Federal Policy

The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote next month on the MORE Act, which would federally legalize cannabis by removing the plant from the Controlled Substances Act. It will be the first time either chamber of Congress will have officially considered ending cannabis prohibition.

The Republican National Committee Chair said that the legal status of medical cannabis is an issue best left for individual states to decide.

Kamala Harris, Joe Biden’s pick for the second half of the Democratic presidential ticket, said in their first joint interview that the Biden-Harris Administration will pursue a national policy of cannabis decriminalization.

Federal prosecutors in Canada have been directed to avoid prosecuting drug possession cases unless the crime poses a major public safety risk.

The attorneys behind a potential landmark lawsuit challenging the federal prohibition of cannabis as unconstitutional are calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear their case.

Following a spate of EVALI cases in 2019, the vaping-related lung disease has received little attention in the months since COVID-19. One year later, we’re left wondering: what happened, how did it happen, and what could have been done differently?

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver has ruled that a drug conviction is not necessarily automatic grounds for deporting an immigrant who is in the U.S. on a green card.

Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith has proposed a federal legalization bill that would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and grant regulatory authority of the plant to the Food and Drug Administration.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell threw shade at Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi yesterday, suggesting that she claimed cannabis was an effective treatment for COVID-19.

An amendment to the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act would give a path for service members to re-enlist in the military even if they have consumed cannabis during their time away.

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives have advanced a highways infrastructure bill that includes language making products from state-legal cannabis markets available for federal research purposes.

A Justice Department whistleblower is testifying today that AG William Barr’s personal distaste for legalized cannabis has led to nearly one-third of the agency’s Antitrust Division merger investigations.

Congressional Democrats have put forward legislation aimed at addressing systemic racial discrimination by police that includes a ban on no-knock warrants for drug-related crimes.

Morgan Fox is the Media Relations Director for the National Cannabis Industry Association, a cannabis trade organization that represents nearly 2,000 member businesses.

The federal government is withholding $3.3 million slated for children’s mental health programs in Maine because the state allows students to be medical cannabis patients.

House leadership has included language giving the cannabis industry access to traditional banking and loan services as part of the latest federal coronavirus stimulus plan.

The USDA has released guidelines for hemp businesses to apply for and receive federal loans.

House Democrats have introduced legislation that would give cannabis businesses access to congressional coronavirus stimulus packages.

Congressional lawmakers are standing up for cannabis businesses’ right to access traditional financial services and the federal coronavirus stimulus packages that are currently unavailable to the industry.

The Maryland town of Hancock is being forced to pay back a $600,000 federal renovation loan after the town rented the rehabbed facility to a medical cannabis company.

Six cannabis business organizations have sent a letter asking governors to provide state-based loans for the industry as the federal coronavirus aid program specifically omits the cannabis space from receiving any assistance.

Businesses that operate adjacent to the legal cannabis industry will be ineligible for the federal coronavirus loan assistance plan signed by President Trump last month.

Legal cannabis businesses spent nearly $11 million in federal lobbying efforts during 2019 — the spending is nearly three times what the industry spent in 2018.

Eleven U.S. senators — all Democrats — have filed a letter asking the federal Small Business Administration to open up loans and other financial assistance to state-legal cannabis companies amid the coronavirus crisis.