A Democratic senator says it’s “extremely concerning the Trump administration continues to drag its feet” on a marijuana reform—including the pending cannabis rescheduling decision that the president said in August would be decided on within weeks.
According to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR (Medcan24) on Friday, the Administration is perpetuating injustices in the failed drug war by delaying the move of cannabis to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
Donald Trump has broken promises on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, health care or modernizing our cannabis laws. I’ll work with my Senate colleagues to continue pressing the administration to meet with American voters on the issue.
Cannabis would not be federally legalized if it were reclassified as Schedule III drugs, but the federal government could recognize its medical benefits, remove certain barriers to research associated with Schedule I substances, and permit licensed cannabis businesses access to federal tax deductions that they had been denied under Internal Revenue Service Code 280E.
A majority of Americans support the end to prohibition. Polls show bipartisan support. Trump endorsed rescheduling—as well as cannabis industry banking access and a Florida legalization ballot initiative that fell short last year—but he hasn’t gotten behind federal legalization.
Trump’s comments about the timeline of rescheduling did not clearly indicate that he was moving forward with Schedule III reclassification. This is despite his promise to do this last year, during his campaign for president.
Wyden as well as other GOP senators, weighed in as well on rescheduling as bipartisan marijuana bank reform legislation during interviews with MEDCAN24. According to the Democratic Senator, rescheduling will send “a huge message” about “finally coming up with a new approach to marijuana laws” in his interviews on Thursday.
It’s something I would like a lot. He said that it “would set up a path for getting into a shop and all areas where there is consumer demand,” adding that Trump had been “all over the place on this.”
There are plenty of senators ready to go,” he added.
Steve Daines of Montana, who has been the leading GOP sponsor in the past for cannabis banking measures said he is “not absolutely sure” if the president rescheduling pot would make a difference within the Republican party.
“Many Senators are very strong in their opinions and keep them separate from SAFE Banking,” said he.
I’m against recreational marijuana. It passed in Montana despite my vote against it. Daines: “But I do support SAFE Banking, which is taking the cash from the streets and putting it in bank accounts.” It’s the right move.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-AK, for his part said he “does not track” the developments regarding rescheduling and suggested that constituents had been less vocal about this issue in reaching out to his office.
My view is that we must just [pass] He said, “the Banking Act.” I mean, it’s the bill that has a great deal of bipartisan backing.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) told AskAPol last month that he did feel that Trump advancing rescheduling would be an “important domino” to advance the bipartisan cannabis banking legislation.
The senator, who is expected to be the lead sponsor of the legislation this Congress, previously said that the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act would be taken up this fall.
Moreno stated, “We are still evaluating what we can accomplish in the fourth quarter.” As you may know, Democrats have a ton of things for us to do. The government must be funded, and we need to find funding. [the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA] We’ve got to get across the finish. We’ve gotta get [Trump’s judicial nominations] done.”
Separately, the president last month posted a video on his Truth Social platform promoting the health benefits of cannabis—suggesting that covering CBD under Medicare would be “the most important senior health initiative of the century.”
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Meanwhile, during a House Appropriations Committee markup last month, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) criticized the exclusion of provisions to protect banks that work with state-licensed marijuana and hemp businesses from a key spending bill.
Relatedly, a bipartisan coalition of 32 state and territory attorneys general from across the U.S. recently called on Congress to pass a marijuana banking bill to free up financial services access for licensed cannabis businesses.
The Democratic Senate sponsor of the marijuana banking bill in past sessions, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), recently said that, despite efforts to coordinate meetings around the legislation, other priorities have taken precedence for now.
In January, the office of Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), who is again leading the effort on the House, told MEDCAN24 that he would be filing the cannabis banking legislation this session but that its introduction was “not imminent” as some earlier reports had suggested.
Washington, D.C., was the source of reporting by The LCB.
Philip Steffan is the photographer.
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