Just days after passing a far-reaching bill to federally legalize marijuana, the U.S.
Earl Blumenauer , would streamline the process for researchers to apply and get approved to study cannabis and set clear deadlines on federal agencies to act on their applications.
The move to hold a House vote comes less that two weeks after the Senate unanimously passed a different cannabis research bill.
For half a century, researchers have only been able to study marijuana grown at a single federally approved facility at the University of Mississippi, but they have complained that it is difficult to obtain the product and that it is of low quality.
DEA has taken steps in recent years to approve new cultivators of marijuana to be used in studies, but there has been bipartisan agreement the agency has inhibited cannabis research by being slow to follow through on those applications.
HHS and the attorney general would be required under the bill to create a process for marijuana manufacturers and distributors to supply researchers with cannabis from dispensaries.
Previously he reported for Marijuana.com and MassRoots, and handled media relations and campaigns for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and Students for Sensible Drug Policy.
President Joe Biden agrees that “our current marijuana laws are not working,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday just hours after the U.S.
The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement Act passed along mostly partisan lines, with all but two Democrats voting to advance it to the Senate.
But while the MORE Act includes provisions to support those objectives, it goes further.
For example, in Biden’s latest budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2023, he again proposed the continuation of a rider blocking Washington, D.C.
Biden has received about a dozen letters from lawmakers, advocates, celebrities and people impacted by criminalization to do something about the people who remain behind federal bars over cannabis.
Now all eyes are on the Senate, where leadership is separately preparing to introduce a legalization bill but has faced sharp criticism for delaying reform.
More than half of Americans live in a state where cannabis is legal.
We must take action to end unjust marijuana policy, uphold states’ rights & ensure the safety & equity of legal businesses.
Now is not the time for Congress to simply check a box on #cannabis reform.
Legalization must come with equity & the repairing of harm that has been caused in Black & brown communities.
37 states – including FL – have said yes to some form of marijuana legalization & the People’s House listened.
It’s time federal marijuana laws were updated to reflect the will of states, allow critical and necessary medical research, and redress the injustices caused by decades of harsh enforcement of outdated laws.
Black, Latino, and Indigenous people have carried the brunt of marijuana criminalization while being shut out of the legal cannabis market.
In all seriousness, every 90 seconds, one person in this country is arrested for a minor marijuana crime.
Marijuana reform laws have passed in 47 states, and federal cannabis decimalization is long overdue.
The #MOREAct doesn’t just end the federal criminalization of cannabis – it also invests ~$3 billion over the next decade to provide job training, reentry services, and legal aid to people harmed by failed drug policies.
Today, I voted to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.
Since the first anti-marijuana laws & throughout the war on drugs, marijuana policy has been constructed according to racist & anti-immigrant biases.
NEW: the House just passed legislation to federally legalize marijuana.
Nadler’s MORE Act would deschedule marijuana by removing it from the list of federally banned drugs under the Controlled Substances Act .
Workers in “safety sensitive” positions, such as those regulated by the Department of Transportation, could continue to be drug tested for THC and face penalties for unauthorized use.
His office had earlier circulated a letter to other Republican offices this week offering resources on navigating cannabis policy issues but expressing opposition to the MORE Act as drafted.
Nancy Mace is sponsoring that legislation, and she said in a recent interview that she’s received assurances from Democratic leaders that her States Reform Act will receive a hearing following the MORE Act floor vote.
Maryland voters will get the chance to decide on legalizing marijuana following approval of a constitutional amendment in the legislature on Friday that puts the question of reform on the November ballot.
The former bill would simply place legalization on the ballot, though it was amended in the Senate to include language specifying for voters that legalization would not be enacted until July 2023 and clarifying that only those 21 and older could access the market.
Under the law that would be enacted if voters approve legalization at the ballot, the purchase and possession of up to 1.5 ounces of cannabis would be legal for adults.
Past convictions for conduct made legal under the proposed law would be automatically expunged, and people currently serving time for such offenses would be eligible for resentencing.
The bill was also amended throughout the legislative process.
“Marylanders have long awaited a new approach to cannabis policy and the passage of these bills is a promising step forward,” Olivia Naugle, a legislative analyst with the Marijuana Policy Project, told Marijuana Moment.
A separate bill, SB 833 from Sen.
But while some senators pushed for the more prescriptive legislation, arguing that voters should know more about what kind of market would emerge before heading to the polls in November, Feldman’s bill was largely replaced with the language of HB 837.
The Senate passed HB 837 as amended in a 30-15 vote on Thursday, sending it back to the House for concurrence.
SB 833 also passed as amended in the Senate on Friday, 29-17.
“There are folks that want to go broader.
To understand the effects of legalization on the state and its residents, the statutory bill would also establish various research initiatives, including studies into youth impacts, use patterns, impaired driving, advertising, labeling, quality control of products and barriers to entering the industry.
Possession of small amounts of cannabis would become a civil offense on January 1, 2023, punishable by a $100 fine for up to 1.5 ounces, or $250 for more than 1.5 ounces and up to 2.5 ounces.
For example, activists also wanted lawmakers to include a provision preventing police from using the odor of marijuana alone as the basis for a search.
Another potential problem that advocates have identified is the proposed allocation of equity funds.
As noted, certain senators, including Senate President Bill Ferguson , have expressed skepticism about punting the creation of regulations for the marijuana market until next year.
“If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, there’s no progress.
Meanwhile, a separate competing legalization bill on the House side, HB 1342, was introduced in February by Del.
When it comes to marijuana, legalization began to advance through Maryland’s legislature last session, but no votes were ultimately held.
Two years later, a decriminalization law took effect that replaced criminal penalties for possession of less than 10 grams with a civil fine of $100 to $500.
Also that year, the governor vetoed a bill that would have shielded people with low-level cannabis convictions from having their records publicized on a state database.
As for Maryland lawmakers, a House committee in 2019 held hearings on two bills that would have legalized marijuana.