany, New York’s is promoting a cannabis event city officials are holding with state regulators on Monday.

A Racine County, Wisconsin supervisor said marijuana is safer when it’s legal and regulated.

/ INTERNATIONAL

The Swiss Federal Council voted to remove the requirement for physicians to have a special permit to prescribe medical cannabis.

The Italian Chamber of Deputies Justice Commission approved a bill to allow home cultivation of up to four cannabis plants.

Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra compared marijuana to opiates, saying that while it has medical uses, it can be misused.

Members of the UK’s All-Party Parliamentary Group on CBD were removed or resigned, according to conflicting statements.

/ SCIENCE & HEALTH

A review concluded that “there is promising evidence that [medical cannabis] may have a beneficial effect on the onset and duration of migraine headaches in adults.”

A study found that “psilocybin has long-lasting antidepressant-like effects in flies.”

/ ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS

Prohibitionist organization Smart Approaches to Marijuana is asking its supporters to contact Attorney General Merrick Garland about their concerns with cannabis reform.

/ BUSINESS

Aurora Cannabis Inc. is laying off 12 percent of its workforce.

Sundial Growers Inc. entered a “stalking horse bid” to acquire Zenabis Global Inc.

Charlotte’s Web Holdings, Inc. has a new CFO and chief administration officer.

Tilray Brands, Inc. hosted a delegation from the Luxembourg Ministry of Health at its facility in Cantanhede, Portugal.

An explosion at an Ilera Healthcare facility in Taylor Township, Pennsylvania left several people injured.

/ CULTURE

Novels and TV shows are increasingly working psychedelics into their plots, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Make sure to subscribe to get Marijuana Moment’s daily dispatch in your inbox.

The post Congressional cannabis, CBD, hemp and psychedelics provisions (Newsletter: June 23, 2022) appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

“This will fail if you don’t step up. We are begging you.”

By Paul Hammel, Nebraska Examiner

Advocates for legalizing medical marijuana switched Wednesday from urging Nebraskans to sign their petition to begging them as a July 7 deadline looms to submit signatures to qualify for the ballot in November.

In sometimes emotional pleas at a press conference, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana said its all-volunteer signature collection effort will fail unless Nebraskans take the initiative to seek out a place to sign their petition.

“Do it for the suffering people in this state who are pleading with you,” said Crista Eggers of Omaha, as she held up a photograph of her 7-year-old son, Colton, who suffers from up to 100 epileptic seizures a day.

‘We are begging you’

“This will fail if you don’t step up. We are begging you,” said Eggers, who serves as campaign chairman for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana.

The petition drive has collected about 60,000 signatures for each of its two initiatives but needs another 50,000 signatures per petition by the July 7 deadline to ensure there are enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.

Each petition will need about 87,000 valid signatures to qualify, according to state Sen. Anna Wishart (D) of Lincoln, a co-chair of the initiative.

“It’s on Nebraska to go out and find a place to sign,” Wishart said.

Businesses have petitions

More than 100 businesses across the state have petitions, she said, which can be found at nebraskamarijuana.org/sign. Her group will also have volunteer signature gathers at upcoming events, including Tuesday’s special election in the 1st Congressional District.

The 2022 petition drive was necessitated after a successful petition effort two years ago was tossed off the ballot. The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that the single petition violated the legal requirement that such petitions contain only a single subject. This year, the initiative is passing two petitions to address that issue.

Thirty-seven states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, have legalized cannabis for medical use by qualified individuals, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Ten other states have allowed the use of low-THC, high cannabidiol (CBD) products as medicine.

Could prevent surgery

One parent, Nicole Hochstein of Papillion, said allowing her 12-year-old son, Jayen, the opportunity to try a cannabis oil to quell his seizures could prevent him from undergoing an invasive brain surgery that will require him to re-learn how to walk and talk.

“If he was in one of 47 other states he could try an oil, underneath his tongue,” Hochstein said. “We have been pleading for help in this state far too long.”

Another parent, Dominic Gillen of Bellevue, said he has been seeking legalization of medical cannabis for 10 years. Sitting next to him, moaning, was his 20-year-old son, Will, who suffers from multiple seizures every day.

“He’s telling you in his own way to please go sign,” the elder Gillen said, his voice breaking.

Opposed by governor, SAM

Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) and the group Smart Approaches to Marijuana Nebraska have opposed legalization of medical marijuana, saying it is not FDA-approved and needs to undergo medical studies. Ricketts has said it is a step toward legalization of recreational marijuana, which he maintains has increased drug problems among children in other states.

Eggers said she also supports FDA approval of medical cannabis but said the process is moving much too slowly. Her son has not responded to the legal medications available in Nebraska, she said, and meanwhile, Colton and other children are suffering.

