Senate Committee Keeps D.C. Marijuana Sales Ban Intact, While Also Criticizing Research Restrictions On Psychedelics And Cannabis

A Senate committee has approved a spending bill that maintains a controversial rider blocking Washington, D.C. from legalizing adult-use marijuana sales, without adding any other previously proposed provisions to advance cannabis reform. At the same time, the panel passed report language conveying concerns about restrictions on marijuana and psychedelics research imposed by current prohibition.

The Senate Appropriations Committee advanced the legislation last week covering Financial Services and General Government (FSGG) and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies (Labor/HHS). To the disappointment of advocates, however, the FSGG measure would continue to block D.C. from using its local tax dollars to implement a system of recreational cannabis sales, despite voters approving a local legalization measure in 2014.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), chair of the FSGG Senate Appropriations subcommittee, suggested at the markup that legislators declined to address D.C. autonomy issues “in the interests of moving forward” to get a passable spending measure.

Here’s the cannabis reform ban language:

SEC. 809. (a) None of the Federal funds contained in this Act may be used to enact or carry out any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise reduce penalties associated with the possession, use, or distribution of any schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) or any tetrahydrocannabinols derivative.

(b) No funds available for obligation or expenditure by the District of Columbia government under any authority may be used to enact any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise reduce penalties associated with the possession, use, or distribution of any schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) or any tetrahydrocannabinols derivative for recreational purposes.

While certain lawmakers have sought to use the FSGG bill to provide limited protections for banks that work with state-legal cannabis businesses, the Senate proposal didn’t touch that issue this round.

The D.C. rider was initially omitted from the House version of the spending bill, but it was reinserted as part of an en bloc package of Republican amendments that advanced through the House Appropriations Committee in June.

If the federal government does follow through with plans to reschedule marijuana, however, the reform would free up Washington, D.C. to finally legalize adult-use cannabis sales, congressional researchers say. But the types of products that could be sold may depend on a legal interpretation of what a “tetrahydrocannabinols derivative” is.

President Joe Biden has consistently maintained the D.C. ban in his budget proposals, which made it all the more notable that it was originally omitted from a version in a House GOP-controlled subcommittee.

Both the House and Senate had excluded the D.C. marijuana rider in their respective versions of appropriations legislation in 2022 before it was ultimately retained following bicameral and bipartisan negotiations.

Lawmakers in the District have enacted certain workarounds, including allowing people to self-certify as medical marijuana patients, but the congressional blockade has been a consistent source of frustration.

Separately, as part of the Labor/HHS appropriations bill advancing in the Senate, there’s also a longstanding section stating that no funds can be used to promote the legalization of a Schedule I drug, including marijuana.

SEC. 509. (a) None of the funds made available in this Act may be used for any activity that promotes the legalization of any drug or other substance included in schedule I of the schedules of controlled substances established under section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act except for normal and recognized executive-congressional communications.

(b) The limitation in subsection (a) shall not apply when there is significant medical evidence of a therapeutic advantage to the use of such drug or other substance or that federally sponsored clinical trials are being conducted to determine therapeutic advantage.

The report language for the Labor/HHS bill additionally features sections expressing concern about barriers to marijuana and psychedelics research.

Barriers to Research.—The Committee is concerned that restrictions associated with Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act effectively limits the amount and type of research that can be conducted on certain Schedule I drugs, especially opioids, psychedelics, marijuana or its component chemicals, and new synthetic drugs and analogs. At a time when we need as much information as possible about these drugs and antidotes for their harmful effects, we should be addressing regulatory and other barriers to conducting this research. The Committee appreciates NIDA’s completion of a report on the barriers to research that result from the classification of drugs and compounds as Schedule I substances including the challenges researchers face as a result of limited access to sources of marijuana, including dispensary products.

Cannabis Research.—The Committee is concerned that marijuana policies on the Federal level and in the States (medical marijuana, recreational use, etc.) are being changed without the benefit of scientific research to help guide those decisions. The Committee recognizes the increased interest and need to study cannabis and its constituent cannabinoids. The Committee encourages NIH to continue supporting its current research agenda across its Institutes and Centers, including research on higher potency THC, alternative cannabis formulations and extracts, and minor cannabinoids. The Committee also encourages NIH to continue supporting research on the potential medical uses of cannabis, such as for chronic pain, appetite stimulation, immune diseases, cancer, metabolic and digestive disorders, epilepsy, glaucoma, MS, sleep disorders, and a variety of mental health conditions such as anxiety and PTSD. The Committee encourages NIH to continue to take an integrated approach to cannabis research across its Institutes and Centers. Finally, the Committee encourages NIH to continue supporting a full range of research on the health effects of marijuana and its components, including research to understand how marijuana policies affect public health.

Psychedelic Research.—The Committee recognizes the increased interest and need to study psychedelics, including MDMA, ketamine, and psilocybin, and their potential therapeutic effects. The Committee encourages NIH to expand its current research agenda across its Institutes and Centers, potentially by forming a cross-Institute research group, and to encourage psychedelic research at the NIH Clinical Center. The Committee also encourages NIH to work with FDA in developing and supporting public-private collaborations to advance all forms of psychedelic research for therapeutic purposes.

The Senate Appropriations Committee did advance a large-scale spending bill last month that preserves a rider preventing Justice Department intervention in state medical marijuana programs—and without adding a new exception that was included in the House version of the legislation this year.

—
Marijuana Moment is tracking more than 1,500 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
—

The panel also approved a report demanding that the Biden administration explain why it has not escalated diplomatic efforts to secure the release of American citizen Marc Fogel, who is serving a 14-year sentence in a Russian prison over possession of medical cannabis he used to treat pain and who was not included in an historic prisoner swap on Thursday, despite pleas from bipartisan lawmakers.

In the House, appropriations legislation that cleared committee last month also directs the Biden administration to account for how it arrived at the decision to reschedule marijuana, while expressing concerns about cannabis-impaired driving and the market for intoxicating hemp-based cannabinoids.

Members of that panel separately passed a spending bill with a section that would block DOJ from using its funds to reschedule or deschedule cannabis,

More States Consider Adding Female Orgasm Disorder As A Medical Marijuana Qualifying Condition

Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.