President Donald Trump\u2019s order to complete the process of federally rescheduling marijuana could move the needle to enact cannabis reform in West Virginia, a top Republican lawmaker says.<\/p>\n
With proposals to legalize or decriminalize marijuana again on the table in both chambers this session, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw (R) signaled that there may be some bipartisan support for the legislation. He noted that \u201cwe\u2019ve had members of the Republican party\u201d file adult-use legalization bills similar to one that\u2019s being sponsored by Del. Evan Hansen (D).<\/p>\n
While there may be \u201cphilosophical reasons\u201d that certain members of the caucus oppose legalization, Trump\u2019s recent executive order on expeditiously moving marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) could grease the wheels by giving them political cover, Hanshaw told The Herald-Dispatch.<\/p>\n
Hansen\u2019s proposal, which is pending action before the House Judiciary Committee, would create a system of regulated adult-use cannabis sales. The legislator has previously sponsored similar legislation, but the reform has yet to be enacted.<\/p>\n
To what extent federal rescheduling could result in different outcome this session is yet to be seen. Moving marijuana to Schedule III wouldn\u2019t federally legalize it, but lawmakers in several states have indicated that the symbolic message behind the policy change could lend to actionable reform<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the West Virginia Senate, meanwhile, Minority Leader Mike Woelfel (D) is championing a separate bill to decriminalize possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana for personal use, reducing the offense from a misdemeanor to a civil infraction that doesn\u2019t carry the threat of jail time.<\/p>\n The legislation has been referred to the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee, and Chairman Brian Helton (R) recently said<\/a> \u201cI\u2019ll certainly meet with [the sponsor], and we\u2019ll talk about his bill.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs I\u2019m new to this committee, all bills, including [SB 100], are under review,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The window to move on the reform is limited, as the legislative session is set to end on March 14. And while Trump ordered Attorney General Pam Bondi to quickly complete the rescheduling process, it remains to be seen when that rule might be finalized.<\/p>\n Pressure has been building in West Virginia to deliver on reform, especially as the state\u2019s medical cannabis patient population has faced high prices that have driven some to buy from adult-use markets in surrounding states<\/a>.<\/p>\n West Virginia officials have also faced criticism for leaving millions in medical marijuana tax and fee revenue unspent in the years since its program launched, with the state\u2019s treasurer expressing reservations given the ongoing federal prohibition on cannabis that\u2019s complicated banking dynamics<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prior to leaving office, then-Senate Majority Leader Craig Blair (R) said in 2024 that legalizing marijuana in the state could help ease the state\u2019s crush of fatal fentanyl overdoses<\/a>, predicting that the policy change will come \u201csooner than later.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite past surveys finding majority support among voters for the policy change, marijuana legalization efforts have progressed slowly in West Virginia.<\/p>\n In 2022, activists attempted to put\u00a0decriminalization measures on two municipal ballots in the state<\/a>, but neither effort was ultimately successful. Similar efforts were\u00a0undertaken in four cities a year earlier<\/a>, but those efforts also fell short. In 2019, Salem voters\u00a0rejected a similar reform proposal<\/a>\u00a0at the ballot box.<\/p>\n Former Gov. Jim Justice (R), for his part, said in 2021 that although he was not personally a fan of legalization, he would have supported the reform if the legislature sent a bill<\/a>\u00a0to his desk.<\/p>\n Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Top GOP West Virginia Lawmaker Says Trump\u2019s Marijuana Rescheduling Order Could Bolster Push For State Legalization<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump\u2019s order to complete the process of federally rescheduling marijuana could move the needle to enact cannabis reform in West Virginia, a top Republican lawmaker says. With proposals to legalize or decriminalize marijuana again on the table in both chambers this session, House Speaker Roger Hanshaw (R) signaledContinue 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\/85264"}],"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=85264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85265,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85264\/revisions\/85265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nRead More: Top GOP West Virginia Lawmaker Says Trump\u2019s Marijuana Rescheduling Order Could Bolster Push For State Legalization<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"