The Food and Drug Administration will not be able to legalize marijuana without the approval of Congress if Republican senators introduce new legislation, including the GOP lead sponsor of the bipartisan marijuana banking law.
Sens. Cynthia Lummis, R-WY and Steve Daines, R-MT are also sponsors of the newly revised Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Act which is scheduled for a Senate Banking Committee Markup next week .
Both Lummis’ and Daines’ offices sent out press release on Wednesday and Thursday , emphasizing the fact that both senators “do not support making cannabis federally legal.”
states that “in the coming days Lummis & Daines will introduce legislation to ensure that marijuana cannot be federally legalized by the FDA without Congressional Approval.”
Lummis’s announcement includes an additional statement that states that “both oppose legalization of marijuana, and believe that it is a matter that should be decided on a state-level.”
The announcement comes a week following a letter sent by 14 House and Senate Republicans to the director of the Drug Enforcement Administration , urging the agency to “reject”, a recent recommendation to reschedule marijuana made by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services HHS and to keep cannabis on Schedule I of Controlled Substances Act. Daines and Lummis weren’t listed as signatories of that letter.
The senators’ bill does not specify how the FDA would be prevented from legalizing marijuana, or whether it would prohibit reclassifying cannabis to any other category than Schedule I without Congressional approval. The term “legalization”, as it is often understood, means descheduling – or removing marijuana from CSA.
FDA approved a synthetic THC and CBD drug derived from cannabis, but it does not generally approve holistic or plant based medicines. HHS proposed rescheduling marijuana after a scientific review directed by President Joe Biden. It would still be federally illegal, except for medical uses with a prescription.
Marijuana Moment contacted both offices to get more information about the upcoming bill, which was briefly described. Daines’s spokesperson referred all questions to Lummis, who is the leader of the legislation. However, representatives from Lummis were not available.
Both statements about the SAFER Banking Act, which was officially introduced Wednesday, included the announcement. Daines praised provisions of the SAFER Banking Act, which he helped to secure through bipartisan negotiations. He said that these provisions will protect legal businesses from the “woke agenda” of the left.
The SAFER Banking Act was designed to provide state-licensed cannabis companies with access to traditional banking services. Daines and Lummis highlighted parts of the law that were meant to stop federal regulators from discriminating against other industries, such as the gun trade.
Daines stated that the legislation was “about keeping our Montana communities safer and reducing crime, but it is also a great opportunity to protect all legal businesses including firearm manufacturers, energy producers and other legitimate businesses from the Left’s woke agenda.”
Lummis stated that Wyoming energy companies are “threatened daily by woke [Environmental and Social Governance] Initiatives that could cause them to lose access to banks and loans.”
She said that the SAFER Banking Act prevents federal bank regulators to order a bank or credit-union to close an account on the basis of reputation risk. This will protect energy companies, gun manufacturers and other businesses from daily attacks by leftists who threaten their livelihoods. All legal businesses should be able to access bank accounts. This legislation will ensure that the federal government does not pick winners and loser when it comes accessing financial services.
Daines’s focus on the bill’s banking regulation provisions and his sponsorships of the FDA and Cannabis Legalization legislation may indicate that he is trying to distance himself further from the broader cannabis reform movement, despite the fact that voters in his own state approved adult-use marijuana legalization in the 2020 ballot.
Senators like Sherrod Brown, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee (D.OH), and Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority leader (D.NY), say that they expect SAFER Banking Act will be passed through the committee with bipartisan support.
Schumer said he would attach amendments that would facilitate state level cannabis expungements, and to preserve gun rights for medical marijuana patients once the bill reached the floor. Daines’s Office has said previously that he is open to adding the expungements.
On Wednesday, a top Democrat reintroduced a federal bill to legalize, tax, and regulate marijuana. The bill also included provisions to expunge previous cannabis convictions.
Key Senate Committee Chairman Undecided on Ohio Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative While He Works To Advance Cannabis Banking Bill
Photo by Philip Steffan.
The article GOP sponsor of marijuana banking bill to file new measure blocking FDA from legalizing cannabis first appeared on Marijuana Moment.
