A powerful GOP-controlled House Committee has blocked another set of amendments to large spending legislation relating to marijuana and psychedelics reform, including a proposal bipartisan to shield all state cannabis programs against federal interference.
During meetings held on Monday and Tuesday, the House Rules Committee refused to put several marijuana amendments in order for consideration by the House floor. The majority of measures were modest reforms that are supported by advocates for legalization. However, the panel blocked a prohibitionist proposal by Rep. Pete Sessions(R-TX), which would have prevented Biden’s administration from rescheduling marijuana.
The committee took up two bills this week that covered funding for Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies, (CJS), and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, (LaborH).
The panel’s refusal to accept an amendment that would have prohibited DOJ from using funds to interfere with the implementation of any law that authorizes use, distribution or possession of marijuana was disappointing to advocates.
The measure was sponsored by Reps. Earl Blumenauer, Tom McClintock, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Barbara Lee and Dave Joyce. The measure has been passed on the House Floor in the past, but it is yet to become law.
“The Ohio election last week, in a Republican state with a majority of people supporting legalization illustrates reality on the ground. Blumenauer said to Marijuana Moment that the American public was not waiting. “My amendment is an opportunity for federal government to solve the problems, instead of creating new ones.” “I am disappointed that the amendment was not brought to a vote.”
The CJS Bill, which is going to be debated on the floor, still includes a limited rider. This has been renewed annually since 2014 and prevents federal funds from interfering with the implementation of medical cannabis programs in states and territories.
The Rules Committee blocked two of Rep. Robert Garcia’s (D-CA), latest versions of an Amendment to CJS/LaborH Appropriations Legislation that would have prevented funding for drug testing federal job candidates for marijuana. The congressman filed multiple versions of reforms to different spending bills in this year without success.
Garcia, in an interview with Marijuana Moment, said that federal legalization has been long overdue. In the meantime , he is using his experience as mayor of Long Beach reforming workplace cannabis policies to guide his congressional efforts.
Blumenauer and Garcia worked separately on an amendment that would protect jurisdictions which legalize the use of psilocybin in therapeutic purposes. The committee also ruled that the proposal was out of order.
The panel also rejected Sessions’ proposed cannabis measure. Sessions is a vocally anti-marijuana Congressman, who himself prevented numerous cannabis reform bills from reaching the floor while he was the Rules Committee Chairman until he lost his reelection bid in 2018. The panel also rejected a proposed cannabis measure from Sessions, a vociferously anti-marijuana congressman who himself a href=”https://www.marijuanamoment.net/man-reason-congresscantvotemarijuanaanymore/” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”>blocked numerous cannabis reform measures from reaching the floor/a> during his time as the Rules Committee chairman until he lost
Sessions’s Amendment would have prohibited federal funds being used to “deschedule or reschedule marihuana”, under the Controlled Substances Act.
This would have undermined an ongoing administrative review of marijuana scheduling, which was directed by Joe Biden in the past year. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recommended to the Drug Enforcement Administration that cannabis be moved from Schedule I under the CSA to Schedule III.
Sessions led a recent letter urging DEA to “reject” top federal health agency’s recommendation to reschedule cannabis, and instead keep it under the most restrictive category of the CSA.
The Rules Committee also blocked an amendment by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-NY. This amendment would have prohibited the use of federal funding for any government or private entity that wanted to set up overdose prevention centres where people can use illicit drugs under medical supervision.
The committee also rejected a proposal by Garcia that would have allowed Washington, D.C., to legally sell marijuana within the nation’s capitol.
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The Rules Committee allowed two separate GOP-led psychedelics bills to be considered on the floor, as part of a different appropriations measure that was ultimately passed by the House.
The House passed two amendments that would allow VA doctors the ability to recommend medical cannabis to veterans. Another would encourage the research of the therapeutic potential of psychedelics such as psilocybin or MDMA.
This month, the Senate passed a bill that includes a similar provision allowing VA to give medical marijuana recommendations for veterans who live in states where it is legal. The Senate’s approval sets the stage for a conference with the House.
The House also approved in September a pair of measures for psychedelics, as well an amendment to create federal labeling requirements relating to marijuana interactions with prescribed drugs, as part of the Department of Defense spending legislation.
The House Appropriations Committee attached a report to the spending legislation that includes a separate section stating that “VA clarified that VA statutes and regulations do not prohibit a veteran who earns income from state-legalized marijuana activities from receiving a certificate of VA eligibility for home loan benefits.”
The Appropriations Committee, in another set of reports on spending bills for CJS and LaborH is urging researchers to be allowed to study cannabis products purchased by consumers in legal states. The CJS report urges the Justice Department to study the effectiveness state regulatory frameworks of marijuana.
In July, the Senate passed a defense bill that included provisions prohibiting intelligence agencies such as the CIA or NSA from denying security clearances solely based on past marijuana usage. Other cannabis proposals such as that of Sen. Brian Schatz, D-HI, to allow medical marijuana use by vets , did not make it into the National Defense Authorization Act.
The Rules Committee blocked more than a dozen amendments on marijuana and psychedelics in the House version of NDAA. This happened in July. This includes a measure that was introduced by Garcia which would have prevented denials of security clearances to federal workers due to prior cannabis use.
In September, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee approved a bipartisan standalone bill that would prohibit the denial or refusal of federal employment and security clearances because a candidate has used marijuana in the past.
Biden should smoke marijuana to understand ‘hypocritical’ legalization opposition, Democratic presidential candidate Dean Phillips says
Photo by Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
The article GOP controlled House committee blocks bipartisan amendment to protect legal marijuana states from federal interference first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
