As the U.S. House of Representatives enters its third week without a speaker, more GOP lawmakers with varying records on marijuana policy are making their bids for the nomination–including a member who has been arrested for cannabis and another who co-chairs a congressional psychedelics caucus.
The majority of candidates in the race for the top leadership position have voted to reform cannabis banking, even though they are not in favor of legalization.
Nine Republican candidates are now in the running for speaker after Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-CA was removed as speaker by a historic motion earlier this month. The former nominees to the position were Jim Jordan, Chairman of the Judiciary Committee (R OH), and Steve Scalise Majority Leader (R LA), who both bowed out of the race when they failed to gain a majority on the House Floor.
This is a breakdown on the key marijuana votes of each candidate running for Speaker:
Y= yes vote; N= no vote; NV= not voting; X= not in Congress when the vote was held
Rep. Jack Bergman, R-MI
Bergman is a GOP leader in certain drug policy areas. He served as co-chairman of the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Clinical Treatments Caucus with Rep. Lou Correa, (D-CA), and sponsored kratom regulation legislation. But he has only recently begun to support modest reforms like banking.
He voted against SAFE Banking Act (Secure and Fair Enforcement) in 2019 but gave his approval to it when it was brought up again in 2021. He’s also a cosponsor of this year’s House version of that bill, and legislation that would require the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to conduct studies on the therapeutic potential of cannabis for veterans. He voted against measures that would have legalized cannabis at the federal level in 2020 and 2022.
He was elected to Congress in 2017 and did not have the opportunity to vote on many marijuana-related issues, such as protecting medical cannabis programs in states from federal interference. However, he voted against amendments in spending bills to extend these protections to all states that are legal in 2019 or 2020. Bergman also opposed last year a measure that would have prevented security clearances being denied based on past marijuana use. He did, however, vote for a bill that eased barriers to cannabis research in the same year.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL)
He was elected in 2021 so his record on drug-related issues is also more limited. He has voted for marijuana banking legislation and a bill that reduces restrictions on cannabis research.
Donalds has also co-sponsored a bill this session to protect the gun rights of medical cannabis patients. He’s twice sponsored legislation that would automatically seal criminal records of people convicted of marijuana offenses. The congressman was charged with cannabis distribution in 1997. However, the charges were dismissed in 2000 under a program for pre-trial diversion.
Donalds, despite having been arrested for cannabis himself, voted against a bill to prevent people being denied security clearances due to prior marijuana use. This is despite the fact that he can receive classified briefings in his capacity as a Congressman regardless of any cannabis history he may have. The congressman voted against the legalization of marijuana in 2022.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer
Emmer voted no on the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE) to enact federal cannabis legalization. However, he has said that cannabis laws should be left to the states and he supports modest reform legislation, such as industry banking protections.
“I have no problem with the idea of leaving the criminalization to the states. In fact, I believe it is long overdue.” “I mean, federalism is what it’s all about,” said in , last year. He added that his opposition to MORE Act was based on disagreements over the details of expungements provisions.
He cosponsored the SAFE Banking Act and voted for it twice. However, he is not listed as a sponsor of the current version.
Emmer co-sponsored legislation that allows cannabis businesses to claim federal tax deductions. He also voted in favor of the Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research Expansion Act and EQUAL Act, which aims to eliminate the disparity in federal sentences between crack and powder cocaine.
While in office, he also supported amendments that would protect state cannabis programs against federal interference. However, he opposed amendements to allow VA doctors the ability to recommend medical marijuana for veterans.
Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK)
Hern has voted twice in favor of legislation that would allow marijuana businesses to access banking services, but he never took the proactive step to sign on as a sponsor of the bill. He also supported appropriations to protect state cannabis programs for 2019 and 2021. He opposed a bill that would have legalized marijuana at the federal level in 2020 and 2022. He also actively tried to divert the House from considering legalization legislation.
The congressman was also against amendments that would prevent denials of security clearances based on marijuana alone. He also opposed a bill to encourage research into cannabis.
