The House GOP committee approved a budget bill that includes provisions to prevent the Justice Department rescheduling cannabis.
The legislation would also maintain a separate longstanding rider protecting state medical cannabis programs from federal interference—though with new language authorizing enhanced penalties for sales near schools and parks.
The House Appropriations Committee approved the measure for the CJS (Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies) on Wednesday. This marks the second time the panel’s base legislation contained language hostile to marijuana rescheduling efforts that remain ongoing.
The bill prohibits the Justice Department’s use of its budget to redistribute or remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The DOJ, under the Biden Administration, recommended that cannabis be moved from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to Schedule III. However this process was delayed by months due to challenges made by witnesses at now-stalled hearings.
The text is below:
“SEC. 607. No funds provided by the Act or otherwise made available may be used for rescheduling marijuana (as defined at section 102 in the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. This Act prohibits the use of any funds that are appropriated, or made otherwise available to this Act for the purpose of rescheduling marijuana (as defined by section 102 in the Controlled Substances Act. 812).”
GOP senators have separately tried to block the administration from rescheduling cannabis as part of a standalone bill filed in 2023, but that proposal did not receive a hearing or vote, and the chamber’s version of the current CJS spending bill does not contain a similar provision.
Donald Trump, the president of the United States announced last month that his administration will make a decision within weeks on rescheduling cannabis. He did not indicate where he stood on this issue which he had previously supported on the campaign trail.
Advocates can take some comfort in knowing that CJS’s latest bill continues to include a rider that prevents DOJ funds from being used to interfere with state medical marijuana programs, which has been a part of federal legislation since 2014.
However, it stipulates that the Justice Department can still enforce a section of U.S. code that calls for increased penalties for distributing cannabis within 1,000 feet of an elementary school, vocational school, college, playground or public housing unit. The language in question was included for the first time in the latest version of appropriations legislation.
“SEC. 531. The funds provided to the Department of Justice under the Act may not be used to stop any of the following states from passing their own legislation that allows the possession or use of medical marijuana: Alabama, Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Illinois Indiana Iowa Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin and Wyoming.
“(b) The Department of Justice can use the funds made available to it under this Act for enforcement of violations of 21 U.S.C. 860.”
The CJS bill also keeps intact another longstanding rider preventing DOJ interference in state hemp research programs.
“SEC. 530. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used in contravention of section 7606 (‘‘Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp Research”) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–79) by the Department of Justice or the Drug Enforcement Administration.”
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On Tuesday, the Appropriations Committee also approved a separate spending bill that included a report saying that researchers need to study more marijuana products in order to represent better “the diversity, quality, and potency” of popular cannabis strains that are used by actual consumers.
Recent legislation was also adopted by members covering Financial Service and General Government. A Democratic Congresswoman criticized the measure for omitting provisions that would protect banks who work with marijuana and hemp companies licensed by state governments.
The legislation also includes a report directing federal agencies to assess the “adequacy” of state-level marijuana regulatory models, as well as longstanding provisions in the bill itself blocking Washington, D.C. from using its tax dollars to legalize cannabis sales.
Brian Shamblen is the photographer.
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