GOP lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives this week removed legislative provisions to protect banks that serve cannabis businesses from a federal funding bill after resistance from fellow Republicans. The legislation was removed from the financial services and general government bill that provides annual funding for the Treasury Department and federal payments for the District of Columbia and the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other federal agencies, according to a report from The Hill.

The cannabis banking provisions of the bill would have blocked federal funds from being used to “penalize a financial institution solely because the institution provides financial services” to businesses involved in the hemp and state-legal cannabis industries. The legislation was included in the Republicans’ initial draft version of one of the dozen annual funding bills GOP leaders hope to pass into law before election season heats up this fall.

GOP Representative Dave Joyce of Ohio, the co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus and the chair of the House subcommittee responsible for drafting the funding bill, said that the cannabis banking provisions were struck from the legislation after some of his fellow Republicans had “taken issue” with the measure.

“With over 40 states enacting some degree of cannabis reform, it is past time that the federal government respect the will of these states. This issue is especially pertinent as cannabis regulations have been proven to increase public safety and quality of life for Americans,” Joyce said at a subcommittee markup hearing for the legislation earlier this month, The Hill reported.

“My Financial Services and General Government bill included provisions to do just that and ensure states’ rights to make the best choices for their unique constituencies are protected,” the lawmaker added.

During the subcommittee markup hearing, North Carolina GOP Representative Chuck Edwards attacked the cannabis banking provisions of the funding bill, characterizing the legislation as “affirmative authorization disguised as a limitation” and noting that marijuana is still illegal under federal law.

“Our country has never allowed a federally illegal activity to be banked, and it’s important to note that, despite some states trying to legalize marijuana, still a Schedule I drug, marijuana is still illegal,” Edwards told his fellow lawmakers on the subcommittee. “And I believe that it should remain illegal. It’s dangerous, and more and more evidence is being found that it causes irreparable harm, particularly to younger minds.”

Cannabis Banking Legislation An Elusive Goal

Although the Biden administration has taken steps to reclassify cannabis under the Controlled Substances Act, the full legalization of recreational marijuana at the federal level is still seemingly years away. While Congress is still opposed to comprehensive legalization, many lawmakers, particularly from states that have legalized medical marijuana or adult-use cannabis, want to see federal banking restrictions on cannabis businesses eased. Under federal drug and money laundering laws, financial institutions are subjected to onerous federal restrictions on cannabis business accounts, making banking services for weed companies expensive or unattainable.

Legislation to ensure equal access to banking services for businesses in the cannabis industry, the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, has been passed in the House, either as standalone legislation or attached to another bill, more than half a dozen times. But so far, the Senate has failed to bring the legislation, including a revamped measure known as the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, up for a vote by the full chamber.

After the cannabis provisions were stricken from the funding bill, Joyce vowed to continue efforts to ease banking restrictions on marijuana businesses.

“While the provisions maintain strong bipartisan support, as Chairman, I will work to alleviate their concerns but will not delay my responsibility to fund the government and therefore my legislation in the meantime,” he said Thursday. “However, let me be clear, I will not abandon this effort in Congress and will continue to work with my colleagues in good faith to ensure they become law.”

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Ohio became the 24th state to allow adult-use cannabis when state voters approved Issue 2 back in November 2023, though advocates and news outlets were quick to highlight GOP lawmakers in the state who immediately sought to amend the newly passed law.

And more than five months later, it appears that Republican lawmakers are still grappling with potential changes and regulatory updates to Ohio’s legalization law. While it could shift depending on how lawmakers proceed, currently recreational sales are expected to begin in September, according to a WCMH-TV report.

Lawmakers are looking into passing legislation that could jumpstart sales this summer, though it’s ultimately dependent on Republican legislators finding common ground to push the regulatory framework forward and approve it. Namely, the state’s Division of Cannabis Control (DCC) has created a plan to begin granting dual licenses to existing medical cannabis operators to start serving adult consumers early this summer.

“I am, I would not say optimistic, but I am reasonably hopeful, if you need words, that we can get something done by June,” Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) told the TV station.

While jumpstarting sales in the state is a priority, lawmakers are still in disagreement regarding what rules should be in place prior to a recreational market launch.

The original legislation would have allowed adults over 21 to legally buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and grow up to six plants a person, or 12 plants per residence, at home where at least two adults reside. It would have imposed a 10% tax on cannabis purchases to go toward administrative costs, addiction treatment, municipalities with dispensaries and social equity and jobs programs.

It’s currently unclear exactly how the future legislation will pan out, though leaders have discussed altering tax revenue distribution, scaling back home cultivation rules and restricting public smoking, among other details.