“We don’t know if [medical cannabis] will help him or not,” Eggers said. But she said it has provided some relief and improvement in the quality of life for others.

“We want the chance,” she said.

23 State Attorneys General Call On Congress To Address Marijuana Copycat Products That Resemble Common Food Brands

This story was first published by Nebraska Examiner.

The post Nebraska Medical Marijuana Activists ‘Beg’ For Signatures As Deadline To Put Legalization On Ballot Approaches appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

A bipartisan coalition of 23 state attorneys general sent a letter to congressional leaders on Wednesday, demanding action to prevent the sale of copycat marijuana products that resemble popular food brands.

The letter, led by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) and Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford (D), says that the top state prosecutors are “gravely concerned about the dangers of copycat tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) edibles in our communities, particularly the risk they pose to our children.”

While the attorneys general don’t all agree on the best regulatory approach for cannabis overall—with some backing legalization and others still opposed—they said they “all agree on one thing: copycat THC edibles pose a grave risk to the health, safety, and welfare of our children.”

“Congress should immediately enact legislation authorizing trademark holders of well-known and trusted consumer packaged goods to hold accountable those malicious actors who are using those marks to market illicit copycat THC edibles to children,” they wrote.

The letter also references a notice released by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last month that warned consumers about marijuana-infused copycat food products that resemble popular brands and the risks of accidentally ingesting THC.

Virginia’s attorney general and a representative of the Consumer Brands Association (CBA) held a press conference on Wednesday to discuss the issue and announce the letter to Congress.

At one point, Miyares held up pairs of products—some that are legal goods, and others that he said were THC-infused copycats—to drive home the point.

Via Virginia AG.

“Individuals and businesses unlicensed by any state to enter the cannabis market, are making THC-infused edible products to mimic major snack brands that are popular with children—including Oreos cookies, Doritos chips, and Cheetos corn snacks,” the new letter days. “The products are widely available.”

That highlights a key point, which is that states in which marijuana is legal generally have specific and strict prohibitions on manufacturing and marketing cannabis products in a way that could appeal to children.

The decision by unlicensed businesses on the unregulated market to promote their products in a misleading way is “quite intentional,” the officials said.

“Illicit operators use food-related trademarks popular with children in order to market their THC products to children,” the wrote. “These copycats are often infused with levels of THC dramatically exceeding legal limits under state laws. The threat these THC edibles pose to the health and safety of our children is not limited to any particular State; it is nationwide and growing rapidly.”

Via CBA.

It should be noted that while the copycat products do resemble brands that may be popular among children, the blanket declaration that this type of marketing is specifically meant to appeal to underage children sidesteps the fact that many adults also enjoy eating candy and chips, and therefore could also be a target demographic.

The letter also cites the number of calls received by the American Association of Poison Control Centers that were related to children accidentally ingesting cannabis products, calling it “a growing problem with no resolution in sight.”

“The deceptive tactic of copying well-known packages and selling these products through e-commerce platforms is dangerous and illegal,” the attorneys general said.

“Consumer-packaged goods manufacturers currently lack the legal tools to hold accountable counterfeiters or the e-commerce platforms where these products are made available. The patchwork system of legality concerning cannabis’ legal status under federal and state law exacerbates the confusions for consumers. More can be done to address this problem.”

Beside Miyares and Ford, other signatories on the letter include attorneys general from Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont and Washington State.

CA has a safe and legal cannabis market, but we need creative solutions to protect against illegal and unsafe products.

Consumers deserve to feel confident in the products they’re purchasing. https://t.co/hwbvinq5yt

— Rob Bonta (@AGRobBonta) June 22, 2022

“We respect the role the private sector can play in protecting consumers from the dangers presented by counterfeited products,” they wrote. “A fundamental purpose of the federal trademark laws is to protect consumers from fraudulent goods through trademark registration and enforcement. State Attorneys General and federal authorities have a long-standing and cooperative role in protecting consumers.”

To that end, the state officials said that congressional lawmakers need to “think creatively for potential solutions to this growing public safety issue of counterfeit, unlicensed, unregulated, and untested THC edibles.”

Stacy Papadopoulos, general counsel at CBA, said in a press release that addressing the “proliferation of online THC copycat edible sales and their potential harm to children requires a layered approach on behalf of all stakeholders, from law enforcement and policymakers to regulators and consumer groups, to be effective in reining in this health and safety issue.”

Several major companies—including Pepsi, General Mills and Kellogg—also recently raised concerns about the misleading marketing trend in a separate letter to congressional lawmakers, requesting action to address the copycats.

Preventing underage marijuana use in particular is a shared goal among legalization advocates and prohibitionists alike. While federally funded studies have found that adolescent cannabis use has remained stable or even declined in states that have legalized and regulated marijuana, there’s consensus that precautions should be taken to ensure that young people don’t mistakenly consume cannabis.

