With the federal government moving to reschedule marijuana, a Democratic congressman has issued a new memo on cannabis reform priorities to reflect renewed \u201coptimism for the path ahead\u201d\u2014laying out suggestions to advance the issue both in Congress and administratively.<\/p>\n
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), founding co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, issued the memo on Tuesday\u2014about a week after the Justice Department confirmed that it proposed reclassifying marijuana under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cSchedule III is not quite what we wanted\u2014marijuana shouldn\u2019t be scheduled at all\u2014but it is nonetheless a revolutionary step that sends a signal about the imperative of ending the failed war on drugs,\u201d Blumenauer said, adding that cannabis is \u201ca winning issue.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is clear the Biden-Harris Administration is listening to the unprecedented public demand for cannabis reform. President Biden has been much more engaged on the issue,\u201d the memo says. \u201cHe pardoned thousands of individuals, initiated this long-overdue review of scheduling, and opened a new chapter for reform. The Administration must move through the regulatory process as quickly as possible to reschedule cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n The memo also lays out the key implications of rescheduling, including allowing marijuana businesses to take federal tax deductions and removing cannabis research barriers. The administrative move also represents a critical acknowledgement of the medical value of marijuana, it says.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the DOJ\u2019s announcement, this updated memo reflects my optimism for the path ahead and details the work that remains,\u201d Blumenauer said, referencing an earlier annual document he issued in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n The congressman\u2019s memo emphasizes that while rescheduling represents a \u201csignificant step toward ending the failed war on drugs, there is still significant work ahead for Congress.\u201d<\/p>\n To that end, the memo stresses that the \u201cwork includes ending the criminalization of marijuana.\u201d As the Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report last week, Blumenauer notes that a Schedule III reclassification would not legalize marijuana, and certain cannabis-related activity would continue to be criminalized under the CSA<\/a>.<\/p>\n For the remainder of the congressional session, Blumenauer said that lawmakers should focus on advancing legislation to federally legalize cannabis, free up cannabis industry access to the banking system, prevent Justice Department interference in state markets and allow the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make medical cannabis recommendations to patients.<\/p>\n The memo also makes recommendations for further administrative action, including expanding pardons and commutations for people with federal marijuana convictions, reissuing \u201cimproved\u201d guidance on enforcement priorities, updating truck driver THC impairment testing, ending the practice of evicting people from federally subsidized housing over cannabis and more.<\/p>\n \u201cThroughout the executive branch, the Biden-Harris Administration should consider the implications of marijuana prohibition and criminalization as they take steps to end discriminatory policies across branches and with every power available to them,\u201d Blumenauer, who is retiring at the end of this Congress, said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no doubt that critical work remains,\u201d he said. \u201cHowever, we should celebrate this historic step forward, which is possible because of the tireless work my partners and I have put behind these reforms for more than 50 years. I am committed to building on this momentum to end the failed cannabis prohibition once and for all.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, the congressman similarly argued that the rescheduling decision from DEA will \u201copen the floodgates\u201d for additional congressional action<\/a> such as passage of the bipartisan cannabis banking bill.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to make it much easier to have other items that are queued up,\u201d the Democratic congressman said. \u201cWith this, it\u2019s going to be a matter of time before we get movement in the Senate\u2014dealing with the banking issue, which is long overdue.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTaking it to Schedule III is, first of all a signal, that people recognize that the current scheduling process is completely wrong, flawed and unfair,\u201d Blumenauer said. \u201cIt takes care of a major problem that we\u2019ve faced.\u201d<\/p>\n The congressman also reiterated his belief that the Justice Department would soon be reissuing marijuana enforcement discretion guidances that was rescinded under the Trump administration. He and the former DOJ official who authored the original memorandum told Marijuana Moment last week that\u00a0they expect it will be expanded to account for societal changes around the issue<\/a>, as well as the rescheduling push.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram told lawmakers on Tuesday that it would be \u201cinappropriate\u201d for her to comment on the agency\u2019s recent marijuana rescheduling determination<\/a> because the rulemaking process is \u201congoing.\u201d<\/p>\n The head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) separately said that marijuana industry banking access would make the agency\u2019s job easier<\/a>, and officials \u201cshouldn\u2019t just sit on our hands\u201d as the federal government moves to reschedule cannabis.<\/p>\n Read Blumenauer\u2019s memo<\/a> on marijuana reform priorities in light of the rescheduling decision below:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n FDA Expert Committee Will Review MDMA-Assisted Therapy For PTSD Next Month<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Democratic Congressman Lays Out New Marijuana Agenda To Reflect Renewed \u2018Optimism\u2019 Amid Rescheduling Move<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
With the federal government moving to reschedule marijuana, a Democratic congressman has issued a new memo on cannabis reform priorities to reflect renewed \u201coptimism for the path ahead\u201d\u2014laying out suggestions to advance the issue both in Congress and administratively. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), founding co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus,Continue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75041"}],"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=75041"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75042,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75041\/revisions\/75042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Democratic Congressman Lays Out New Marijuana Agenda To Reflect Renewed \u2018Optimism\u2019 Amid Rescheduling Move<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"