Bipartisan Lawmakers Seek To Remove Marijuana Rescheduling Ban From Key Spending Bill

Bipartisan congressional lawmakers are seeking to remove a controversial section of a spending bill that would block the Justice Department from rescheduling marijuana—one of several cannabis- and psychedelics-related amendments to appropriations legislation that have been filed in recent days.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) announced on Wednesday that she introduced the amendment to strike the rescheduling restriction that’s currently included in the 2025 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) spending bill.

In a video filmed with cannabis lobbyist Don Murphy at the Republican National Committee (RNC) convention, Mace said that “we want to make sure rescheduling happens,” even if her preference would be to fully deschedule marijuana as would be accomplished under her States Reform Act.

“We’re doing all we can,” the congresswoman said.

If you think #cannabis (Schedule 3) isn’t being discussed on the floor of the RNC convention, you’d be wrong. @RepNancyMace pic.twitter.com/qAiaU3226e

— Don Murphy (@donmurphy12a) July 18, 2024

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) also introduced an amendment to the CJS measure that would similarly strike the scheduling restriction section, which was adopted by the House Appropriations Committee earlier this month. That GOP-led panel also rejected a separate amendment to remove the section.

GOP senators have separately tried to block the administration from rescheduling cannabis as part of a standalone bill filed last September, but that proposal has not received a hearing or vote. All of this comes as the public comment deadline on the DOJ’s proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) is set to close next week.

Also, as part of pending appropriations legislation for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies (Ag/FDA), there’s a proposed amendment from Rep. Morgan McGarvey (D-KY) to strike another contentious provision that would effectively ban most consumable hemp products.

Hemp industry stakeholders have rallied against the proposal, which was included in the base bill from the relevant subcommittee last month. It’s virtually identical to a provision of the 2024 Farm Bill that was attached by a separate committee in May via an amendment from Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL).

Another Ag/FDA amendment filed by McGarvey would reaffirm the authority of states to set their own regulations for hemp and its derivatives.

A report attached to the Ag/FDA spending bill also discusses the committee’s worries about unregulated cannabis products, including those for which a business is making unsanctioned claims about therapeutic potential. It wants FDA to “continue and increase” efforts to take enforcement actions against bad actors in the hemp space.

Meanwhile, Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) filed an amendment to a spending bill covering Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) that would end the federal ban that’s long prevented Washington, D.C. from using its local tax dollars to implement a system allowing for adult-use marijuana sales.

The rider enforcing the current restriction, sponsored by Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), has been in place since 2014. It was initially omitted from the base FSGG measure, but it was later added back in as part of a GOP en bloc amendment in the Appropriations Committee.

As has become tradition, each of the pending appropriations bills with amendments that have been posted also include a proposal from Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) that would prevent the covered agencies from using their funds to test federal job applicants for marijuana.

Garcia also introduced an amendment to the CJS legislation that would block the Justice Department from using its funds to interfere in any state or local laws “authorizing the use, distribution, sale, possession, research, or cultivation of medical psilocybin.”

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The House Rules Committee last month rejected multiple marijuana-related amendments to a series of spending bills, including proposals to ban certain federal agencies from testing job applicants for cannabis and prevent border patrol agents from seizing marijuana from state-licensed businesses.

The same committee did allow amendments to another spending bill to go to the floor that would authorize U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to issue medical marijuana recommendations to military veterans and support psychedelics research and access. Those proposals passed the full House last month as part of appropriations legislation covering Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies (MilConVA).

On the Senate side, the Appropriations Committee also approved a spending bill with a new amendment allowing doctors at VA to discuss and recommend medical marijuana to patients living in legal states.

Senators Will Vote On ‘DOOBIE Act’ To Prevent Agencies From Using Past Marijuana Use To Deny Employment And Security Clearances Next Week