Federal Policy

The Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act passed the Senate Banking Committee today and is set for consideration by the full Senate. The bipartisan proposal seeks to normalize banking for state-legal cannabis companies.

Congressional Democrats have reintroduced the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which seeks to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level and implement criminal justice reforms.

The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability last week advanced a bipartisan measure to let cannabis consumers qualify for security clearances and become federal employees.

Fourteen Republican lawmakers have sent a letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, urging the agency to reject the recent Department of Health and Human Services recommendation to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under federal law.

U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-NC) introduced a proposal last week that would withhold some federal funds from states and tribes that have legalized cannabis for adults.

The White House press secretary said on Friday that President Biden “has always supported the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes” despite having championed legislation that fueled the war on drugs.

In a letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) asked why the agency has not taken steps to reconsider cannabis’ status as a Schedule I substance.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has recommended that cannabis be moved from a Schedule I to Schedule III substance under federal law.

After a federal appeals court ruled last week that the federal ban on cannabis consumers owning firearms is unconstitutional, the Justice Department informed a separate appeals court that it contests the ruling.

Cannabis research company MMJ International Holdings is preparing a lawsuit against the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for allegedly failing to follow federal law as it concerns the cultivation of pharmaceutical cannabis.

Despite growing momentum for cannabis reforms in Congress, the cannabis industry’s federal lobbying expenditures are down from their peak in previous years.

The U.S. House voted this week to add an amendment to the must-pass federal National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would end the prohibition on VA providers helping veterans to access state-legal medical cannabis programs.

A bipartisan U.S. House proposal seeks to end the consideration of prior or current cannabis use when assigning security clearance for federal employment.

Bipartisan federal lawmakers last week introduced legislation aimed at updating the federal hemp rules to ensure that hemp-derived CBD is regulated by the FDA like other legal products found in dietary supplements, foods, and beverages.

Officials have confirmed that Vermont cannabis businesses are ineligible for federal disaster aid for losses caused by the state’s recent floods because cannabis remains a federally prohibited, Schedule I drug.

Recent amendments to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) are seeking to end cannabis drug testing at enlistment for new military members.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week together issued warning letters to six companies for selling copycat food products containing hemp-derived delta-8 THC.

The American Trade Association for Cannabis and Hemp last week released a policy paper calling on Congress to regulate hemp-derived intoxicants including delta-8 and delta-9 THC products.

A federal House proposal introduced on Tuesday would promote cannabis research at U.S. universities and eliminate federal barriers to cannabis research.

A Pennsylvania proposal would urge the federal government to remove cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act, noting that medical cannabis reforms have been enacted in 38 U.S. states and four territories while 21 states, two territories, and Washington D.C. have passed adult-use laws.

The U.S. military and many federal agencies have started to deprioritize prior cannabis use when considering new hires.

Sen. John Tester (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said that a proposal to research medical cannabis use by veterans may be dead following its rejection in the Senate last week.

Bipartisan lawmakers in the U.S. House and Senate reintroduced the SAFE Banking Act this week, which seeks to normalize banking services for state-licensed cannabis companies.