Ohio Lawmakers Debate Regulatory Framework Priorities

Speaker of the Ohio House Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) noted that many members have varying priorities, affirming that it’s “all about building a consensus.” Stephens highlighted revenue as a main concern, specifically knowing how much money the state could make and ensuring it’s going to the right places.

“There’s estimates,” Stephens said. “But we’ve seen estimates before whether it’s gambling or other revenue services that were going to be X and turned out they would be Y… What is the exact amount of taxes, what does that add up to, how does that compare, how much flexibility do local communities have?”

Huffman also highlighted the issue of public cannabis smoking, calling it the “most pressing.”

Regarding home grow provisions, the Senate passed a bill to add guardrails and immediately offer cultivation for residents, though the House still hasn’t held a hearing on the Senate’s proposal. In the meantime, representatives have worked on their own bill. The House is also in the process of creating a bill to expunge cannabis records.

“As we go into the future there will continually be changes and tweaks to recreational marijuana in Ohio,” Stephens said.

“I think most reasonable people, including people in the industry, believe that it would be better to have it clarified in law,” Huffman added.

Despite his personal opposition to the voter-passed ballot initiative, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) previously passed legislation with the goal of expediting recreational cannabis sales, though he has indicated that he’s more concerned with regulation of psychoactive hemp-derived cannabinoid products. While legislation is in the works, lawmakers have yet to introduce a formal bill on the matter.

“This is time for the legislature to move,” DeWine said. “We can’t do it ourselves.”

Regarding the disagreement between Republicans in revising the state’s new cannabis law, DeWine previously said he’s “not going to get into that.” Previously, DeWine referenced the disconnect between legalizing cannabis without having regulations in place, leaving consumers without a legal avenue to purchase recreational weed, characterizing the situation as “goofy.”

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Senator Mitt Romney of Utah and two of his Republican colleagues have sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration, urging the law enforcement agency to decline a bid to reschedule marijuana under federal drug laws. Cannabis is currently listed under Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), a designation reserved for drugs with no accepted medical value and a high potential for abuse.

The letter, which was signed by Romney and Republican Senator Jim Risch of Idaho and Nebraska’s Senator Pete Ricketts, was addressed to Drug Enforcement Administrator Anne Milgram. All three lawmakers are members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In the letter, the senators expressed concerns over a Biden administration proposal to reclassify cannabis under the CSA. 

In August 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommended that the DEA reclassify marijuana by moving it from Schedule I of the CSA to Schedule III, a classification intended for “drugs with a moderate to low potential for physical and psychological dependence” such as Tylenol with codeine or ketamine. The trio of Republican senators urged the DEA administer to carefully consider the HHS proposal.

“Any effort to reschedule marijuana must be based on proven facts and scientific evidence — not the favored policy of a particular administration — and account for our treaty obligations,” the senators wrote in their letter.

The senators noted in their letter that cannabis is controlled by international treaty, “which is not surprising given its known dangers and health risks — and the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has fiercely criticized efforts to legalize marijuana in other countries as a violation of the treaty.”

International policy on marijuana is governed by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, an international treaty adopted in 1961 and ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1967. Under the treaty, the United States is required to implement certain controls over drugs covered by the international agreement, including marijuana. The CSA implements those treaty obligations in U.S. domestic law and requires the U.S. Attorney General to place marijuana in the schedule that he or she deems most appropriate to carry out the country’s obligations under the Single Convention.

“In prior rescheduling proceedings, the DEA has determined that section 811(d) requires it to classify marijuana as a schedule I or II drug in order to comply with our treaty obligations under the Single Convention,” the letter continued, referring to the relevant section of the international treaty.

“It is important that the DEA continues to follow the law and abide by our treaty commitments,” the senators wrote. 

The senators also requested more information including whether rescheduling marijuana would affect whether other countries comply with drug treaty provisions “including for deadly narcotics like fentanyl,” asking the agency to respond to a list of questions by April 12.

The letter also cites a recent study that showed that daily marijuana use was associated with a 25% increase in the risk of a heart attack and a 42% increase in the risk of stroke. They also noted that other research has linked cannabis use “with serious psychotic consequences, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.”

On Wednesday morning, Romney took to social media to share the letter he and his Republican colleagues sent to Biden administration officials at the DEA.

“To be blunt: rescheduling marijuana may cause the U.S. to violate obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs,” Romney wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “Efforts to reschedule marijuana must be based on evidence, not politics, and @DEAhq must ensure we abide by our treaty commitments.”

Despite the senators’ fears, Jason Adelstone, a senior associate attorney with national cannabis law firm Vicente LLP, said that international treaties do not preclude the federal government from reclassifying cannabis under Schedule III of the CSA.

