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It \u201cappears likely\u201d that the federal government will reschedule marijuana, congressional researchers say in a new report. But Congress still has the authority to address the federal-state cannabis policy gap \u201cbefore or after\u201d that reform is enacted.<\/p>\n
Days after the Justice Department announced that it was moving forward with plans to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III<\/a> of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a report outlining policy considerations for legislators.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven the current marijuana law and policy gap between the federal government and most states, there are a number of issues that Congress may address,\u201d CRS said. \u201cThese topics include, but are not limited to, marijuana\u2019s designation under the CSA, financial services for marijuana businesses, federal tax issues for these businesses, oversight of federal law enforcement and its role in enforcing federal marijuana laws, and states\u2019 implementation of marijuana laws.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn addressing state-level legalization efforts, Congress could take several routes. It could take no action, in which case it appears likely DEA will move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III,\u201d it said. \u201cCongress could also enact marijuana legislation before or after DEA acts on rescheduling.\u201d<\/p>\n CRS has repeatedly drawn attention to the policy gulf that\u2019s widened as more states have moved to legalize marijuana<\/a>. That won\u2019t necessarily change if the federal government reschedules cannabis, which would not legalize it, but it does renew interest in possible legislative solutions.<\/p>\n \u201cAlthough state laws do not affect the status of marijuana under federal law or the ability of the federal government to enforce it, state legalization initiatives have spurred a number of questions regarding potential implications for federal laws and policies, including federal drug regulation, and access to banking and other services for marijuana businesses,\u201d the report says. \u201cThus far, the federal response to states\u2019 legalizing marijuana largely has been to allow states to implement their own laws.\u201d<\/p>\n CRS said that potential legislative options for Congress include implementing \u201cmore or less stringent marijuana control, ranging from pushing for federal law enforcement to dismantle state medical and recreational marijuana programs to limiting federal marijuana regulation through means such as appropriations provisions, to rescheduling or de-controlling marijuana under the CSA.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis last option would largely eliminate the gap with states that have authorized recreational and comprehensive medical marijuana,\u201d the report says<\/a>. \u201cAs Congress considers these questions, states may continue to act on marijuana legalization. No state has reversed its legalization of either medical or recreational marijuana at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 CRS also released a separate report last week asserting that, if the federal government reschedules marijuana as proposed by the Justice Department, the move would not legalize cannabis or bring state-regulated markets \u201cinto compliance.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n The\u00a0report\u00a0echoes points\u00a0CRS made in a separate marijuana analysis published in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cRescheduling or descheduling marijuana under the CSA could raise additional legal questions,\u201d it said, noting the potential role of FDA in regulating cannabis products and the possibility of Congress establishing a regulatory framework for marijuana.<\/p>\n To that end, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and colleagues\u00a0reintroduced legislation this week to federally legalize cannabis<\/a>\u00a0and impose certain regulations. The bill\u2019s prospects are dubious in the current divided Congress, however.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the top Democrat in the U.S. House said last week that 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 the legalization bill<\/a>\u00a0Schumer filed.<\/p>\n Biden Should Release People In Prison For Marijuana, Criminal Defense Lawyers Group Tells White House<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Congressional Researchers Say It\u2019s \u2018Likely\u2019 Marijuana Will Be Rescheduled, But It Wouldn\u2019t Fix Federal-State Policy Gap<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
It \u201cappears likely\u201d that the federal government will reschedule marijuana, congressional researchers say in a new report. But Congress still has the authority to address the federal-state cannabis policy gap \u201cbefore or after\u201d that reform is enacted. Days after the Justice Department announced that it was moving forward with plansContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":75110,"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\/75109"}],"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=75109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75111,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75109\/revisions\/75111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Congressional Researchers Say It\u2019s \u2018Likely\u2019 Marijuana Will Be Rescheduled, But It Wouldn\u2019t Fix Federal-State Policy Gap<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"