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HOPE FOR MARIJUANA REFORM IN CONGRESS DIMS, BUT POT PROGNOSTICATORS SEE A TWO-YEAR HORIZON FOR RESCHEDULING
The Republicans own the House, the Democrats own the Senate. That seems to be the likeliest scenario right now. In the House, the Republicans need seven more seats of the still-contested seats, the Democrats need 26. In the Senate, the Republicans and Democrats each need two of the three yet-undecided races.
A divided 118th Congress is the likeliest outcome. Even so, Marijuana Moment reports, “there would still a range of legislative possibilities for cannabis reform, including (most optimistically) descheduling.”
Because key players like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) are likely to retain their positions and are dedicated to marijuana reform, “they have pretty good leverage over the House if they want to bring them to the table on the issue,” Marijuana Moment reported.
But the Senate is even more unlikely to force a Republican-controlled House to take up a comprehensive legalization bill such as the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), S.4591, that the Democrat-controlled House has been to convince the Senate to take up the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, H.R. 3617.
There still could be some Congressional action in the upcoming lame-duck session – which begins on Monday for 17 legislative days before the end of the year – but it’s likely President Biden will want to ramrod as many as his initiatives as he can while he still owns both houses of Congress.
Nevertheless, marijuana advocates among the House membership has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday to discuss bipartisan marijuana reform issues at the federal and state level.
The House Oversight Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee posted a notice of the meeting on Tuesday, as voters in states across the country head to the polls to decide on cannabis legalization ballot measures.
The congressional meeting, titled, “Developments in State Cannabis Laws and Bipartisan Cannabis Reforms at the Federal Level,” will take place on November 15. Witness have not yet been announced.
It’s not clear if the hearing will focus on any specific pieces of federal marijuana reform legislation, but Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who serves as the GOP ranking member on the panel, previously told Marijuana Moment that she had received a “promise” from leadership that her States Reform Act (SRA), H.R. 5977, would be taken under consideration in the panel.
That legislation would end federal marijuana prohibition while taking specific steps to ensure that businesses in existing state markets can continue to operate unencumbered by changing federal rules. National Law Journal reported last week that a panel of legal experts it consulted marijuana will be re-scheduled as a Schedule II or III drug by January 20, 2025.
Early last month, President Biden ordered government agencies to study removal of marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act drug schedule.
One expert said it is unlikely cannabis will be descheduled altogether. “I don’t think the federal government will be ready by then to relinquish control over a drug it has categorized by the CSA as one of the most dangerous drugs on the streets for over 50 years.”
Marijuana Moment, Here’s What The Midterm Congressional Election Results Could Mean For Federal Marijuana Reform (November 10, 2022)
Marijuana Moment, Congress Will Hold A Marijuana Hearing One Week After Five States Vote On Legalization Ballot Measures (November 8, 2022)
National Law Journal, Editor’s Roundtable: A New Biden Doctrine? (October 31, 2022)
– Thomas L. Root