Around Halloween last year, attorneys general from multiple states across the U.S. warned parents about illicit marijuana products that resemble popular candies and snacks like Cheetos, Nerds and Oreos, which could confuse kids and lead to accidental intoxication.

Activists have grown weary of sensationalized and often unsubstantiated reports of people giving away free marijuana edibles to children on the holiday, but it speaks to a larger trend that trade associations and FDA are warning about.

Read the letter to Congress on copyright marijuana products below: 

MLB Teams Can Now Be Sponsored By CBD Companies, Baseball League Official Says

Photo courtesy of Flickr/jeffreyw.

The post 23 State Attorneys General Call On Congress To Address Marijuana Copycat Products That Resemble Common Food Brands appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

The MLB is now reportedly allowing baseball teams in the league to sell sponsorships to cannabis companies that market CBD products, as long as they meet certain criteria.

MLB has been among the more progressive professional sports organizations in the U.S. when it comes to marijuana, and this reported development represents another example of how the baseball league is normalizing cannabis.

In order for a team to sell a CBD sponsorship, Sports Business Journal first reported, a prospective company’s products must be certified by NSF International, a consumer safety and product-testing organization that sports leagues use, and the club must also receive authorization from the MLB commissioner’s office.

The move was announced by the league in a conference call with team marketers on Tuesday.

MLB Chief Revenue Officer Noah Garden said that while certain cannabis brands have reached out about getting their CBD products certified, none have received that status yet, the sports news outlet reported.

“None of them are there yet, although around three to five [brands] are in process,” he was quoted as saying.

“We’ve been watching this category for a while and waiting for it to mature to the point where we can get comfortable with it,” the MLB official said. “Our fans are very much the kind of customers they are looking for, and we like being first. It’s a good opportunity for us and the clubs.”

“The last few companies that came to see us about this, the process of NSF certification was embraced,” Garden added. “That gave us a comfort level to be able to move forward.”

BREAKING: @MLB teams are now free to sell CBD sponsorships.

League officials told team marketers that CBDs are an “approved category” as long as they are certified by testing organization NSF to not have psychoactive levels of THC.

Terry Leftonhttps://t.co/2YE5Xitezv pic.twitter.com/zxclSbHpZm

— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) June 22, 2022

Marijuana Moment reached out to MLB for comment and clarification about the CBD sponsorship policy, but a representative did not immediately respond.

MLB has stood out among other professional sports leagues as more willing to respond to the changing marijuana policy landscape. For example, it clarified in a memo in 2020 that players will not be punished for using cannabis while they aren’t working, but they can’t be personally sponsored by a marijuana company or hold investments in the industry.

The league also said at the time that it was teaming with NSF International to analyze and certify legal, contaminant-free CBD products in order to allow teams to store them on club premises. It’s unclear if this latest development is directly related to that collaboration.

The update built upon MLB’s decision in 2019 to remove cannabis from the league’s list of banned substances. Before that rule change, players who tested positive for THC were referred to mandatory treatment, and failure to comply carried a fine of up to $35,000. That penalty is now gone.

The policies are the result of negotiations between MLB and its players union. Both parties agreed to approach the league’s drug policy with an emphasis on treatment rather than penalties. Players who test positive for opioids or cocaine, for example, will be penalized only if they refuse treatment.

A number of athletic governance bodies have recently relaxed rules around cannabinoids as laws change and medical applications become more widely accepted.

For example, students athletes that are part of the NCAA would no longer automatically lose their eligibility to play following a positive marijuana test under rules that are were recommended by a key committee earlier this year.

The conversation around drug testing and professional sports came to the fore last summer after U.S. sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended from the Olympics over a positive THC test. She admitted to using cannabis in a legal state after learning of her mother’s passing.

The runner said that she’d feel “blessed and proud” if the attention her case raised would affect a policy change for other athletes. Even the White House and President Joe Biden himself weighed in on the case, suggesting that there’s a question about whether the marijuana ban should “remain the rules.”

Meanwhile, the NFL’s drug testing policy already changed demonstrably in 2020 as part of a collective bargaining agreement.

NFL players no longer face the possibility of being suspended from games over positive tests for any drug—not just marijuana—under a collective bargaining agreement. Instead, they will face a fine. The threshold for what constitutes a positive THC test was also increased under the deal.

The NBA announced in late 2020 that was extending its policy of not randomly drug testing players for marijuana through the 2021-2022 season. The association said it wouldn’t be subjecting players to random drug testing for THC; however, they will continue to test “for cause” cases where players have histories of substance use.

