President Donald Trump\u2019s nominee for White House drug czar told senators on Wednesday that 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
During a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sara Carter (who also uses the name Sara Bailey) was pressed on cannabis rescheduling by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who asked how she would advise the president as he considers moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).<\/p>\n
Booker noted that Carter 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 \u201cThat would finally at least recognize that [cannabis has] medical benefits, but it would allow scientists to study the short- and long-term health impacts,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would open up the door to more scientific study, and so I\u2019m wondering if you were confirmed, how would you advise the American president about the ongoing rescheduling process?\u201d<\/p>\n Watch the discussion on marijuana, starting around 2:37:50 into the video below:<\/strong><\/p>\n Carter, who was nominated by Trump to serve as director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), said she shares Booker\u2019s passion for the issue, which she characterized as \u201cbipartisan.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf confirmed as director, I will comply with all federal laws and fulfill all statutory responsibilities of the ONDCP,\u201d she said. \u201cHowever, we will continue to work extensively with research and data. We will continue to do that and explore all options.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump endorsed rescheduling\u2014as well as marijuana industry banking access and a Florida legalization ballot initiative\u2013on the campaign trail ahead of his second term. But his most recent comments about the timeline for a rescheduling decision gave a more ambiguous impression of his position on the issue.<\/p>\n At Wednesday\u2019s hearing, Carter also noted that she\u2019s already met with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins, and the administration is aligned on the need for \u201ccontinued research and data that we will be delivering, and based on that research and data we can continue to assess. I think that is vitally important.\u201d<\/p>\n Booker brought up the fact that federal law currently prevents ONDCP from promoting the legalization of Schedule I drugs like cannabis, which he said makes researching the substance \u201creally difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo I\u2019m hoping, as we work together across the aisle on legislation that would simply allow the ONDCP to study the impacts, that this might be something that you would support,\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAbsolutely I can,\u201d Carter said. \u201cWe will continue to study the impacts of that.\u201d<\/p>\n The nominee has previously called medical marijuana a \u201cfantastic\u201d treatment option for seriously ill patients and said she doesn\u2019t have a \u201cproblem\u201d with legalization, even if she might not personally agree with the policy.<\/p>\n While Carter has spoken often about various marijuana policy issues\u2014focusing attention on illicit trafficking and illegal grow operations on U.S. land, for example\u2014her public comments on how she personally feels about the topic have been limited. What she did say last year in an episode of her podcast, The Sara Carter Show, signaled that she draws a distinction between legally regulated and illicitly supplied marijuana.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have any problem if it\u2019s legalized and it\u2019s monitored,\u201d she said. \u201cI mean, I may have my own issues of how I feel about that, but I do believe that cannabis for medicinal purposes and medical reasons is a fantastic way of handling\u2014especially for people with cancer and other illnesses, you know\u2014of handling the illness and the side effects of the medication and those illnesses. So I\u2019m not saying we\u2019ve gotta make it illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n If Carter is ultimately confirmed by the Senate, she will become the second drug czar in a row who has voiced support for medical marijuana, following\u00a0former President Joe Biden\u2019s ONDCP director Rahul Gupta<\/a>, who worked as a consultant for a cannabis businesses and also oversaw implementation of West Virginia\u2019s medical marijuana program.<\/p>\n On her social media, Carter has previously shared links\u2014without commentary\u2014to news stories about a variety of marijuana-related issues. In addition to her focus on illicit cartel grows, she\u2019s also posted about congressional and state-level legalization votes, staffers in the Biden administration being fired over past cannabis use, Democratic presidential candidates\u2019 support for legalization, the advancement of cannabis banking legislation in Congress and state policy developments such as Alaska\u2019s legalization of cannabis cafes.<\/p>\n As Booker referenced during Wednesday\u2019s hearing, federal\u00a0statute<\/a> dictates the drug czar is prohibited from endorsing the legalization of Schedule I drugs in the CSA, including marijuana.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Director\u2026shall ensure that no Federal funds appropriated to the Office of National Drug Control Policy shall be expended for any study or contract relating to the legalization (for a medical use or any other use) of a substance listed in schedule I of section 812 of this title and take such actions as necessary to oppose any attempt to legalize the use of a substance (in any form) that\u2014 (A) is listed in schedule I of section 812 of this title; and (B) has not been approved for use for medical purposes by the Food and Drug Administration.\u201d<\/p>\n In April, however, Democratic congressional lawmakers announced the filing of a bill that would remove that restriction<\/a>. It has not yet advanced in the GOP-controlled Congress.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n The post Trump\u2019s Drug Czar Pick Says Marijuana Is A \u2018Bipartisan Issue,\u2019 But Admin Still Exploring \u2018All Options\u2019 On Scheduling<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump\u2019s nominee for White House drug czar told senators on Wednesday that 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 During a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee,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\/83333"}],"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=83333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83334,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83333\/revisions\/83334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Trump\u2019s Drug Czar Pick Says Marijuana Is A \u2018Bipartisan Issue,\u2019 But Admin Still Exploring \u2018All Options\u2019 On Scheduling<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"