“The erroneous and unsubstantiated fears about marijuana are based on fictional ‘war on drugs’ themes and not the current state of medical and scientific knowledge about marijuana,” he wrote in an email to High Times. “The letter contained several incorrect statements, including the mistaken assumption that moving marijuana to Schedule III would somehow violate the Single Convention.”

“However, the Single Convention specifically endorses ensuring medical and scientific access to controlled substances,” Adelstone continued. “Moving marijuana to Schedule III would better promote medical and scientific access to marijuana.”

The DEA is currently reviewing the HHS proposal to reschedule marijuana, but the agency has not announced a timeline for the decision.

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A Republican-backed proposal in Florida to impose limits on THC potency in marijuana appears to have flamed out in the state’s legislative session.

GOP lawmakers there introduced two measures –– House Bill 1269 and Senate Bill 7050 –– that would “sought to preemptively ban adults’ access to cannabis flower products containing more than 30 percent THC,” according to NORML.

Recreational cannabis for adults remains illegal in Florida, although voters in the Sunshine State could have the opportunity to change that come November. 

The Florida Supreme Court is set to hand down a ruling on whether or not a proposed amendment to legalize cannabis for adults aged 21 and older in the state will qualify for this year’s ballot.

But with the legislative session winding down for the year, the proposals appear all but dead. 

According to local outlet Florida Politics, a key legislative committee “never found space on a Senate Fiscal Policy agenda” for the THC cap proposals. And with the committee’s final meeting slated for Tuesday, that means “the THC caps appear to have burned out before advancing to the Senate floor,” the outlet said.

Advocates of the would-be ballot proposal celebrated the death of the measures.

“We are pleased the voters may have an opportunity to vote on adult use prior to potential implementation language being decided on,” said Steve Vancore, a spokesperson for  medical cannabis provider Trulieve, as quoted by Florida Politics.

NORML was particularly outspoken in its opposition to the THC caps. In a letter sent to Florida lawmakers more than 2,000 times during this legislative session, the group urged the legislature to not “stifle the adult-use cannabis market before Floridians have even had a chance to vote for it.” 

“Prohibiting adults from accessing these products from state-licensed retailers will not eliminate consumers’ demand for them. Rather, it will encourage consumers to seek out high-THC products in the unregulated market. It will also move the production of these products exclusively underground. This undermines the primary goal of legalization, which is to provide patients with safe, above-ground access to lab-tested products of known purity, potency, and quality.”

NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano articulated the group’s opposition to THC caps in a letter to the editor published this month in the Boston Globe.

 “Unlike alcohol, THC is incapable of causing lethal overdose in humans. This fact is acknowledged by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, which has concluded, ‘No deaths from overdose of marijuana have been reported.’ Typically, when consumers encounter higher-potency products, they consume lesser quantities of them. … Rather than banning these products, regulators should provide the public with better safety information about the effects of more potent products, and they should continue to ensure that legal products do not get diverted to the youth market,” Armentano wrote.

Another Florida-based outlet, The Spacecoast Rocket, provided more background on the legislative effort to cap THC:

“The legislative journey for THC cap proposals began with the introduction of SB 7050 in the Senate, spearheaded by the Senate Health Policy Committee. The bill aimed to establish strict limits on the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in cannabis products available in the state. THC is the primary psychoactive compound in marijuana, responsible for the high that users experience. Proponents of the bill argued that capping THC levels would help mitigate potential health risks associated with high-potency marijuana, particularly among younger users. Despite these concerns, SB 7050 encountered significant hurdles in the legislative process. The bill’s progress was halted as it failed to secure a spot on the agenda of the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee. With the legislative session’s committee meetings drawing to a close and no further meetings anticipated, the bill’s advancement has been effectively suspended.”

The Florida Supreme Court has until April 1 to make a ruling on the proposed adult-use marijuana amendment. Both sides made oral arguments before the court last November. 

The proposal is facing a challenge from state Attorney General Ashley Moody, who filed a lawsuit to  in May 2023 to block the marijuana amendment.

USA Today Network reported that Moody argued “that the proposed ballot language was not clear and didn’t stick to a single subject requirement.” 

“Attorneys for the state expanded on that before the Supreme Court, saying the wording didn’t make it clear that marijuana was still illegal under federal law and that the amendment would empower the small cartel that currently supplies medical marijuana,” the outlet said. “Moody previously has said the measure would give an unfair advantage to the state’s largest marijuana purveyor, Trulieve, which contributed all but 124 dollars of the $39 million raised to promote the amendment.”

USA Today Network noted that the Supreme Court justices “appeared to favor the amendment” during oral arguments. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis predicted last month that the court will approve the amendment, clearing the way for it to make the ballot in November. 