Marijuana icon Snoop Dogg, who was featured at the Super Bowl halftime show this year where an ad separately aired that indirectly supported legalization, argued that sports leagues need to stop testing players for marijuana and allow to them to use it as an alternative to prescription opioids.

Congress Tackles Hemp Industry Challenges, CBD Marketing, Marijuana Research And Psychedelics In Spending Legislation

The post MLB Teams Can Now Be Sponsored By CBD Companies, Baseball League Official Says appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

Congressional leaders have released another set of spending bills and reports, with lawmakers pushing multiagency coordination to create guidance on hemp manufacturing, better guidance on the marketing of CBD, updates on research into medical marijuana for veterans and investigations into “alternative treatments” for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) such as psychedelics.

The new legislation and documents posted by the House Appropriations Committee also address home loan benefits for veterans who work in state-legal cannabis markets, “genomics and bioinformatics research” into hemp and broad protections for the hemp industry.

These provisions come out of Fiscal Year 2023 spending bills and their relevant reports for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies, as well as Military Construction, Veterans Affairs (VA), and Related Agencies. There have been numerous other cannabis-related components already included in other appropriations legislation so far this session.

For the report on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), there’s a section that’s similar to past language that talks about having the agency work with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on the issue of so-called “hot hemp” that contains more than the federally legal 0.3 percent THC limit, as prescribed under the 2018 Farm Bill.

Specifically, lawmakers again talked about industry concerns that hemp could be compromised, and businesses could face penalties, because the extraction process can temporarily raise the THC concentration to excess levels. The committee said that Congress “intentionally expanded the definition of hemp” to make sure that in-process materials wouldn’t be criminalized, and they’re continuing to request interagency coordination to develop better clarifying guidance on that issue.

“Hemp Extract Regulation.—The Committee is concerned about the inconsistencies in the regulation of the production of hemp by USDA and DEA. Congress vested primary regulatory authority in USDA and expects other regulatory actions to align with it. Congress intentionally expanded the definition of hemp to include derivatives, extracts and cannabinoids in an effort to avoid the criminalization of hemp processing. Committee understands that in-process hemp extract may temporarily exceed the delta-9 THC concentration of 0.3 percent before being packaged and sold as a finished product for consumption. Therefore the Committee directs USDA to coordinate directly with the DEA to present the industry with guidance and information on in-process extracted material.”

The committee also said that it is “concerned about the proliferation of foods and dietary supplements marketed in violation of” federal law, “including products containing derivatives of the cannabis plant.” It said non-compliant cannabis products could contain dangerous contaminants.

But rather than criticize FDA for slow-walking the rulemaking process to provide a regulatory pathway for such CBD marketing, the report simply says that the committee “recognizes FDA’s efforts undertaken thus far, including research, requests for data, consumer education, issuance of guidance and policy around cannabis-based drug product development, and some enforcement against wrongdoers.”

“Cannabidiol Oil.—The Committee is concerned about the proliferation of foods and dietary supplements marketed in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), including products containing derivatives of the cannabis plant. The Committee is aware that non-FFDCA-compliant products pose potential health and safety risks to consumers through misleading, unsubstantiated, and false claims that cannabis and cannabis derivatives can treat serious and life-threatening diseases and conditions, including COVID–19. Such products may also be contaminated with harmful substances. The Committee recognizes FDA’s efforts undertaken thus far, including research, requests for data, consumer education, issuance of guidance and policy around cannabis-based drug product development, and some enforcement against wrongdoers. The Committee also recognizes that FDA is considering a public rule-making process or enforcement discretion policy that could permit one compound in cannabis, cannabidiol (‘‘CBD’’), in foods and/or dietary supplements. The Committee expects the FDA to proceed in a manner that preserves the public health, which may include limits in finished products on CBD and THC in total concentration levels and in recommended daily servings. The Committee also expects the FDA to preserve the integrity of its drug development and approval processes, which ensures that products marketed as drugs have undergone a rigorous scientific evaluation to assure that they are safe, effective, pure and potent.”

To be sure, FDA has taken certain steps, including issuing warning letters to companies that have allegedly marketed cannabis products in seriously misleading ways. But lawmakers and stakeholders have previously been more aggressive in their requests to have the agency move more expediently to resolve the problem.

Also in the spending report is a section encouraging USDA to promote “genomics and bioinformatics research” into hemp in order to identify “genetic control of key production and product quality traits” of the crop.

“Hemp Whole-Genome Bioinformatics.—The Committee encourages ARS to conduct genomics and bioinformatics research in collaboration with capable institutions to elucidate the genetic control of key production and product quality traits of the hemp plant. In addition, the Committee also encourages ARS to partner with institutions already engaged in such research to conduct hemp genetic improvement research and breeding with new breeding and editing techniques.”

