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Congressional lawmakers held a hearing on Tuesday<\/a> to discuss federal marijuana legalization and state cannabis developments, hearing testimony from a panel of broadly pro-reform advocates<\/a>.<\/p>\n The House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties first announced the meeting\u2014titled \u201cDevelopments in State Cannabis Laws and Bipartisan Cannabis Reforms at the Federal Level\u201d\u2014last week, and staff for the panel\u2019s Democrats and Republicans issued a joint memo on Sunday that laid out aspects of the issue<\/a> to frame the discussion.<\/p>\n Chairman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Ranking Member Nancy Mace (R-SC) both support legalization, as do the invited witnesses, and the conversation during the hearing largely reflected that position\u2014with the exception of a handful of other GOP members who chimed in to express prohibitionist views.<\/p>\n \u201cCannabis must be decriminalized at the federal level as a matter of basic justice in the country and, I would say, to vindicate the anti-prohibition principle that\u2019s in our Constitution,\u201d Raskin said in his opening remarks.<\/p>\n Decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level is a bipartisan policy choice that will bring an end to failed Prohibition-style policies that have criminalized our people. \u2014 Rep. Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cThe war against marijuana has ruined so many lives in our country,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can do a lot better by treating all of these as public health questions and regulatory questions rather than questions of crime and putting people behind bars.\u201d<\/p>\n The chairman said he hoped that the \u201cextremely bipartisan hearing will be a harbinger of what can take place in the next Congress, regardless of which one of us ends up on top by one vote or two,\u201d referring to the still not finalize results of last week\u2019s midterm elections.<\/p>\n Mace began her time at the hearing by saying that marijuana is more than a policy issue for her\u2014it\u2019s personal. She recounted being raped as a teen and said using cannabis helped to treat the symptoms of her trauma.<\/p>\n This plant literally saved my life. <\/p>\n I\u2019m glad I can share my experience with all of you today. #SRA<\/a> #OverightHearing<\/a> #Cannabis<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cIt cut my anxiety. I was able to sleep better. And I stayed alive,\u201d the congresswoman said. \u201cIf I can make it, anybody can, and this plant literally saved my life. I don\u2019t know where I would be today had I not had that kind of experience that I can share with millions of Americans today. The only place that cannabis is really controversial today is here on the Capitol.\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the panel discuss<\/a> state and federal marijuana legalization in the video below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) discussed President Joe Biden\u2019s recent mass marijuana pardons.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the spirit of this executive order should absolutely be applauded, I do believe that issue experts have rightly pointed out that there is necessary action needed from Congress and state governments to actually fulfill the true impact and live up to the spirit of that order,\u201d the congresswoman said.<\/p>\n The joint memo on the hearing mentioned several pieces of marijuana legalization legislation, including the House-passed Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act<\/a>, Senate leadership\u2019s Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA) and\u00a0Mace\u2019s States Reform Act (SRA)<\/a>.<\/p>\n One year ago today we introduced H.R.5977 \u2013 The States Reform Act. <\/p>\n This bill is different than others \u2013 with low excise tax, common sense regulation, protections for kids & veterans, & criminal justice reforms. #SRA<\/a><\/p>\n Thank you to all who have supported the #SRA<\/a>! pic.twitter.com\/LZoVyoVWgJ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cThis hearing will be a bipartisan examination of the many benefits of decriminalization at the federal level, including: criminal justice reform, which will largely benefit communities of color, as well as the justice system more broadly; access for veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA); and the ability for the legal cannabis industry to access financial services,\u201d the 11-page memo says.<\/p>\n It lists the three main issues that were raised<\/a> in the panel:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. Decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level would benefit multiple communities, including veterans, potential federal employees, people of color, and individuals arrested or convicted for non-violent cannabis offenses.<\/p>\n 2. Reforms are needed in several sectors, including criminal justice through the expungement of non-violent cannabis convictions, access to financial services, regulatory policy, and taxation.<\/p>\n 3. The federal government should establish protocols to regulate cannabis as it does alcohol.<\/p>\n Here are the witnesses that testified for the hearing:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Randall Woodfin,<\/strong>\u00a0mayor of Birmingham<\/p>\n Paul Armentano,<\/strong>\u00a0deputy director of NORML<\/p>\n Andrew Freedman,<\/strong>\u00a0executive director of Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education, and Regulation (CPEAR)<\/p>\n Eric Goepel,<\/strong>\u00a0founder and CEO of Veterans Cannabis Coalition (VCC)<\/p>\n Keeda Haynes,<\/strong>\u00a0senior legal advisor of Free Hearts<\/p>\n Amber Littlejohn,<\/strong>\u00a0senior policy advisor of Global Alliance for Cannabis Commerce (GACC)<\/p>\n Jillian Snider,<\/strong>\u00a0director of criminal justice & civil liberties at R Street Institute<\/p>\n In his testimony, NORML\u2019s Armentano said that ending marijuana prohibition is \u201cnecessary in order to close the growing and untenable divide between state and federal cannabis laws.