A GOP congresswoman says that while she supports the push to federally reschedule marijuana, she is warning a top Biden administration official to refrain from taking steps to more broadly decriminalize other drugs.<\/p>\n
At a hearing before the House Education and the Workforce Committee on Wednesday, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) told U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra that the decision to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)<\/a> is \u201creally good welcoming news.\u201d However, she cautioned against decriminalizing drugs in line with Oregon\u2019s since-overturned law<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cFederal guidance has always been a nightmare [with respect to marijuana], and it\u2019s more important than ever to create a safe and professional environment for one of the fastest growing industries in America,\u201d she said. \u201cThis has proven to be a responsible process. But unlike Oregon\u2019s approach, which was to decriminalize all drugs at the same time [and] was not a good plan.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re familiar [with Oregon decriminalization experience], and as the United States is rapidly going toward classifying cannabis with its possible federal legalization, how can we ensure that that Measure 110 won\u2019t be a mistake that\u2019s made across the country?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n Becerra said he was aware of the voter-approved decriminalization initiative known as Measure 110, but he wasn\u2019t familiar with the details.<\/p>\n Chavez-DeRemer gave the secretary a brief overview of the policy, while arguing that it led to \u201cmass amounts of drugs on the streets and open market, and we were not helping the people who needed it most.\u201d She asked him to \u201ccommit\u201d to approaching future drug policy issues as the agency did with the cannabis scheduling review and not pursue broader decriminalization as took place in Oregon.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re more than willing to work with you on some of these issues,\u201d Becerra said. \u201cRemember, the cannabis action has not yet been finalized. But we\u2019re more than willing to work with you. We work based off of evidence, and so whatever we do has to be evidence-based.\u201d<\/p>\n While President Joe Biden directed a scheduling review into marijuana that led to a Schedule III determination, the administration is not currently pursuing drug decriminalization. Progressive Democrats did file a bill to federally decriminalize drugs during the last Congresss<\/a>, but it did not advance and has not since been reintroduced.<\/p>\n Becerra has previously made similar comments to lawmakers about the agency\u2019s evidence-based approach as it relates to its cannabis scheduling review<\/a>, defending the Schedule III conclusion.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, at Wednesday\u2019s hearing, Chavez-DeRemer also promoted the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) 2.0 Act<\/a> that she\u2019s cosponsoring. The bill would end federal marijuana prohibition in legal states, legalize interstate cannabis commerce, normalize Internal Revenue Service (IRS) policy for the industry and contemplate a federal tax-and-regulate framework for the industry.<\/p>\n The congresswoman said it would \u201censure that every state has its right to determine the best approach to cannabis within its borders.\u201d<\/p>\n Where Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Stands On Marijuana<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post GOP Congresswoman Applauds Marijuana Rescheduling But Urges Top Biden Official To Refrain From Decriminalizing Other Drugs<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A GOP congresswoman says that while she supports the push to federally reschedule marijuana, she is warning a top Biden administration official to refrain from taking steps to more broadly decriminalize other drugs. At a hearing before the House Education and the Workforce Committee on Wednesday, Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR)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":[18,81,126],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75320"}],"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=75320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75321,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75320\/revisions\/75321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: GOP Congresswoman Applauds Marijuana Rescheduling But Urges Top Biden Official To Refrain From Decriminalizing Other Drugs<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"