The base spending bill for FDA and the Agriculture Department also includes a section stating that no federal funds appropriated under the legislation can be used to interfere in lawful hemp programs.

“SEC. 741. None of the funds made available by this Act or any other Act may be used—

(1) in contravention of section 7606 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 5940), subtitle G of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, or section 10114 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018; or

(2) to prohibit the transportation, processing, sale, or use of hemp, or seeds of such plant, that is grown or cultivated in accordance with section 7606 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 or Subtitle G of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 1946, within or outside the State in which the hemp is grown or cultivated.”

Missing from the FDA and USDA spending bill and report are at least two relevant cannabis provisions from last year. One called for the extension of the 2014 Farm Bill hemp pilot program and the other requested that USDA study and issue recommendations on barriers to minority participation in the hemp industry. It’s not clear if the department ever complied with that request.

For the most recent VA spending bill and report, the committee said it recognizes that the department has taken steps to clarify that simply working in a state-legal marijuana market does not render a veteran ineligible for home loan benefit under VA and it’s working with lenders “to improve communication with eligible lending institutions to reduce confusion.”

“Home Loan Income Verification.—The Committee understands that as directed by House Report 116–63, VA has clarified that nothing in VA statutes or regulations specifically prohibits a veteran whose income is derived from state-legalized cannabis activities from obtaining a certificate of eligibility for VA home loan benefits. The Committee understands that VA is working to improve communication with eligible lending institutions to reduce confusion among lenders and borrowers on this matter and looks forward to receiving the report to the Committee requested in House Report 117–81.”

And it again tackles the issue of marijuana research for the veteran community.

“Cannabis Research.—The Committee notes that VA has made progress on cannabis research and continues to request updates on the status of this research, as described in House Report 116–63.”

Finally, appropriators emphasized that there’s a need to support and enhance research into “new methods to treat PTSD.” And that includes taking the recommendations of a federal commission that released a report in 2020 talking about the therapeutic potential of marijuana and certain psychedelics like psilocybin and MDMA.

“National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder… The Committee also continues to encourage the Center to explore academic and interagency collaborations that investigate novel and multifactor approaches, such as…investigational trials to test and develop new methods to treat PTSD, including…alternative treatments, such as those recommended by the Creating Options for Veterans’ Expedited Recovery (COVER) Commission.”

The past week has seen a slew of drug policy issues addressed in appropriations legislation. But one base bill that came as a particular disappointment covered funding for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS).

Despite a concerted push from lawmakers, the base spending legislation did not include requested provisions to protect all states and tribal adult-use marijuana programs. Rather, it simply maintained a longstanding riders preventing the Justice Department from using its appropriated funds to intervene in the implementation of state-legal medical cannabis and hemp programs.

This means will again need to make their case for the broader protections’ inclusion as amendments—either in committee or on the House floor, as in past years.

In 2019 and 2020, the House attached the sweeping state and tribal protections to its version of the appropriations legislation as amendments adopted on the floor, but they’ve yet to be incorporated into any final package enacted into law. CJS legislation didn’t end up making it to the floor in 2021, but supporters had planned an amendment that year as well.

Recently released spending legislation for various agencies has also featured providing providing protections for immigrants who use cannabis, freeing up marijuana-related advertising and providing the industry with access to the banking system. There are also additional provisions concerning hemp.

Those are parts of Fiscal Year 2023 spending bills for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) and U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA).

For the Interior appropriations base bill that was released this week, there’s a section on tribal marijuana protections (with some new caveats that have raised questions about tribes potentially being held to a different standard than states).

In a related development, a Senate committee held a listening session on Friday that explored cannabis issues for Native Americans, touching on areas such as tribal sovereignty in the marijuana space, agreements with state governments and taxation.

A coalition of nine U.S. senators also sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland in March, urging him to direct federal prosecutors to not interfere with marijuana legalization policies enacted by Native American tribes.

The USDA, FDA and VA funding bills are set to be marked up by the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday. After that, it would head to the House floor.

Importantly, it remains to be seen whether the Senate will accept any of the House-led cannabis and drug policy proposals. Senate appropriators have not yet released their spending bills for FY23, and typically wait until after the House has acted, so it’s not yet clear which issues will ultimately get reconciled by the two chambers and adopted into law.

State Marijuana Protections Not Included In Justice Department Funding Bill, Despite Lawmakers’ Pleas

Photo courtesy of Brendan Cleak.

The post Congress Tackles Hemp Industry Challenges, CBD Marketing, Marijuana Research And Psychedelics In Spending Legislation appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

“It is essential that policies are designed to encourage a more equitable marketplace and reduce the risk of the cannabis industry becoming an oligopoly.”