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A Republican-led proposal to legalize medical cannabis in the state officially died on Thursday, and although the GOP speaker of the assembly indicated that “there will still be a public hearing to build support for passage next session,” per the Associated Press, that “won’t occur until after the Assembly has adjourned for this year.”

Wisconsin is one of the few remaining states in the U.S. where neither medical nor recreational marijuana are legal. It is one of only 12 states with no medicinal law, and one of 26 that has not legalized recreational pot, according to The Center Square, an outlet that covers state-level politics.

The medical marijuana bill was “highly restrictive,” the Associated Press said, adding that the measure “drew opposition for being too conservative in severely limiting who could have access to medical marijuana and how it would be distributed, while others faulted it for not going far enough.”

The bill, pushed by GOP lawmakers who control both chambers of the state legislature, “would limit medical marijuana to severely ill people and allow for it to be dispensed at just five state-run locations,” while also banning smokable cannabis.

“The proposal would limit the availability of marijuana to people diagnosed with certain diseases, including cancer, HIV or AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, severe muscle spasms, chronic pain or nausea, and those with a terminal illness and less than a year to live,” the Associated Press reported.

This year’s legislative session in Wisconsin ends next week.

Democrats in the Badger State, including Gov. Tony Evers, have advocated for outright marijuana legalization. 

Evers said last month that he would support the Republican-backed medical marijuana proposal, suggesting that it could be a meaningful first step toward broader cannabis reform in Wisconsin.

“I would think that getting it all done in one fell swoop would be more thoughtful as far as meeting the needs of Wisconsinites that have asked for it,” Evers said at the time. “But if that’s what we can accomplish right now, I’ll be supportive of that.”

“Do I think we need to consider recreational marijuana? Of course,” Evers added. “I’ve been for it, so are a majority of the people [of] Wisconsin, but if this is a step in the right direction, let’s make it happen.”

Indeed, Evers, currently serving his second term as governor, has long been an outspoken champion of ending prohibition on pot.

Evers and other Wisconsin Democrats have contended that the state is losing valuable tax revenue to neighboring states in the Great Lakes region that have legalized adult-use marijuana. 

An economic analysis released last year found that Illinois, which began recreational pot sales in 2020, rakes in tens of millions of dollars a year from Wisconsinites who travel across the border for legal weed. 

“It should upset every Wisconsinite that our hard earned tax dollars are going across the border to Illinois. This is revenue that could be going toward Wisconsin’s public schools, transportation infrastructure, and public safety. Instead, Illinois is reaping the benefits of Republican obstructionism and their prohibitionist stance on marijuana legalization,” Melissa Agard, at the time the Democratic leader in the Wisconsin state senate, said in a statement following the release of the analysis.

“We are an island of prohibition and the people of our state are hurting because of it. As seen in our neighboring states, legalizing marijuana for responsible adult usage will generate significant revenue for our mainstreets, safely regulate the existing illicit market, reinvest in our agriculture and farming heritage, support entrepreneurship, and address the massive and egregious racial disparities from marijuana prohibition.”

Agard noted that “Wisconsinites paid more than $31 million – just in taxes – to Illinois in 2022,” and that the state’s “loss of potential revenue is even larger if we include taxes paid to Michigan, as well as Minnesota in the near future.”

“Republicans’ continued refusal to legalize marijuana is fiscally irresponsible…Wisconsin is losing out on significant tax dollars that could be used to make our communities stronger, safer, and healthier,” she said.

“The fundamental aspect of our job as legislators is to listen to the people we represent. The people of Wisconsin have been asking the legislature to take up common sense measures that will push our state forward. We know that legalizing cannabis for responsible adult use is wildly popular among Wisconsinites, including the majority of Republicans,” Agard added. “I fully support Governor Evers’ 2025-25 biennial budget proposal to fully legalize marijuana for responsible adult use, and if Republicans choose to remove it from the budget, I will once again introduce my bill to achieve this goal.  It’s high time we get this done for the betterment of our state and the people living here.”

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A bill, introduced by GOP state Sen. Ed Charbonneau, would establish “the therapeutic psilocybin research fund,” which would be “administered by the Indiana department of health (state department), to provide financial assistance to research institutions in Indiana to study the use of psilocybin to treat mental health and other medical conditions,” according to the official text of the legislation.

Additionally, the measure would require a “research institution that conducts a clinical study to prepare and submit a report to the interim study committee on public health, behavioral health, and human services, the state department, and the division of mental health and addiction.”

According to the Evansville Courier & Press, the fund would subsidize research institutes to study whether psilocybin could make for an effective treatment for those with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, chronic pain and migraines, and it would “require the studies to prioritize veterans and first responders: groups with a higher likelihood to suffer from the above disorders, especially PTSD.”