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBy descheduling cannabis, tens of millions of Americans who reside in states where cannabis is legal in some form, as well as the hundreds of thousands of people who work for the state-licensed industry that services them, will no longer face needless hurdles and discrimination\u2014such as a lack of access to financial services, loans, insurance, 2nd Amendment rights, tax deductions, certain professional security clearances, and other privileges,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n NORML TESTIFIES TO CONGRESS: It makes no sense from a political, \u2014 NORML (@NORML) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Littlejohn, for her part, said that \u201cunder the threat of criminal penalty and forfeiture, the status quo of federal prohibition continues to balkanize state marketplaces and raise insurmountable barriers to entry with devastating consequences for small and minority-owned businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cConsequently, minority-owned cannabis businesses are in decline,\u201d she said. \u201cBlack Americans bear the brunt of the disparate enforcement of cannabis laws. They also now bear the brunt of failed state policies and the devastating impact of federal prohibition on the legal cannabis industry.\u201d<\/p>\n Members of the subcommittee also addressed how federal prohibition creates a barrier for military veterans who want access to cannabis treatment but can\u2019t obtain a recommendation from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors regardless of the law in the state where they live.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a topic that Goepel of VCC is especially well-positioned to address in the panel. He discussed the problem in an op-ed for Marijuana Moment<\/a>\u00a0last month.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery death by suicide, overdose and toxic exposure is not a tragedy\u2014it is a policy failure,\u201d Goepel said at the hearing on Tuesday. \u201cIf cannabis is helping some of the most severely injured and ill people in our society, who have been failed by traditional care, achieve a better quality of life, then why is the federal government determined to deny the reality and deprive them of their liberty?\u201d<\/p>\n Our nation looks so divided on the outside \u2013 but today this is an example where we can work together. #SRA<\/a> #OversightHearing<\/a> #Cannabis<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/AhX0dkK7GL<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Freedman from CPEAR said in his testimony that he \u201ccannot overstate what a remarkable job state officials, advocates, and the industry have done to implement state regulatory programs, but there is a limit to what can be done when blanket federal prohibition remains on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur system allows states wide latitude to effect policy change, but some issues and areas of law are inherently and solely under the jurisdiction of Congress and federal agencies, and it is on those issues where differences between state and federal law create the greatest tensions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Snider of R Street Institute said in her testimony for the panel that \u201cafter more than a century of prohibition, the United States is at a critical moment in determining the future legal status of cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s only in the halls of DC where cannabis prohibition maintains its popularity.#OversightHearing<\/a> #Cannabis<\/a>#StatesReformAct<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cProposed federal legislation indicates increased support for alternatives to federal cannabis prohibition, and this increased support is critical to provide clarity on the overall legal status of cannabis, as the current situation presents inconsistency and a quasi-legal conundrum,\u201d she said. \u201cThe substance may be legal in one state and decriminalized in another, but because it is still prohibited at the federal level, users or possessors of the substance are subject to criminal penalty.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis dual legality is problematic. It not only confuses the average citizen, but it also results in extremely varied approaches to the types and quantities of cannabis that can be cultivated or consumed; different standards for quality control; discrepancies in retail and consumer eligibility and related processes; widely varied taxation models; and a lack of consensus on the superseding status of the substance that places all of the stakeholders, including criminal justice professionals, in a gray area of compliance confusion.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe prohibition of cannabis has taken far too high of a human toll on Black and Brown communities,\u201d the mayor of Birmingham said. \u201cAs mayor, I\u2019ve taken action on this issue by using my pardon power to pardon over 23,000 individuals charged with possession of cannabis in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n In just a few minutes, I\u2019ll be speaking with the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties how we can work together to reform cannabis laws around our country.<\/p>\n Tune in: https:\/\/t.co\/3VjXbcw25P<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Randall Woodfin (@randallwoodfin) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cMayors can do a lot, but we can only do so much,\u201d he said. \u201cThe state-by-state patchwork leaves too many Americans out of reach from the promise presented by ending the federal prohibition on cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), who as a former chairman of the House Rules Committee regularly blocked cannabis amendments from advancing to the floor for votes, delivered a series of prohibitionist talking points in comments at the hearing on Tuesday, attempting to link marijuana legalization to increased impaired driving and raising concerns about high THC potency in cannabis products.<\/p>\n He also raised eyebrows by comparing marijuana commerce to slavery, saying cannabis \u201chas been advocated by people who were in it to make money\u201d and \u201cslavery made money also and was a terrible circumstance that this country and the world went through for many, many years.\u201d<\/p>\n Woodfin later called the comparison \u201cpatently offensive.\u201d<\/p>\n Comparing the legal cannabis industry to slavery is patently offensive. <\/p>\n I hope that Rep. @PeteSessions<\/a> learns from his many Republican colleagues on the right side of this issue. <\/p>\n It\u2019s past time we end the prohibition of cannabis. pic.twitter.com\/psySB0Ilsc<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Randall Woodfin (@randallwoodfin) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Mace also made a point to \u201ccondemn those words\u201d from Sessions, saying there is \u201cabsolutely no justification occasion for anybody up here today in Congress to compare cannabis to slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a disgusting comparison and never should have been stated up here today,\u201d she said. \u201cProhibition of cannabis was created out of racism.