By Ari Hoffnung, Bridge West Consulting

Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the New York cannabis market is at an all-time high. Four of New York’s ten vertically integrated medical cannabis companies are actively seeking regulatory approval to sell their New York license. While the terms of each acquisition differ, analysts have estimated that the value of a New York cannabis license may be worth as much as $300 million.

There are many variables driving these blockbuster numbers—including the value of the company’s real estate assets and intellectual property—but the most valuable aspect of these vertically integrated licenses is their scarcity. Simply put, the fact that New York, a state with a population of 20 million people, has only awarded ten vertically integrated licenses and has opted to prohibit vertical integration for any new adult-use licensees, makes these ten licenses extraordinarily valuable.

At the same time the medical companies are cashing in on their licenses, New York cannabis regulators, who intend to award 50 percent of adult-use licenses to social equity businesses, are seeking novel solutions to provide these businesses with the estimated $1 billion of startup capital required to successfully launch these businesses.

At first glance, M&A activity is not likely to be viewed favorably by social equity entrepreneurs and other stakeholders. Nine figure transactions raise serious concerns regarding the ability of smaller players to effectively compete against much larger and well capitalized operators. That’s why it’s important to find some way to ensure that these mega transactions are used to help smaller operators succeed.

To this end, I propose that New York implement the country’s first Cannabis License Transfer (“CLT”) fee on license sales of $10 million or more. The CLT fee would be a percentage-based fee levied on the transaction amount. This fee would help recapture a portion of the value that the state government created by issuing a limited number of licenses, rather than the operators themselves.

Here’s an example of how the CLT fee would work: if an entity with a New York cannabis license sold for $300 million and New York adopted a CLT tax rate of 10 percent, the state would levy a $30 million transaction fee on the buyer. These funds would then be used to help finance social equity businesses through state loan and incubator programs.

To be fair, the CLT fee could allow for certain deductions. For example, if the $300 million sale included $50 million of real estate assets, equipment and inventory, this amount could be deducted from the purchase price. Only the “net license value” of $250 million would be subject to the CLT fee, generating $25 million of revenues from the state.

While no similar license transfer fee seems to currently exist in the cannabis industry, there is precedent for taxing assets at the time of transfer to generate revenues for the state. For example, New York City levies a Taxicab License Transfer Tax of 0.5 percent on medallion sales and New York State levies a “mansion tax” at rates ranging from 1 to 3.9 percent on real estate transactions.

State policymakers would need to determine the appropriate CLT fee rate. Doing so would require a careful balancing act. On one hand, if the rate is set too low—say at 1 percent—the fee would not be able to generate meaningful revenues for the state. On the other hand, if the fee is set too high—say at 20 percent—the fee could discourage cannabis license transfers.

I estimate that if New York levied a CLT fee at a 10 percent rate, somewhere between $50 to $100 million of new revenues could be generated for the state over the next 12 months. In other words, the CLT fee is a mechanism by which M&A activity could be used to help social equity entrepreneurs succeed.

To be clear, I believe the CLT fee should not only be levied on sales involving the ten vertically integrated licenses, but also on sales of any future cannabis licenses issued by New York. Doing so will help create an ongoing revenue stream for social equity businesses and ensure that entrepreneurs who have benefited from a state license help ‘pay it forward’ to those who follow in their footsteps.

Each M&A headline ought to serve as a reminder that we must embrace policies, like a CLT fee. It is essential that policies are designed to encourage a more equitable marketplace and reduce the risk of the cannabis industry becoming an oligopoly. Otherwise, David’s Craft Cannabis on Main Street stands no chance competing against the Goliath Cannabis Company on Wall Street.

Ari Hoffnung is the Founder of the Opportunity Grows Cannabis Accelerator, launched in collaboration with SUNY Binghamton’s Koffman Incubator, to help social equity entrepreneurs succeed. He is the CEO of Bridge West Consulting and formerly served as the CEO of Vireo Health of New York and New York City’s deputy comptroller.

Medical Marijuana Legalization Linked To Reduced Drunk Driving And Safer Roads, Study On Auto Insurance Data Suggests

The post Can Marijuana Industry M&A Activity Help Social Equity Entrepreneurs? (Op-Ed) appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

House omits broad marijuana provisions in DOJ bill; LA gov signs 10 cannabis bills; DOJ gun lawsuit response looms; TX GOP anti-legalization platform

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/ TOP THINGS TO KNOW

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to take up a pair of cases on medical cannabis and workers’ compensation. The Biden Justice Department had urged the justices not to hear the matter.