“Before taking part, participants would undergo mental evaluations, the bill states. After the studies wraps, researchers would then determine how mushrooms stack up against currently accepted treatments for the targeted issues,” the newspaper said. “They would then ship the results to an ‘interim study committee,’ as well as the state health department and the division of mental health and addiction.”

The bill is the byproduct of the Indiana interim study committee on Public Health, Behavioral Health and Human Services, of which Charbonneau serves the chair.

In the fall, the committee recommended that the Indiana legislature authorize a psilocybin pilot program. 

According to Cannabis News, the committee was tasked in June with studying “a number of topics related to mental health matters, including psychedelic-assisted therapy.” 

“Specifically, they were charged with studying alternative treatment options that had been given ‘breakthrough therapy’ status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and examining policies ‘enacted and under consideration in other states’ that allow psilocybin-assisted therapy ‘for veterans, first responders, and others experiencing mental illness,’” the outlet reported.

Cannabis News said that the panel ultimately recommended that the legislature authorize “state research institutions ‘to conduct a pilot clinical study utilizing established therapeutic protocols as a starting point to explore the efficacy, safety, and feasibility of psilocybin assisted therapy in Indiana.’”

Charbonneau said at the time that he had held discussions with both Indiana University Health and Purdue University about the research program.

“I spoke to 150 pharmacy students at Purdue, and afterward had a chance to speak with the dean of the pharmacy program,” the lawmaker said, as quoted by Cannabis News.

Charbonneau said that the dean texted Dr. Jerome Adams, a former United States surgeon general in the Trump administration who is now Presidential Fellow and the Executive Director of Purdue’s Health Equity Initiatives.

“We’ve had a talk,” Charbonneau said at the time, regarding his conversations with the universities. “They’re interested in possibly moving forward, but that’s just a preliminary talk.”

As the outlet Benzinga noted, the clock is ticking for the bill to be approved.

The proposal was “filed as an emergency measure, meaning it would take effect immediately upon passage, which could come as early as this week,” according to Benzinga, noting that officials “would need to establish fund administration and application processes by July 1.”

“While the bill creates the fund, it doesn’t initially allocate any money. Donations, gifts and state appropriations would fill its coffers. After completing research, the funded institutions must report their findings and recommendations to various entities, including the Department of Health and an interim study committee on health issues,” the outlet said.

Psilocybin’s therapeutic benefits have long been touted by advocates, but the substance has only recently been championed by elected officials and policymakers. Emboldened by the shifting public opinion, activists have also tried to usher in reform themselves. 

In California, a campaign to get a psilocybin proposal on the state’s ballot this year said this week that it had fallen short of that goal. 

According to Marijuana Moment, this marked the “the third election cycle that Decriminalize California has made a play for the ballot, only to fall short amid what organizers say is a variety of complicating factors, including voter confusion over a failed legislative push for psychedelics decriminalization and separate reform campaigns also seeking to put their measures before voters.”

“As exhausting as this process has been, we’ve learned some extraordinary techniques that we’re going to put into effect for something much larger than this as it was, because psychedelics was basically a delivery mechanism for a better society,” Ryan Munevar, campaign director of Decriminalize California, said. “That was the goal, at least.”

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A group of Republican legislators recently sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) asking for the agency to reject the recent recommendation to reschedule cannabis, which was suggested by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Aug. 29.

The list included lead authors Sen. James Lankford (Oklahoma) and Rep. Pete Sessions (Texas), along with signatures from Sen. M. Michael Rounds (South Dakota), Sen. James E. Risch (Idaho), Sen. Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee), Sen. Mike Crapo (Idaho), Sen. Ted Budd (North Carolina), Sen. Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma), Sen. Tom Cotton (Arkansas), Rep. Chuck Edwards (North Carolina), Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (Alabama), Rep. Hal Rogers (Kentucky), Rep. Earl L. Carter (Georgia), and Rep. Andy Biggs (Arizona).

“The recommendation to remove marijuana from the DEA’s list of dangerous Schedule I drugs is not based on science—it’s based on an irresponsible pro-pot agenda,” Lankford wrote on social media and sharing the letter.

“We write to urge the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to reject any petition or request to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Any effort to reschedule marijuana should be based on proven facts and science—not popular opinion, changes in state laws, or the preferred policy of an Administration,” the letter states.

One of the letter’s arguments against rescheduling cannabis cites the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), stating that “30% of marijuana users have marijuana use disorder, who are severely addicted to the drug.” The authors mention the rise in THC in products today compared to 25 years ago. “These facts indicate that marijuana has a high potential for abuse and that the risk is only increasing,” they added. Last month, NIDA reportedly signed off on the HHS recommendation.