Rep. Mike Johnson, R-LA
Johnson, vice-chair of the Republican Conference, has consistently voted in opposition to cannabis-related legislation. This includes bills that would protect banks who work with state licensed marijuana businesses between 2019 and 2021.
In 2020, he did co-sponsor the SAFE Banking Act, which included the SAFE Banking Act’s text. This was a language that several of his GOP peers were vocally against.
In 2019, the congressman voted no on an amendment to a spending bill that would have protected all state cannabis programs from federal interference. He then did not vote in 2020. In 2020 and 2022, he also didn’t vote on the federal legalization of marijuana.
Johnson voted against the bill last year to streamline cannabis research, and he didn’t participate in a voting on an amendment that would prevent people from being denied security clearances based solely on past marijuana usage.
Rep. Dan Meuser
Meuser, another GOP candidate for the Speakership, has voted twice in favor of reforming marijuana banking and twice against legislation that would legalize cannabis on a federal level. He does not appear to have cosponsored any marijuana related measures.
He also voted against the amendments that would have protected all state marijuana programs and security clearance legislation from federal interference. He supported a bill that eased marijuana research restrictions.
Rep. Gary Palmer, R-AL
Palmer is the only current candidate who has a consistent record of voting against marijuana reform legislation. Palmer voted against cannabis banking protections both in 2019 and 2021.
He voted against a federal legalization proposal in the past year and did not vote for it in 2020. He has also opposed all three amendments that have been proposed to protect state marijuana programs–in 2019, 2020, and 2015. In 2014, he voted no to protect medical cannabis states. However, the next year he changed his vote and voted yes. He also voted to protect state CBD programs in 2015
In 2014, 2015 and 2016, the congressman voted no to amendments that would have allowed VA doctors to prescribe medical cannabis to veterans. The congressman also opposed measures that would prevent security clearances being denied due to prior marijuana use. He also opposed a bill that promoted cannabis research.
Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA)
Scott has also a long history of opposing marijuana reforms. However, he did vote in favor of the marijuana banking legislation in 2021 despite having opposed it in 2019. Scott did not vote in favor of a federal legalization measure in 2020 and then voted against it again in 2022.
Scott, however, has cosponsored legislation four times, which would legalize CBD, and CBD-rich plant species, while stating explicitly that none of these measures prohibit states from legalizing marijuana use, production, or distribution.
The congressman did not vote for appropriations amendments in 2012, 2014 or 2015 to protect states that have medical marijuana programs from federal interference. However, he supported a measure in 2015 to prevent federal interference with state CBD programs.
Rep. Pete Sessions
In part because of his role as chairman of the House Rules Committee, he has earned a reputation as one of Congress’ most vocal opponents of reforming marijuana policy. In 2020, he won a new district and returned to the House.
Sessions, who recently urged the Drug Enforcement Administration to “reject”, the top federal agency’s recommendation that marijuana be rescheduled and instead kept in the most restricted category under the Controlled Substances Act(CSA), has a track record which clearly reflects his anticannabinism.
He voted against federal legalization of marijuana in 2022 and protections for marijuana banks in 2014. The congressman opposed the two amendments that would have prevented federal interference in state marijuana programs. He also voted seven times against modest protections of medical cannabis states from 2003 to 2015. (With one exception, he did not vote in 2005). In 2015, he rejected an amendment that would have protected state CBD programs.
In 2014, 2015, and 2016, the congressman voted against amendements that would have allowed VA doctors to prescribe medical cannabis to veterans. He also opposed measures that would prevent security clearances being denied due to prior marijuana use.
It remains to be seen if any of the candidates can garner the 217 required votes to become speaker. Since McCarthy’s removal, Republicans are fragmented and no one has a clear path to success. Cannabis advocates and stakeholders have been frustrated by the deadlock, because no legislation will advance in the House without a Speaker. This means that a Senate marijuana bank bill that passed committee last month can’t be considered in the other chamber even if the Senate passes it on the floor.
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The article Marijuana Moment : Here’s where all nine House Speaker candidates stand on marijuana first appeared on Marijuana Moment .