House Appropriations Committee leaders released a Justice Department funding bill that doesn’t include broad state marijuana protections that advocates wanted, leaving them to pursue an amendment later to attach the provisions. The legislation as introduced does contain more limited medical cannabis and hemp measures, however.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) signed ten new cannabis bills into law—including some measures to significantly expand the state’s medical marijuana program. Another blocks police from searching people’s homes over the smell of cannabis.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, who is running as a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, spoke to Marijuana Moment ahead of the Justice Department’s impending response to her lawsuit on medical cannabis patients’ gun rights this week. She also drew a contrast with incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), whom she hopes to unseat later this year.

Texas Republican Party delegates adopted a somewhat contradictory set of drug policy platform planks at their convention, including measures opposing marijuana legalization, supporting federal cannabis rescheduling, calling for reduced hemp regulations and opposing harm reduction policies.

/ FEDERAL

The Congressional Research Service included an analysis of marijuana restrictions in an overview of Washington, D.C. budget legislation.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) tweeted, “A strong American economy requires fair and free markets, & the cannabis industry should be no different! I urge my colleagues to take up the reforms which have been proposed this Congress, including mine, & allow veterans, medical professionals, & small businesses the ability to enjoy their own pursuit of happiness.”

Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-IL) tweeted, “We must legalize adult-use recreational cannabis at the federal level as we did in Illinois. Instead of focusing public safety resources on low-level drug offenses, we must address the root cause of violence.”

/ STATES

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) touted his move to legalize cannabis in a speech at the  New Hampshire Democratic Convention.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) tweeted, “Polling suggests 90% of Kentucky adults support medical cannabis, and this committee will help ensure every voice is heard as I weigh executive action that could provide access to medical cannabis for those suffering from chronic pain or our veterans suffering from PTSD.”

New York Republican gubernatorial candidates said during a debate that they don’t plan to use marijuana when legal sales go into effect.

Georgia Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Kwanza Hall, a former congressman, spoke about his support for legalizing marijuana.

The Michigan House of Representatives passed a bill on marijuana waste disposal. Separately, regulators took public comment on the concept of allowing “deli-style” sales of cannabis flower at a hearing.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives approved a bill to decriminalize fentanyl testing strips.

Massachusetts Senate leaders appointed members to a bicameral conference committee on marijuana regulation and equity legislation.

The California Senate Business & Professions Committee approved a bill to allow veterinarians to recommend medical cannabis for animals.

Connecticut’s Department of Transportation is using a grant from the Governors Highway Safety Association to fund the creation of a “green lab” that will give volunteers a controlled dose of cannabis to help train police to detect impairment.

Iowa regulators sent an update on the medical cannabidiol program.

Hawaii’s Dual Use of Cannabis Task Force will meet on Monday.

—
Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—

/ LOCAL

The Stevens Point, Wisconsin City Council approved a proposal to lower the fine for marijuana possession $5.

The Gallatin County, Montana Commission overturned voter-approved ballot measures to tax marijuana sales due to procedural errors with publicizing the election in advance, and now a new vote will be held.

The Wichita, Kansas City Council discussed lowering penalties for possessing marijuana and fentanyl testing strips.

Dallas, Texas Police Department claimed it has no relevant records in response to a request for information about operative command policies regarding the possession of less than four ounces of marijuana.

Detroit, Michigan medical cannabis dispensaries are asking a judge to void the city’s recreational marijuana licensing system.

The Ojai, California City Council is exploring allowing cannabis consumption lounges.

/ INTERNATIONAL

Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health issued an announcement that using cannabis for recreational purposes is prohibited.

Germany’s federal commissioner for addiction and drugs issues spoke about the timeline and process for enacting marijuana legalization.

The Spanish Congress’s medical cannabis subcommittee approved a proposal on medical marijuana regulations, including provisions opening the door to dispensing through pharmacies.

Western Australia’s premier is opposing a marijuana legalization plan being introduced by lawmakers.

Switzerland’s cannabis activity—including both illegal production and sales as well as legal system activity such as policing, social work and healthcare—generates an annual turnover of around one billion Swiss Francs, according to a new study.

/ SCIENCE & HEALTH

Study concluded that “cannabis terpenes, alone or combined with cannabinoids and flavonoids, produced anti-cancer effects in chemotherapy-resistant breast cancer cell lines.”

A study of mice found that while “long term artisanal CBD use does not prevent or lessen seizure severity, CBD is a promising adjunctive partner for its ability to depress epileptogenic processes” and that results “indicate that artisanal CBD is beneficial as it both decreases inflammation in the [central nervous system] and reduces the number of ectopic neurons deposited in the hippocampal area post seizure.”

/ ADVOCACY, OPINION & ANALYSIS

Polls of American and Canadian adults found that 29 percent and 36 percent, respectively, support decriminalizing “hard drugs,” while 21 percent and 25 percent back more broadly legalizing those substances—among other findings on additional drug policy and harm reduction issues.

The Idaho Democratic Party called out the state Republican Party for opposing cannabis legalization.