The letter authors also make claims that cannabis “does not have a currently accepted medical use.” While it mentions the single Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved cannabis-derived drug (Epidiolex), and three synthetic cannabis drugs (Marinol, Syndros, and Cesamet), the letter states that substances only have medical value if they are approved by the FDA. The authors also added that previously in 2016, the DEA rejected two petitions for cannabis rescheduling, and the HHS agreed. “The rejection letter stated, ‘At this time, the known risks of marijuana use have not been shown to be outweighed by specific benefits in well-controlled clinical trials that scientifically evaluate safety and efficacy,’” the letter stated. “We believe this analysis is still true today. In fact, HHS recommended at the time that DEA reject these petitions and that marijuana remain in Schedule I.”

The signatories state that nothing has changed over the past seven years, and believe that “the situation has gotten worse,” citing an increase in child hospitalizations due to accidental cannabis consumption, and the negative effects of cannabis on youth teenagers.

“It is irresponsible for HHS to recommend that marijuana be removed from Schedule I,” they concluded. “It would also be irresponsible for DEA to act on this recommendation. Our country relies on DEA to enforce our nation’s drug laws. We ask you to uphold your mission by rejecting any effort to remove marijuana from Schedule I.”

The letter fails to mention the evidence of cannabis’ medical benefits for countless conditions, or its part in the War on Drugs and countless people affected by its Schedule I status.

Now that the HHS has provided the details of its recommendation to move cannabis from a Schedule I to Schedule III substance, the DEA will also conduct a scientific review.

These Republican legislators believe that cannabis should remain a Schedule I substance, which labels it as having no medical value, high potential for abuse, and places it among other substances including heroin, LSD, ecstasy, and more. Legislators who have continued to support cannabis in congress, such as Rep. Earl Blumenauer, believe that this is just the beginning. “This is a step in the right direction but it is not sufficient. I hope it is followed by more significant reforms. This is long overdue,” he said in a statement.

NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano published an article explaining why rescheduling cannabis isn’t enough. “While some entities, particularly those involved in the commercial cannabis industry, have lauded the proposed change as a ‘giant’ step forward, others—like myself—have been far more restrained,” Armentano stated. “First, reclassifying cannabis to a lower schedule within the CSA continues to misrepresent the plant’s safety relative to other controlled substances such as anabolic steroids and ketamine (Schedule III), benzodiazepines (Schedule IV), or even alcohol, which is unscheduled.”

NORML has previously called for cannabis to be completely descheduled, and Armentano wrote that this is still the case. After the HHS recommendation news was published, Armentano discussed the topic with outlets such as The Associated Press, The Washington Post, and more. “Tobacco and alcohol are not in the Controlled Substances Act,” he told CNN. “Those substances are well recognized to pose far greater hazards to health than cannabis. We should treat marijuana [under the federal scheduling system] equally.”

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Each of the eight participants in the first 2024 Republican primary debates went to Milwaukee knowing they had to make an impact. It’s likely that they imagined this would be easier given the absence of Donald Trump, the attention-grabbing frontrunner currently crushing his opponents with ease despite his frankly impressive list of state and federal indictments covering a variety of crimes. Unfortunately for them, his absence only reminded viewers why he easily coasted to victory the last time he had to compete against Republicans. 

No one really questions Trump’s decision to skip the debate. The math makes sense: he’s polling miles ahead of Florida Governor Ron Desantis, his closest rival and the only other candidate polling in double digits, so why bother sharing space with his lessers while fielding uncomfortable questions about his several alleged crimes from moderator Bret Baier, with whom he is already nursing a grudge? Why not just stay home and watch on TV as Chris Christie, his (ahem) biggest critic, takes shots at his closest competitor instead? Plus, by scheduling his surrender and booking at the Fulton county jail for the day after the debate, he can ensure that in the aftermath the press will again be focused almost entirely on himself instead of anyone’s performance at the debate. 

Truth be told, he needn’t have gone to all that trouble. The Republican Party without Trump is exactly as boring, disconnected, and soul-crushing to watch as they were before Trump’s arrival. Nobody made an impact, nobody knew who half the participants were, and nobody will remember this debate. 

WHAT WE EXPECTED TO HAPPEN: Everyone attacks Ron Desantis, Desantis has mental breakdown 

It’s hard to imagine someone fumbling the bag harder than Ron Desantis. He began the year in an amazingly strong position and was seen by many as a sincere danger to Donald Trump, but it didn’t take long for him to reveal himself as a freak of the highest order and a shockingly terrible politician. Month after month he would helplessly watch as his lead in the polls steadily shrank while the politicians he counted on for endorsements would immediately spurn him and endorse Trump. His campaign would face multiple staffing shakeups over the summer, leading to potential funding problems that could end his run before 2024 even rolls around. 

