Two GOP senators said recently that they remain opposed to marijuana reform\u2014in part, because they believe cannabis is a \u201cgateway drug,\u201d perpetuating the dubious claim as other Republican lawmakers members raise concerns about the Biden administration\u2019s push to enact rescheduling.<\/p>\n
In an interview with St. Louis Public Radio that aired on Monday, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) was asked about his views on various cannabis reform proposals, including comprehensive legalization and bipartisan legislation to protect banks that work with state-licensed marijuana businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think that marijuana is still a gateway drug,\u201d Hawley said. \u201cWe have medicinal marijuana, which I did support in Missouri. So if you want to get the medicinal benefits, there\u2019s a way to capture that.\u201d He did caveat, however, that he thinks \u201cthe medicinal benefits of it are limited.\u201d<\/p>\n
But while he knows the state\u2019s voters have since approved adult-use legalization and would \u201cabide by\u201d the law, he said he didn\u2019t vote for it and \u201cwouldn\u2019t support extending it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI think, for kids and teenagers, the dangers of that, the long-term, the longitudinal use, I think the dangers are high,\u201d Hawley said<\/a>. \u201cI think what it leads to is dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) separately said on Saturday that he also believes \u201cmarijuana is a gateway drug,\u201d which has informed his opposition to federal and state-level reform, including a legalization proposal on the ballot in his state of Florida.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to do everything I can to make sure these don\u2019t pass,\u201d he said<\/a>, according to Florida Politics, referring to both the cannabis measure and another ballot initiative on reproductive rights.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a number of other GOP senators similarly voiced opposition to various marijuana reform proposals, including rescheduling and banking, in recent interviews with AskAPol\u2019s Matt Laslo.<\/p>\n For example, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) said<\/a>\u00a0that he feels rescheduling marijuana is \u201ca bad idea,\u201d adding that \u201cmarijuana is far more potent than people of my generation remember and this is a bad decision.\u201d Asked whether his opinion was based on personal experience, the senator affirmed he has not tried cannabis.<\/p>\n Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD), whose state will decide on marijuana legalization this November, said<\/a>, \u201cI don\u2019t like it,\u201d with respect to rescheduling, which would not federally legalize cannabis.<\/p>\n \u201cI think right now with the implications coming out on health care\u2014and now to reschedule a drug, which clearly has health care implications, and suggest to young people that it\u2019s less of a danger now? It\u2019s just a bad message to send,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Sen. Mike Crapo (R-ID) said<\/a>, \u201cI don\u2019t think it should be taken off the Schedule I list,\u201d while Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) declined<\/a> to comment on his position on cannabis policy, as did<\/a> Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).<\/p>\n Not all Republican members are vociferously opposing cannabis reform in the lead-up to the election, however.<\/p>\n For example, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who\u2019s been critical of the Biden administration\u2019s process that led to the marijuana rescheduling proposal, still says the reform would be a \u201cgood thing,\u201d<\/a> adding that it\u2019d be better to tax cannabis and let licensed businesses access the banking system.<\/p>\n In the background, lawmakers are convening for the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week, where Vice President Kamala Harris will be ceremonially nominated after delegates voted virtually to put her at the top of the ticket following President Joe Biden\u2019s decision to bow out of the race.<\/p>\n Delegates also voted on a party platform on Monday\u00a0touting Biden\u2019s marijuana pardons and rescheduling moves<\/a>, while calling for broader reform to expunge prior records.<\/p>\n Observers are also awaiting a formal statement from Trump about where he\u00a0stands on a recreational legalization measure that will be on the November ballot in Florida<\/a>, where he\u2019s a resident, after he said he\u2019s\u00a0increasingly open to decriminalization amid the state-level legalization movement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Harris has a more defined position on cannabis issues heading into the election. While critics, including Trump,\u00a0have been quick to point to her prosecutorial record on marijuana<\/a>, she\u2019s also sponsored a comprehensive legalization bill in the Senate and called for legalization as recently as March during a closed-door meeting with cannabis pardon recipients.<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate<\/a>, choosing a candidate who backed numerous cannabis reform measures in Congress, called for an end to prohibition when he was running for governor and then signed a comprehensive legalization bill into law in 2023.<\/p>\n As president, now-2024 Republican nominee Donald Trump largely stayed true to his position that marijuana laws should be handled at the state-level, with no major crackdown on cannabis programs as some feared after then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded the Obama era federal enforcement guidance. In fact, Trump criticized the top DOJ official and suggested the move should be reversed<\/a>.<\/p>\n While he was largely silent on the issue of legalization, he did tentatively endorse a bipartisan bill to\u00a0codify federal policy respecting states\u2019 rights to legalize<\/a>.<\/p>\n That said, on several occasions he released signing statements on spending legislation stipulating that he\u00a0reserved the right to ignore a long-standing rider<\/a>\u00a0that prohibits the Justice Department from\u00a0using its funds to interfere with state-legal medical marijuana programs<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Democratic National Committee has\u00a0separately played up the Biden-Harris administration\u2019s marijuana reform platform<\/a>\u00a0on social media\u2014but it\u2019s received some pushback after suggesting that cannabis has already been rescheduled and that the country\u2019s \u201cfailed approach\u201d to marijuana has now ended.<\/p>\n Ohio Retailers Sold $22.5 Million Worth Of Recreational Marijuana In First 11 Days Of Legal Sales<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n The post GOP Senators Claim Marijuana Is A \u2018Gateway Drug\u2019 As They Oppose Rescheduling And Legalization<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Two GOP senators said recently that they remain opposed to marijuana reform\u2014in part, because they believe cannabis is a \u201cgateway drug,\u201d perpetuating the dubious claim as other Republican lawmakers members raise concerns about the Biden administration\u2019s push to enact rescheduling. In an interview with St. Louis Public Radio that airedContinue 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\/77496"}],"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=77496"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77497,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77496\/revisions\/77497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: GOP Senators Claim Marijuana Is A \u2018Gateway Drug\u2019 As They Oppose Rescheduling And Legalization<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"