The Albuquerque Journal editorial board is calling on the federal government to clarify marijuana policies.

/ BUSINESS

HEXO Corp. subsidiary Zenabis Global filed for creditor protection.

TILT Holdings Inc. announced a partnership with Last Prisoner Project.

Canadian retailers sold C$372.4 million worth of legal marijuana products in April.

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The post SCOTUS rejects medical cannabis cases (Newsletter: June 22, 2022) appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

A much-anticipated congressional spending bill does not currently include provisions to protect all state, territory and tribal marijuana programs from Justice Department interference, despite pleas from dozens of bipartisan lawmakers.

There were high hopes that such language could be attached to the base bill for the Fiscal Year 2023 appropriations for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) as introduced by congressional leaders. But that didn’t pan out, meaning lawmakers will again need to make their case for the protections’ inclusion as amendments—either in committee or on the House floor, as in past years.

Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), along with 44 of their colleagues, recently sent a letter calling on the chairman and ranking member of an appropriations subcommittee to address the issue through the must-pass legislation.

The text released on Tuesday didn’t include the sweeping protections, however. Instead, it simply maintained an existing rider preventing the Justice Department from using its appropriated federal funds to interfere in the implementation of state medical cannabis programs only, not extending those protections to all state marijuana programs including recreational laws.

SEC. 531. None of the funds made available under this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, or with respect to the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, or Puerto Rico, to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.

That more limited language has been annually renewed in federal law each year since 2014.

The new CJS appropriations measure also again includes in the base bill language prohibiting the Justice Department from using its federal funds to interfere in state industrial hemp programs.

SEC. 530. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used in contravention of section 7606 (“Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp Research”) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–79) by the Department of Justice or the Drug Enforcement Administration.

(A separate appropriations bill covering the Department of the Interior released on Monday does include tribal cannabis provisions written into the base measure, but advocates hoped to also see similar protections included in the Justice Department funding legislation.)

Here’s the main new sections that the lawmakers had requested be included in the CJS bill: 

“None of the funds made available by this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of the States, the District of Columbia, or U.S. territories to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of marijuana.”

“None of the funds made available by this Act to the Department of Justice may be used to prevent any Indian tribe (as such term is defined in section 4 of the Indian Self Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) from enacting or implementing tribal laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of marijuana.”

Those protections ultimately didn’t make it into the base bill as unveiled on Tuesday, though. That means that congressional supporters will have to fight for its inclusion through the amendment process as the CJS appropriations legislation advances.

In 2019 and 2020, the House attached the sweeping state and tribal protections to its version of the appropriations legislation as amendments adopted on the floor, but they’ve yet to be incorporated into any final package enacted into law. CJS legislation didn’t end up making it to the floor in 2021, but supporters had planned an amendment that year as well.

Lawmakers have argued that the language should be included in the original bill as introduced by leaders, circumventing the need for a floor vote, in light of the large number of states enacting legalization and growing bipartisan support for reform.

Blumenauer testified before the subcommittee during a members day in April, describing his request for the inclusion of the cannabis language as his “top priority” in the bill this year.

“States from coast to coast—across the political spectrum, red and blue have—have taken meaningful action to end prohibitory policies and allow the development of both adult use and medical marijuana programs,” the congressman said. “The federal government should not interfere with these programs and the will of the voters.”

For the 2023 Fiscal Year, congressional leaders have already proposed a number of marijuana policy changes in separate recently released spending legislation for various agencies, including protections for immigrants who use cannabis, freeing up marijuana-related advertising and providing the industry with access to the banking system. There are also provisions concerning hemp.

Those are parts of Fiscal Year 2023 spending bills for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) and U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA).

For the Interior appropriations base bill that was released this week, there’s already a section on tribal marijuana protections (with some new caveats that have raised questions about tribes potentially being held to a different standard than states).

In a related development, a Senate committee held a listening session on Friday that explored cannabis issues for Native Americans, touching on areas such as tribal sovereignty in the marijuana space, agreements with state governments and taxation.

A coalition of nine U.S. senators also sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland in March, urging him to direct federal prosecutors to not interfere with marijuana legalization policies enacted by Native American tribes.

The CJS bill that lawmakers wanted state and tribal protections attached to is set to come up in subcommittee on Wednesday and go before the full House Appropriations Committee on June 28. After that, it would head to the House floor where additional amendments could be adopted.

Importantly, it remains to be seen whether the Senate will accept any of these House marijuana proposals. Senate appropriators have not yet released their spending bills for FY23, and typically wait until after the House has acted, so it’s not yet clear which cannabis issues will ultimately get reconciled by the two chambers and adopted into law.

Louisiana Governor Signs Ten Cannabis Bills, Including Significant Medical Marijuana Expansions

Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.

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