\u201d<\/p>\n Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) took the opportunity at the hearing to bring up \u201cthe unique and undemocratic position of the District of Columbia regarding both marijuana and clemency\u201d under a congressional spending bill rider that prevents the city from using its local tax dollars to implement a system of regulated cannabis sales despite voters approving legalization in 2014.<\/p>\n Today, during the @OversightDems<\/a> hearing on marijuana, I\u2019ll discuss the importance of removing the rider that prohibits DC from using its local funds on commercializing recreational marijuana and giving DC authority to grant clemency for DC crimes.#DCStatehood<\/a> #HandsOffDC<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Eleanor #DCStatehood Holmes Norton (@EleanorNorton) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u201cAnother violation of D.C. home law is that the president exercises authority to grant clemency for D.C. crimes,\u201d she said. \u201cLike the states and territories, D.C. should have the authority to grant clemency for its own crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n Mace, the panel\u2019s ranking member, previously told Marijuana Moment that\u00a0she had received a \u201cpromise\u201d from leadership<\/a>\u00a0that SRA would be taken under consideration in the committee.<\/p>\n The chairman, Raskin, made a point to credit Mace for the hearing, saying it was \u201cher idea\u201d to have the discussion in order to \u201ccollect information about what\u2019s taking place across the country and then to emphasize what needs to be done at the federal level.\u201d<\/p>\n Today’s landmark hearing will bring conversations from both sides of the aisle on much needed #cannabis<\/a> reform. <\/p>\n One step closer. #SRA<\/a> \u2014 Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Previously, Raskin filed a floor amendment to the MORE Act to require federal agencies to review security clearance denials going back to 1971 and retroactively make it so cannabis could not be used \u201cas a reason to deny or rescind a security clearance.\u201d That measure was narrowly defeated in a floor vote<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also at Tuesday\u2019s hearing, Mace and Goepel discussed the fact that, by the admission of several federal agencies, there are no recorded cases of someone dying from an overdose on cannabis alone.<\/p>\n It’s time to get Washington out of the weeds. <\/p>\n The States Reform Act will pave the way. #SRA<\/a> #Cannabis<\/a> #OversightHearing<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rep. Nancy Mace (@RepNancyMace) November 15, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n With respect to state-level marijuana developments, the panel met one week after the midterm elections, which saw two more states, Maryland<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Missouri<\/a>, vote to legalize adult-use cannabis.<\/p>\n This month also marks the 10-year anniversary of the first state votes to legalize cannabis for adult-use in Colorado and Washington State.<\/p>\n To mark the occasion, Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-CO) recently announced\u00a0that he will soon be filing a bill<\/a>\u00a0to direct the attorney general to create a commission charged with making recommendations on a regulatory system for marijuana that models what\u2019s currently in place for alcohol.<\/p>\n The most recent House action on marijuana reform came in late September, when the Judiciary Committee\u00a0approved a series of criminal justice reform bills<\/a>\u2014including bipartisan proposals to clear records for prior federal marijuana convictions, provide funding for states that implement systems of automatic expungements and codify retroactive relief for people incarcerated due to on crack-cocaine sentencing disparities.<\/p>\n There was also expected to be an expedited vote in the Senate on a House-passed cannabis research bill in September, but that was\u00a0delayed after a GOP senator raised an objection<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also on the Senate side, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has been working to finalize a package of incremental marijuana legislation, which is expected to include cannabis industry banking protections and expungements proposals.<\/p>\n Schumer recently said that Congress is\u00a0getting \u201cvery close\u201d to introducing and passing<\/a>\u00a0the marijuana bill, colloquially known as SAFE Plus, following discussions with a \u201cbunch of Republican senators.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who is also a primary sponsor of CAOA, said on Sunday that, because Republicans will have a majority in the House next session, Democrats who want to enact marijuana reform\u00a0must either do it \u201cnow\u201d during the lame duck<\/a>\u00a0or wait until \u201cmany years from now\u201d when his party has a shot at controlling Congress again.<\/p>\n Nearly Seven In Ten Americans Back Marijuana Legalization, Including Majority Of Republicans, Latest Gallup Poll Finds<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Image element courtesy of Tim Evanson<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Congressional Lawmakers Hold Hearing On Marijuana Legalization In Committee<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Congressional lawmakers held a hearing on Tuesday to discuss federal marijuana legalization and state cannabis developments, hearing testimony from a panel of broadly pro-reform advocates. The House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties first announced the meeting\u2014titled \u201cDevelopments in State Cannabis Laws and Bipartisan Cannabis Reforms at theContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":58012,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58011"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58013,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58011\/revisions\/58013"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
It\u2019s time to promote the safety and health of our communities and end the war on cannabis. pic.twitter.com\/vmYr4Se32T<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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fiscal, or cultural perspective for Congress to try to put this genie back in the bottle or to
continue to place its collective head in the sand. It is time to end cannabis prohibition. pic.twitter.com\/YLGLbN6e9O<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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\nRead More: Congressional Lawmakers Hold Hearing On Marijuana Legalization In Committee<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"