The Trump administration\u2019s attorney general told senators on Tuesday that she\u2019s committed to reviewing an Indian tribe\u2019s practices related to the legal marijuana sales program it has launched on reservation lands. She also pledged to look into an app a GOP senator flagged that helps connect people to legal cannabis businesses across state lines.<\/p>\n
During a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) asked Attorney General Pam Bondi about cannabis policy issues, focusing on the sale of marijuana on Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI) land within his state of North Carolina that he said he has \u201cno problem with\u201d generally\u2014but that he still finds \u201cconcerning\u201d with respect to the conflict between state and federal marijuana laws.<\/p>\n
\u201cNearly three dozen states [have] either medical, recreational or hybrid\u201d cannabis models, the senator said. \u201cBut this kind of feels like to me, the way the tobacco industry got attacked for advertising to young people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is just this worries me, because it\u2019s a money-making enterprise. It kind of seems like it\u2019s preying on younger people,\u201d he said, pointing to an app that he claims allows people in states that prohibit cannabis to order marijuana products in a legal jurisdiction and then pick it up after crossing state boundaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cI assume that they\u2019re not delivering it outside of the boundary, because I think that would be illegal. Would that be illegal?\u201d Tillis asked.<\/p>\n
Bondi thanked the senator for \u201cpointing that out\u201d and said she was \u201cnot familiar with that app that we will certainly look at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tillis then presented a \u201chypothetical\u201d for the attorney general, inquiring about whether it would be federally illegal if cannabis was imported into a port in North Carolina, where it\u2019s prohibited, and then transported to a legal state such as New York.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cIs that an illegal transportation of a controlled substance\u2014unless it teleports into a legal jurisdiction, wouldn\u2019t it have been illegally transported at some point?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Bondi replied: \u201cBased on federal law [that\u2019s true], senator.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you familiar with the science of teleportation?\u201d Tillis asked jokingly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, senator,\u201d the attorney general said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a growing operation of western North Carolina that is a part of the tribal lands. The problem is, I can\u2019t find any legal way to get this pot that is grown here to the dispensary that\u2019s at another non-contiguous area of the boundaries,\u201d Tillis said. \u201cI\u2019m just trying to figure out how the Eastern Band of the Cherokee are legally transporting what they\u2019re growing at scale here to where they\u2019re advertising in Charlotte on the billboards as one of the country\u2019s largest dispensaries\u2014and apparently also offering to let you buy it online.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I get your commitment within the DOJ\u2014not you personally\u2014but can I just get a definitive answer, that there\u2019s no there-there that they are legally transporting it, or that we do have something here that doesn\u2019t seem to comport with federal law?\u201d he asked<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, senator, I will absolutely have my team look at that issue,\u201d Bondi said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not familiar with that establishment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLike I said, it\u2019s an island. I really think the federal government needs to step up. We need to get rid of this neither fish nor fowl sort of status that marijuana has in this country now,\u201d the senator said. \u201cI think that people have spoken many red states, even your home state\u2014my home state has, I think probably the many states\u2026 are trending towards legalizing it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get it solved at the federal level. We\u2019ve got to capture revenue,\u201d he said. \u201cThat revenue needs to go back to federal law enforcement, and we need to have a lot more focus on what I think are unsafe and inconsistent practices across the state. So if I could get that, I would appreciate it.\u201d<\/p>\n A recent infographic from an advocacy group representing Native American tribes in the legal cannabis industry showed that more than a fourth of Indigenous communities in the continental U.S., including the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, are now involved with marijuana or hemp programs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tillis also said last month that 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n At a separate Judiciary Committee hearing in June, Tillis said\u00a0opponents of marijuana legalization \u201chave lost\u201d the fight to maintain prohibition<\/a>\u00a0and 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 During her confirmation hearings, meanwhile, Bondi declined to say how she planned to navigate key marijuana policy issues<\/a>. And as Florida\u2019s attorney general, she opposed efforts to legalize medical cannabis in the state.<\/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\u00a0he supports creating a \u201ccomprehensive regulatory framework<\/a>\u00a0that 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\u00a0steps 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 Separately, Trump\u2019s nominee for White House drug czar, Sara Carter, told members of the Judiciary Committee at a hearing last month that the administration is keeping \u201call options\u201d on the table as it continues to consider the marijuana rescheduling proposal<\/a>, while describing cannabis reform as a \u201cbipartisan issue.\u201d<\/p>\n Three GOP senators discussed the impact of\u00a0 the administration potentially rescheduling cannabis<\/a> in interviews with Marijuana Moment last with, with two of them describing the move as a \u201cgame changer.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, one of Trump\u2019s longtime advisors, Roger Stone, recently said that his administration\u00a0has an opportunity to move forward with marijuana rescheduling<\/a>\u2014or, even broader legalization\u2014in a way that Democrats who regularly tout the reform failed to achieve when they controlled the White House and Congress.<\/p>\n The comments came in response to the president\u2019s social media post late last month where he shared a video that\u00a0touted the health benefits of hemp-derived CBD, particular for seniors<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Republican Senate sponsor of a bipartisan cannabis banking bill said recently that\u00a0Trump rescheduling marijuana would be an \u201cimportant domino\u201d to advance his legislation<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whether Trump ultimately decides to move forward with rescheduling remains to be seen. Despite his endorsement of the policy change on the campaign trail ahead of his election for a second term, he declined to restate that support when asked about it during a briefing late last month\u2014though he did say a decision would come within weeks.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Trump AG Pledges To Review Tribe\u2019s Legal Marijuana Sales As Administration Separately Considers Rescheduling<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration\u2019s attorney general told senators on Tuesday that she\u2019s committed to reviewing an Indian tribe\u2019s practices related to the legal marijuana sales program it has launched on reservation lands. She also pledged to look into an app a GOP senator flagged that helps connect people to legal cannabisContinue 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\/83724"}],"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=83724"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83724\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83725,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83724\/revisions\/83725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Trump AG Pledges To Review Tribe\u2019s Legal Marijuana Sales As Administration Separately Considers Rescheduling<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"