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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Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday announced the establishment of a new political action committee to fund a campaign to defeat a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. Dubbed the Florida Freedom Fund, the new PAC will also raise money to help defeat a separate initiative to protect abortion rights that will appear on the ballot for the November general election.

The political committee was formed in late May, Politico reported on Monday. The group is chaired by James Uthmeier, the governor’s chief of staff who also served as campaign manager for DeSantis’ failed bid for the presidency. The move comes as the governor works to reestablish his leadership over the Florida Republican Party after his failed presidential bid caused his influence to wane.

The Florida Freedom Fund was formed to raise money for the campaign against Amendment 3, which would amend the Florida Constitution to legalize the possession and use of cannabis for adults. The political committee also has set its sights on Amendment 4, which would firmly establish the right to abortion in the Florida Constitution.

Amendment 3 Would Legalize Weed in Florida

More than one million voters signed petitions to place Amendment 3 on the ballot for the 2024 general election. If passed, the constitutional amendment initiative would allow the state’s current providers of medical marijuana, which was legalized in Florida in 2016, to begin selling cannabis to all adults aged 21 and up. Adults would be allowed to purchase up to three ounces of marijuana at a time, including no more than five grams of cannabis concentrates. The bill does not include provisions to expunge past cannabis convictions or the home cultivation of marijuana, which activists feared would lead the Supreme Court to block the measure based on state laws that limit ballot initiatives to a single subject.

The proposed constitutional amendment also allows state lawmakers to authorize additional adult-use cannabis business licenses, although there is no requirement for the legislature to do so. The initiative retains Florida’s current vertically integrated business structure, which requires operators to control the production and marketing of marijuana from seed to sale.

A source familiar with the governor’s plans but not authorized to speak about them said that in addition to the marijuana and abortion initiatives, the Florida Freedom Fund would support other races on the ballot, including seats for local school board elections. A spokesperson for the fund confirmed to Politico that the committee would target races other than Amendments 3 and 4.

“As Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to lead our great state, the Florida Freedom Fund will be championing issues and candidates committed to preserving Floridians’ freedom,” said Taryn Fenske, a spokesperson for the governor, according to a report from Politico. “From up and down ballot races to critical amendments, we’re steadfast in our mission to keep Florida free.”

After the launch of the political committee was announced, a spokesperson for Smart & Safe Florida, the group backing the marijuana legalization initiative, noted that the funds raised by the Florida Freedom Fund will be split between the two amendment initiatives and other races throughout the state. By contrast, the Smart & Safe Florida campaign has already raised more than $60 million, according to state data, with over $13 million cash on hand and a $5 million ad buy currently engaging with voters across the state.

“We are proud of the campaign we are building and the broad support we have across the political spectrum throughout Florida,” Morgan Hill, spokesperson for Smart & Safe Florida, wrote in a statement emailed to High Times. “Just last week, a new Fox News poll showed a large majority of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents support Amendment 3. It’s clear Floridians are more ready than ever to legalize recreational adult-use marijuana.”

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A majority of cannabis consumers who are likely to vote in this fall’s general election say they would vote for a pro-cannabis candidate regardless of their party affiliation, according to the results of a recent survey. The poll, which was conducted by the medical marijuana telehealth platform NuggMD, found that 59% of likely voters who use weed would cast their ballot for a pro-cannabis presidential candidate regardless of that candidate’s political party.

NuggMD’s 2024 Election Poll surveyed 755 cannabis users about their opinions surrounding the relevance of cannabis reform in the upcoming presidential election. When asked whether a presidential candidate’s endorsement of pro-cannabis policies would increase their likelihood of voting for that candidate, 59% of the respondents selected the reply “Yes, this would make me more likely to vote for that candidate regardless of their party.” Only 14% of respondents said they are already locked into voting for their party or candidate of choice.

“This poll shows that adopting pro-cannabis policies can move more constituents into either party’s camp,” Deb Tharp, head of legal and policy research at NuggMD, said in a statement from the company. “This is a large voting population we’re talking about, and its demographics are changing quickly.”

The poll showed the Democratic candidate outpacing the GOP frontrunner in the November election among those who use cannabis regularly, a voting block that is approximately 35 million strong nationwide. The poll showed that 43% of respondents planned to vote for President Joseph Biden, while 36% said they intended to vote for Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. Biden also polled well ahead of a generic Republican candidate, while Trump was roughly tied with a generic Democratic candidate.

The Democratic Party also faired better when respondents were asked about cannabis policy in general. A majority of respondents (56%) said the Democrats in elected positions have better ideas for cannabis policy, while only 16% said the same of Republican elected officials

Both political parties could be doing a better job of supporting cannabis policy reform, according to the survey. Nearly 40% of the poll’s respondents indicated that they believe Democrats “want to suppress the legal use of cannabis,” while two-thirds (68%) said the same of Republicans.

The survey also found that 88% of respondents said understanding cannabis culture is a requirement for writing and passing effective cannabis legislation. However, 73% said elected officials in general currently lack that understanding.

Overall, the survey showed that Democratic candidates in the upcoming election have an opportunity to gain votes from the cannabis community by leaning into weed reform, a move that would likely separate them from their GOP opponents.

