GOP Congressman Says Marijuana Rescheduling And Banking Reform Would ‘Prop Up’ An ‘Immoral Industry’

A GOP congressman who represents California is condemning the Biden administration’s push to reschedule marijuana, as well as legislative efforts to enact bipartisan cannabis banking reform, because he says the policy changes would “prop up this immoral industry” and give a “green light to the evil that comes from drug use.”

In a brief speech on the House floor on Monday, Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) took aim at the two incremental cannabis reform proposals, while also claiming that marijuana use is linked to increased dependency on welfare benefits.

The Justice Department’s proposed rule to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) represents a step “towards legalizing marijuana by attempting to reclassify it as a lower category drug,” the congressman said, adding that he considers the administrative rulemaking process means of “going around Congress.”

“If enacted, this would increase the use of an already dangerous substance,” LaMalfa argued. While rescheduling would allow licensed cannabis businesses to take federal tax deductions they’re barred from under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code known as 280E and also remove certain research barriers, it would not legalize the plant, so it’s unclear what he means by suggesting it would increase usage rates.

He also claimed, contrary to prior research, that California has “the highest rate of marijuana users.” If he meant number of consumers, that might be explained by the fact that the state has the greatest population of in the nation, by far. But in terms of rates of consumption, surveys have consistently found higher percentages of users in other states.

In any case, he said it’s “no surprise that California also has the highest rate of welfare recipients,” which is also not true on a per capita basis. That title belongs to New Mexico, followed by Louisiana, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Oregon if assessing based on federal SNAP benefit distributions.

“I believe the government should disincentivize the use of this harmful drug and not allow banks to prop up this immoral industry,” the congressman went on to say, noting efforts in Congress to pass legislation that would protect financial institutions that service state-licensed cannabis businesses.

“The federal government should have no role in encouraging citizens to break federal law by incentivizing banks to handle the money in these industries,” he said. “These measures give a green light to the evil that comes from drug use. The addicts will rely on state welfare, disability payments for unemployment—their medical problems will increase, drain our already strained health care system—which taxpayers, you know, are going to front the bill for that.”

LaMalfa—who made headlines in 2021 after he posted an iconic video of himself bulldozing illegal grows alongside law enforcement in California—concluded by saying, “let’s not be doing any more to legalize marijuana or pretend that it’s legal through financial institutions.”

The congressman has also sponsored legislation to combat the use of banned pesticides at illegal marijuana grow sites in states that have enacted legalization.

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LaMalfa’s comments came on the same day that a Justice Department public comment period closed on the administration’s proposal to reschedule marijuana.

In one recent public comment on the proposed rule, a group representing state-level cannabis regulators recently called on the Biden administration and DEA Administrator Anne Milgram to provide a clear explanation of how rescheduling marijuana would affect federal enforcement priorities and the U.S. government’s interaction with jurisdictions that regulate cannabis products.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) is condemning the Biden administration over what he describes as repeated refusals from federal agencies to brief Congress on its plans and justification for rescheduling marijuana, which he argues fuels speculation that the proposed policy change is politically motivated.

Similarly, 25 GOP congressional lawmakers sent a public comment letter earlier this month opposing the Biden administration’s planned rescheduling of marijuana, specifically alleging the government’s recommendation was based on politics rather than science.

At the Republican National Committee convention last week, multiple GOP lawmakers spoke with Marijuana Moment about their own views on how cannabis policy issues such as rescheduling could be impacted if former President Donald Trump wins the November election. They generally deferred to the nominee, but there were mixed opinions about what they would like to see happen.

Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), for his part, said at the event that “I don’t care” whether rolling back the Biden administration’s marijuana rescheduling move under a potential Trump presidency would hurt the Republican party, because he feels more strongly that the modest reform would endanger public health.

Also, bipartisan congressional lawmakers are now 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.

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.

Meanwhile, two separate analyses of tens of thousands of public comments filed about the federal government’s plan to move marijuana to Schedule III indicate that the bulk of submissions on the proposal came in support of cannabis reform. In fact, most commenters said marijuana should be removed from the CSA completely instead of just being rescheduled.

DEA’s Move To Ban Two Psychedelics Is Challenged As A ‘Disservice To Science’ In Legal Filing From Student Group

Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.