Rep. Dave Joyce, former prosecutor, introduces bill to take marijuana off the federal controlled …

Dave Joyce is leading a new congressional effort to remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances, allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to prescribe medical cannabis to veterans, and direct the federal government to regulate the cannabis industry as it already regulates alcohol in what organizations that lobby for cannabis legalization say is the first Republican-led effort to repeal marijuana laws.

The former Geauga County prosecutor who co-chairs the Congressional Cannabis Caucus says the bill he introduced this week with his fellow caucus co-chair, Alaska Republican Don Young, includes policies they feel can obtain bipartisan agreement – such as permitting state-legal cannabis businesses to utilize traditional financial services and giving veterans access to marijuana for pain control instead of more addictive substances like opioids.

“You can give people all the opioids and morphine that they’d want but then, God forbid, they give them any cannabis which might have settled the stomach and allowed them to have a decent meal,” said Joyce.

Joyce said a Democrat-backed bill that passed the House of Representatives last year with without his support was a “step too far” for Republicans who’d be willing to back other measures to federally decriminalize marijuana and facilitate cannabis-related business operations, as his bill would do.

“There are some things we can agree upon,” said Joyce, who is seeking cosponsors for his “Common Sense Cannabis Reform for Veterans, Small Businesses, and Medical Professionals Act” by distributing hand bills to colleagues on the House of Representatives floor that list the 40 states that have legalized some form of marijuana use, whether its medical, recreational or CBD.

Those that want to legalize it would be able to set up their own state-level framework for marijuana distribution, much as every state has its own alcohol sales procedures, said Joyce.

“It is incredibly encouraging to see Republican leadership to end the federal prohibition and criminalization of cannabis,” said a statement from Steven W.

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