The prohibitionists celebrate the language that was included in a large spending bill. This would prevent a federal agency for traffic safety from supporting advertisements that “encourage” illegal drugs or alcohol. It is a response, it seems to be in reaction to marketing materials in which cannabis culture had been used to discourage impaired driving.
The House Appropriations Act for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and related Agencies, 2026 Fiscal Year, which was approved by the House Appropriations Committee last month, contains a brand new section that targets certain National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA’s) efforts at discouraging driving under influence of marijuana.
The relevant text is below:
“SEC. 141. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration may not use any of the money provided under this title to support impaired driving campaigns that promote the illegal use of drugs or alcohol.”
“Last year, NHTSA released taxpayer-funded impaired driving ads that trivialized marijuana use—even implying that using marijuana before driving was no big deal,” the anti-cannabis group Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) said. “That isn’t prevention. That’s promotion.”
We asked for this precise language in order to prevent the Federal Government from promoting drug abuse through its safety campaigns. SAM stated that Congress had listened. “This is the first time SAM has successfully added this kind of language to a federal report—a major milestone in protecting children and families from federally sponsored normalization of drug use.”
NHSTA is working with the states to educate the public about the dangers driving impaired due to THC. They use humorous memes to reach out to the marijuana consumer community, instead of scaring them off with a judgmental message as was the approach taken by the federal government in the past.
In December, the agency launched a new campaign to promote safe driving amongst cannabis users. In one ad, a bud of cannabis in the shape of a Christmas Tree was shown. The message read: “If holiday greenery is your thing, then find sober transportation.”
NHTSA aired an advertisement in 2021 featuring a computerized cheetah who was smoking a joint while driving a convertible.
The agency also played on horror-movie tropes in a 2020 ad featuring two men running for their lives from an axe murderer. They eventually escape in a car, but before the driver turns on the ignition, he pauses. He said, “Wait. “I can’t drive. I’m high.”
SAM also emphasized that the spending legislation for this session covering Financial Services and General Governments (FSGG), did not contain any language that allowed state-licensed cannabis businesses to gain access to banking services as it has in previous sessions.
The group stated that “the wins in FY26 FSGG & THUD shows common sense has a role in Congress.” The group said that even powerful marijuana activists are capitulating under the weight of science and facts.
No mistake about it: Big Marijuana has its eyes on you. “So are the psychedelic profits, hemp loophole lobbyists and all industries trying to normalize drugs in the name profit,” said the group. We will not allow them. These appropriations victories are another step in defending the truth—and in defending families across the country.”
—
MEDCAN24 tracks hundreds of marijuana, psychedelics, and drug policy legislation in state legislatures this year. Patreon subscribers who donate at least $25/month have access to the interactive maps and charts as well as our hearing calendar.
Find out more about our marijuana law tracker. To gain access, become a Patreon supporter.
—
In separate appropriations-related news, a GOP senator has successfully blocked a proposed ban on hemp THC products that was included in a key spending bill, giving the industry a win amid contentious discussions around intoxicating cannabinoids.
On the Senate’s side, the Appropriations Committe recently passed an amendment to the Defense Spending Bill that would permit doctors from the Department of Veterans Affairs of the United States to recommend medical cannabis to veterans in legal states.
The panel approved an appropriations bill that maintains protections for medical marijuana states, but omitted a proposal that was included in the House version annual appropriations bills that prevented the Justice Department from redesiduling cannabis.
The House of Representatives advanced last month a bill to fund the government that included a controversial clause prohibiting Washington, D.C., from spending its tax money on a marijuana-regulated market.
Separately, a GOP-controlled House committee last month approved an amendment attached to a must-pass defense bill that would require a “progress report” on an ongoing psychedelic therapy pilot program for active duty military service members and veterans.
The House Rules Committee, led by Rep. Morgan Luttrell of Texas (R), blocked on Monday a bipartisan addition to the spending bill that was introduced by Luttrell. This amendment would have provided DOD with an additional $10 million for clinical trials to investigate the therapeutic potentials of substances like ibogaine or psilocybin.
Mike Latimer provided the photo.
MEDCAN24 would not be possible without the support of readers. Please consider making a Patreon monthly pledge if you depend on our cannabis journalism for information.