But even with these problems he’s still twice as popular as his closest competitor, which, when you look at the numbers, is still some damning-ly faint praise. He was expected to be a target at the debate, and sufficient firepower might have cracked his extremely fragile “I’m normal” disguise wide open and caused an incident on stage. His sweaty, shakey smile moments before the debate began seemed to presage this breakdown. 

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: Everyone attacked Vivek Ramaswamy instead

Vivek Ramaswamy has the energy of someone from Corporate who looks you in the eye for too long and laughs too much when he talks to you, and then lays off your entire division. A lot of pundits recently became convinced that Vivek Ramaswamy had charisma, but he was probably just standing next to Mike Pence. On Thursday night he unexpectedly and repeatedly became the target of several of his competitors and, once, after he claimed that man-made climate change was a hoax, the audience as well. The booing was unexpected and seemed to catch him off guard. Chris Christie had the best insult of the night when he remarked that Vivek talks like a Chat GPT response, but Vivek was able to laugh off most of the attacks until Nikki Haley went for his throat in the last half-hour and we finally saw him get flustered.

WHAT WE EXPECTED TO HAPPEN: Mike Pence is booed, possibly attacked by audience

Former Vice President Mike Pence, once referred to as a “Sun-faded Department Store Mannequin” and “Fat Slenderman” by local wits, has been polling at roughly 4% nationally and is not expected to do well in this primary, or possibly anywhere in Republican politics ever again. Fans of the extremely popular former President have, on multiple occasions, expressed an earnest desire to hang him, and the president he served seemed to think that was an appropriate opinion to have about Mike Pence. He’s not very popular outside of the more evangelical part of the Republican Party, and even there he’s significantly less popular than Donald Trump. He was getting repeatedly booed even before he finally started criticizing the guy who supported the idea of him being lynched, and was expected to get just as chilly a reception at the debate. 

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: Mike Pence was only booed a little bit 

Shockingly, when Mike Pence spoke about his refusal to acquiesce to Trump’s demands on January 6th, the audience was largely supportive. During his clashes with Chris Christie and Nikki Haley the crowd was often on his side as well. He did get some boos during an exchange with Vivek Ramaswamy, though they were pretty mild.

WHAT WE EXPECTED TO HAPPEN: Chris Christie attacks Trump a lot, is booed a lot

His unabashed criticism of Donald Trump has earned Chris Christie a lot of negative coverage in Republican circles. Even in a field of losers his numbers are hovering near the bottom. So far this hasn’t stopped him from being one of the most vocal and insistent critics of the former president. 

WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED: Chris Christie attacked Trump a little, was booed a lot

Though he did get applause for some boilerplate lines about the economy or Joe Biden, his small but overt digs at Trump resulted in extended booing and shouting that Christie attempted to wait out. But the audience, seemingly emboldened by the effect they were having on the proceedings and Christie himself, kept going until Bret Baier threatened to turn this car around and head right back to Winnipeg. I expect this to keep happening at every debate Chris Christie attends. 

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Wisconsin Republicans killed more than 500 proposals from Gov. Tony Evers (D) on Tuesday, including a proposal to legalize cannabis, among others that would pay for Milwaukee Brewers’ stadium renovations, create a paid family leave program and more, AP News reports.

Evers called the move “foolish.” He had proposed using the state’s record-high $7 billion budget surplus to fund a number of state spending priorities, which Wisconsin Republican leaders ultimately rejected. Members voted 12-4 to eliminate Evers’s provisions in the budget request.

“With a historic $7 billion surplus, we have a historic responsibility and opportunity to invest in needs that have long been neglected and build the future we want for our state,” Evers said on Twitter, before listing a number of the 540 priorities that were rejected in a thread. 

“These aren’t fringe ideas, controversial concepts, or Republican or Democratic priorities—they’re about doing the right thing. With a historic surplus comes historic responsibility, and today, when we can afford to do more, this vote is foolish and a wasted opportunity,” he added.

It’s not necessarily a shocking move, in regard to cannabis at least, since the Republican-controlled legislature has previously removed cannabis reform language from past budget proposals. Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin also previously warned that they would not allow an adult-use cannabis legalization proposal to progress.

The cannabis plan would have allowed adults over the age of 21 to purchase and possess up to two ounces of cannabis for personal use and grow up to six plants. The Department of Revenue would have been responsible for regulating the new cannabis market and issuing business licenses to prospective professionals in the cannabis space.

Evers’s office also estimated that the state would generate $44.4 million in “segregated tax revenue” from legal cannabis and a $10.2 million increase in state general fund tax revenue in fiscal year 2025, if the reform were to be enacted. 

