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The top Democrat in the U.S. House says the Biden administration\u2019s move to reschedule marijuana is a \u201cstep in the right direction,\u201d but it should be followed up with congressional action such as passing a legalization bill that was reintroduced on the Senate side<\/a> this week. A top GOP leader, on the other hand, is voicing opposition to even the modest proposal to reclassify cannabis.<\/p>\n House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said during a press briefing on Wednesday that he supports both the administrative reform that the Justice Department announced\u2014moving to reclassify marijuana as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)\u2014and the legislation filed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and 17 Democratic colleagues<\/a> to end prohibition altogether.<\/p>\n Jeffries said he\u2019s been \u201clong involved in the effort to try to deschedule marijuana and break the back of the prison industrial complex and mass incarceration in the United States of America,\u201d adding that it was an \u201chonor\u201d to work on a bipartisan basis during the last administration to enact sentencing reform.<\/p>\n Jeffries and Schumer also previously introduced companion versions of a separate cannabis legalization proposal<\/a> called the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act.<\/p>\n With respect to rescheduling, Jeffries said \u201cthe effort taken by the Biden administration was impactful and another step in the right direction that we should build upon legislatively.\u201d<\/p>\n House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), meanwhile, criticized the administration\u2019s rescheduling action, saying the government should be focused on \u201creducing the number of people that use drugs and not increasing that number.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be making matters worse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n MARIJUANA : House Majority Leader @SteveScalise<\/a> criticizes reclassifying marijuana \u201cWe need to be reducing the number of people that use drugs and not increasing that number\u201d he says of reclassification. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be making matters worse \u201c<\/p>\n \u2014 Erik Wasson (@elwasson) April 30, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n President Joe Biden directed the scheduling review, but he has not specifically weighed in on DOJ\u2019s proposal to move marijuana Schedule III yet. The White House said on Wednesday that the decision is generally consistent with the president\u2019s 2020 marijuana reform campaign pledges<\/a>.<\/p>\n The prospects of building upon that with legislation to legalize marijuana are doubtful this session in a divided Congress, however. Instead, lawmakers, advocates and stakeholders are focused on advancing a bipartisan cannabis banking bill.<\/p>\n To that end, Schumer signaled he\u2019s not giving up hope on attaching the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act<\/a> to must-pass aviation legislation. But Republican leaders in both chambers represent roadblocks for the reform.<\/p>\n Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has\u00a0made clear that he\u2019s opposed to that option<\/a>.<\/p>\n Schumer also said on Tuesday that while the Drug Enforcement Administration\u2019s (DEA) decision to propose marijuana rescheduling<\/a>\u00a0is a \u201chistoric step forward,\u201d he remains \u201cstrongly committed\u201d to advancing cannabis banking and legalization legislation this session.<\/p>\n \u2014 Meanwhile, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA)\u00a0spoke out against the marijuana banking bill this week<\/a>, linking the legal marketplace to a deadly 2022 shooting at a cannabis facility that involved people who \u201cwere all from China.\u201d<\/p>\n The bipartisan support for the bill is evident, however. Just last week, the Republican vice chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. French Hill (R-AR) said he would support a hybrid marijuana banking and cryptocurrency regulation bill,\u00a0saying \u201cour country will benefit\u201d if both reforms are enacted<\/a>.<\/p>\n Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), separately said that \u201cnow is the time\u201d to pass cannabis banking reform, and she\u2019s \u201chopeful\u201d\u00a0lawmakers will \u201covercome\u201d any potential challenge from McConnell<\/a>\u00a0as they work to advance the legislation.<\/p>\n Last week Schumer once again included the bipartisan marijuana banking bill in a list of legislative priorities<\/a>\u00a0he hopes to advance this year.<\/p>\n Marijuana Legalization Opponents Raise Money For Potential Lawsuit Against Federal Rescheduling Move<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo element courtesy of Carlos Gracia<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Top House Democrat Says Marijuana Rescheduling Is A \u2018Step In The Right Direction,\u2019 While GOP Leader Opposes Reform<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The top Democrat in the U.S. House says the Biden administration\u2019s move to reschedule marijuana is a \u201cstep in the right direction,\u201d but it should be followed up with congressional action such as passing a legalization bill that was reintroduced on the Senate side this week. A top GOP leader,Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":74890,"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\/74889"}],"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=74889"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74891,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74889\/revisions\/74891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n<\/div>\n\n
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\nRead More: Top House Democrat Says Marijuana Rescheduling Is A \u2018Step In The Right Direction,\u2019 While GOP Leader Opposes Reform<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"