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A GOP senator says the federal government needs to \u201cstep up\u201d and explore a regulatory framework for marijuana\u2014and that should include a pathway to explore the \u201cefficacy\u201d of cannabis for certain health conditions.<\/p>\n
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) made the comments during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, where President Donald Trump\u2019s judicial appointees and nominee for director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) testified<\/a> ahead of possible confirmation votes.<\/p>\n Tillis said that Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) made points about cannabis policy in the hearing that \u201care very well-taken,\u201d adding that \u201cCongress is not doing its job by recognizing that that bell has been rung.\u201d<\/p>\n As more states enact legalization, certain public health concerns related to THC potency are going to worsen \u201cunless we get serious about regulatory regimens,\u201d the Republican senator argued.<\/p>\n Listen to the senator\u2019s remarks on marijuana regulations starting at 2:44:10 into the video below:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cCongress needs to step up and try to figure out how we can manage this [and] exploit its efficacy in areas that are helpful\u2014particularly for the treatment of persons with PTSD\u201d and pain, Tillis said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got to step up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn my remaining time here, hopefully we can get something done,\u201d Tillis, who is not running for reelection, said.<\/p>\n Earlier in the hearing, Trump\u2019s pick for White House drug czar, Sara Carter (who also uses the name Sara Bailey), addressed questions from Booker and said the administration is keeping \u201call options\u201d on the table as it continues to consider a pending marijuana rescheduling proposal, while describing cannabis reform as a \u201cbipartisan issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Booker noted that\u00a0Carter discussed her support for medical marijuana access in 2023<\/a>, adding that Congress has had \u201cbipartisan hearings here with military personnel talking about the transformative impact it\u2019s had\u201d in treating symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).<\/p>\n While the senator supports ending federal cannabis prohibition altogether, he said the rescheduling proposal that was initiated under former President Joe Biden and which Trump said last month he\u2019d be making a final decision on imminently would be a \u201cstep in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n Tillis didn\u2019t specifically weigh in on the proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). But he did echo earlier points he\u2019s made about the need to evaluate a regulatory framework for marijuana at the federal level.<\/p>\n \u2014 At a separate Judiciary Committee hearing in June, Tillis said opponents of marijuana legalization \u201chave lost\u201d the fight to maintain prohibition<\/a> and that \u201cit\u2019s time\u201d for lawmakers to address that reality by creating a regulatory framework treating cannabis \u201cin the same way that we do with alcohol and tobacco,\u201d so that states can set their own policies without federal intervention.<\/p>\n Back in February, the senator also raised the issue during a Senate Banking Committee hearing,\u00a0saying \u201cwe should reexamine [federal marijuana laws].\u201d<\/a>\u00a0But at the same time, \u201cwe damn sure shouldn\u2019t do it by passing\u201d legislation that would simply prevent federal regulators from penalizing banks that work with state-legal cannabis businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cIf somebody wants to work on rules of the road and do that\u2014and bank the industry in a cohesive, sustainable way that doesn\u2019t kind of skirt around the fact that it\u2019s still illegal at the federal level\u2014count me in. Happy to do it,\u201d Tillis said.<\/p>\n Tillis also said last December that he\u2019s hopeful Congress will have a \u201cdiscussion\u201d about\u00a0potentially creating a federal regulatory framework for marijuana<\/a>\u00a0in 2025, though he added that he personally wouldn\u2019t vote to federally legalize cannabis.<\/p>\n Last year, the senator also said he supports creating a \u201ccomprehensive regulatory framework<\/a> that treats marijuana just like tobacco,\u201d arguing that \u201cthe federal government needs to figure out a safe way to allow this market to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n Tillis in April joined Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) in asking federal, state and local officials what steps they were taking to enforce marijuana prohibition<\/a>\u00a0as an Indian tribe prepared to launch recreational cannabis sales on its lands within North Carolina.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, back in 2017, Tillis also teamed up with bipartisan colleagues on a bill that was meant to\u00a0ease researchers\u2019 access to marijuana for studies on its medical benefits<\/a> and require the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to develop recommendations for good manufacturing practices for growing and producing cannabis for research.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The post GOP Senator Says Congress Must \u2018Step Up\u2019 And Regulate Marijuana, While Exploring Its \u2018Efficacy\u2019 For PTSD And Pain<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A GOP senator says the federal government needs to \u201cstep up\u201d and explore a regulatory framework for marijuana\u2014and that should include a pathway to explore the \u201cefficacy\u201d of cannabis for certain health conditions. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) made the comments during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, where PresidentContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":83331,"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\/83330"}],"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=83330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83332,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83330\/revisions\/83332"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\nRead More: GOP Senator Says Congress Must \u2018Step Up\u2019 And Regulate Marijuana, While Exploring Its \u2018Efficacy\u2019 For PTSD And Pain<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"