The governor is already known for his continuous pardons, mostly involving low-level offenses and including cannabis offenses. As of April 2023, Evers has hit 933 pardons in just over four years in office.

“It is one of the most rewarding parts of my job as governor to have the opportunity to grant a fresh start to folks who’ve made efforts to learn and grow from their past mistakes,” Evers said. 

The onslaught of rejected proposals may be a case of déjà vu for Evers as well, as the governor also included recreational and medical cannabis legalization in his 2021 budget and decriminalization and medical cannabis in his 2019 proposal. The reforms were all blocked by the Republican legislature.

Last month, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told the Associated Press that Republican lawmakers in the state were working to privately build support for a medical cannabis program aimed to gain bipartisan support, potentially to be enacted into law later this year. Vos also voiced that he is opposed to legalizing recreational cannabis and does not want to create a medical program to act as a precursor to the adult-use market.

However, it looks like Wisconsin voters are already setting their sights on broader horizons. An August 2022 Marquette Law School poll of 811 voters in the state showed bipartisan support for legal cannabis, with 51% of Republicans, 75% of independents and 81% of Democrats backing legalization. A total of 69% registered voters believed cannabis should be legal.

Additionally, continuing to stall on cannabis legalization is likely taking away potential state revenue. A report published earlier this year found that 50% of Wisconsinites 21 and older live within 75 minutes of an out-of-state cannabis retailer, likely to increase as Minnesota inches closer to legalization.

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More than two years after voters approved a measure legalizing recreational cannabis, and more than a year after the launch of the state’s regulated marijuana market, a Montana lawmaker wants to undo all of that. 

Last week, Republican state Sen. Keith Regier introduced a bill that includes a slate of reforms to Montana’s cannabis policy, most notably “eliminating adult-use dispensaries.” 

According to Montana Free Press, the bill “additionally raises the state tax on medical marijuana from 4% to 20% and puts significant limits on medical marijuana potency and allowable amounts for possession,” and although it would once again prohibit recreational cannabis, it would not “re-criminalize marijuana possession for adults.”

Regier’s bill states plainly its objective: “reduce the demand for marijuana sales.”

Montana Free Press has more background on the proposal:

“If passed into law, the bill would drastically reduce the potential consumer base for existing marijuana businesses and eliminate a significant source of revenue for state coffers. Since adult-use sales began in January 2022, Montana has generated $54 million in tax revenue from the industry. Less than one-tenth of that revenue came from medical marijuana taxes. Currently, recreational customers pay a 20% tax to the state; some counties add an additional 3% local tax.

The outlet reported that the bill will be the subject of a hearing on Wednesday in the Senate Business, Labor and Economic Affairs Committee.

Nearly 57% of Montana voters approved Initiative 190 in 2020, which legalized marijuana for adults aged 21 and older, and also laid the groundwork for cannabis sales to be taxed. 

Recreational cannabis sales launched last year, bringing in more than $200 million to the state in 2022.

According to the state, recreational marijuana sales amounted to $202,947,328 in 2022, while medical cannabis sales totaled $93,616,551. (Voters in Montana legalized medical marijuana treatment in 2004.)

The two combined to generate a grand total of $303,563,879 in marijuana sales last year. 

Montana generated $41,989,466 in tax revenue off recreational pot sales, according to the Department of Revenue, and $3,744,662 in taxes from medical cannabis sales. Combined, the state pulled in $45,734,128 in tax revenue from marijuana sales in 2022.

Marijuana reform has been a hot topic in Montana’s legislative session this year. 

Earlier this month, the Business and Labor Committee “heard testimony on two marijuana-related bills,” according to local news station KTVH –– one of which “would prohibit marijuana businesses in Montana from promoting their business or brand in print, over TV and radio or using a billboard,” while the other “would revise the required warning labels that marijuana businesses must put on their products, to say that marijuana use during pregnancy could result in ‘congenital anomalies, and inherited cancers developed by a child later in life.’”

The station reported that the proposed ban on advertising “drew opposition from marijuana businesses and from the Montana Newspaper Association,” with opponents saying that “most people in the industry have gone to great lengths to make sure their advertising follows the current rules, and most of the issues people are concerned about have come from a few bad actors.”

There have been debates over other cannabis bills, too, including one that “would require marijuana growers and manufacturers of marijuana products to install air filtration systems to address concerns about odor,” according to KTVH, as well as several proposed bills to change how the state distributes the marijuana tax revenue.

“In particular, they propose removing a section in state law that directs a percentage of taxes from marijuana sales toward Habitat Montana – a program that uses state funds for wildlife habitat conservation projects. Gov. Greg Gianforte has said the program has more than enough funding and no longer needs the marijuana revenue,” the station reported.

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