“Respondents say they’re motivated by policy commitments and wins, not by grievance politics, outrage, or red meat,” Tharp explained. “The degree to which this emerging constituency is moveable, and how to move them, will probably come as a surprise to insiders of both parties.”

“To me, it signals that Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot by continuing to embrace the platform of prohibition,” she continued. “Democrats should double down on cannabis and expand their voting base by embracing full decriminalization and expungement for victims of targeted, unjust enforcement.”

In an email, Tharp pointed to Florida, where the state Supreme Court ruled last week that a weed legalization bid can appear on the November ballot, as “an example of a state where cannabis consumers as a voting bloc could help drive an electoral surprise this November.”

“Adult-use legislation is on the November ballot in Florida and needs 60 percent to pass,” she said. “It’s going to be close, and this will motivate turnout among the estimated two million voting-age Floridians who use cannabis every month.” 

“Governor Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and practically every other Republican elected official in Florida continue to rail against the measure,” she added. “While our poll doesn’t measure whether there’s an electoral punishment associated with loudly and wrongly rejecting common-sense drug policy, it does establish that there is an electoral reward for endorsing pro-cannabis policies, so the opening for Democrats is obvious.”

“If Democrats want to win seats, they should use their platform to support legal cannabis,” Tharp concluded. “If Republicans want to keep their seats, then they need to wake up and realize their voting base is sick of seeing people imprisoned over cannabis when there are real issues that need our attention.”

NuggMD.com conducted the poll digitally from March 25 to April 3 using a random sample of its first-party data. In total, 53,380 individuals were contacted and 755 completed the survey, resulting in a margin of error of 3.89% at a confidence level of 95%. Six swing states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) that could likely decide the outcome of this fall’s election were over-indexed to give the poll more electoral relevance. 

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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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Seventeen percent of Americans aged 18 and older reported smoking pot in 2023. That is largely unchanged from Gallup’s most recent findings on the matter. In 2022, 16% of American adults said they smoke marijuana. 

But the 17% figure represents a marked increase since 2013, when Gallup first added the question to its annual survey measuring Americans’ consumption habits.

That year, a mere seven percent of American adults identified as marijuana smokers. 

“Age is a significant driver of the likelihood of smoking marijuana. About a quarter of young adults, those aged 18 to 34, say they smoke marijuana (26%), but reported use falls to 18% among adults aged 35 to 54 and is even lower, 11%, among adults aged 55 and older,” Gallup said in its analysis. 

Gallup noted other divides in the responses along gender, education level and party identification. 

“Men (19%) are more likely than women (14%) to use marijuana,” the pollster explained. “College graduates (9%) are about half as likely as those without a college degree (21%) to smoke marijuana. Democrats (22%) are more likely than Republicans (12%) to report smoking marijuana, with independents’ rate (17%) falling between them.”

The survey also included a separate question concerning previous marijuana use. On this, half of American adults––50%––said they have tried cannabis.

“Gallup’s much longer trend on ever having tried marijuana shows that experimentation increased sharply in the first decade after the initial measure. Between 1969 and 1977, it jumped 20 percentage points, from 4% to 24%. It rose another nine points by 1985, to 33%, but thereafter stalled at under 40% until 2015, when it ticked up to 44%. It remained at about that level through 2019 but then rose to 49% in 2021, roughly where it is today,” Gallup said.

Gallup’s polling on Americans’ attitudes toward marijuana has captured a country undergoing a seachange when it comes to drug policy.

In November, Gallup published a poll revealing that seven in 10 Americans believe marijuana use should be legal, which was “the highest level yet after holding steady at 68% for three years.”

Gallup explained that only 12% of Americans supported legalization when it asked about it in 1969. 

But ever since states took the lead and ended pot prohibition nearly 12 years ago, public opinion has shifted dramatically.

“Support cracked the 50% threshold in 2013, jumping 10 percentage points to 58% after Colorado and Washington became the first states to legalize the recreational use of marijuana,” Gallup said in its analysis. “Support has since increased by another 12 points, paralleling the rise in Americans’ self-reported use of the drug. According to Gallup’s July Consumption Habits survey, the percentage saying they personally smoke marijuana has risen 10 points to 17% since 2013, and the percentage who have ever tried it has increased 12 points to 50%.”

The poll also marked the second consecutive year in which “majority support for legalization is found among all major subgroups, including by age, political party and ideology,” Gallup said.

“Self-identified conservatives were the last major subgroup to express majority support, reaching 51% in 2022. Republicans first gave marijuana majority-level backing in 2017. As of today, support for legal marijuana use is highest among self-identified liberals (91%) and Democrats (87%) and lowest among conservatives (52%) and Republicans (55%). Support is inversely correlated with age, reaching 79% among 18- to 34-year-olds. However, even among the oldest age group, nearly two-thirds (64%) are in favor,” Gallup reported. “There are no significant differences in support by gender, race or education. While most of the regional differences seen this year are also not statistically significant, the lower support for legalization in the East than in the West and Midwest is consistent with the recent trend.”

But another finding released by Gallup around that same time showed that, for the first time, “a majority of U.S. adults, 52%, say the U.S. has lost ground in coping with the illegal drug problem, while a record-low 24% say it has made progress.”

Those findings, per Gallup, “mark a sharp reversal from the prior reading in 2019.”

“At that time, more Americans were optimistic that progress was being made (41%) than believed the U.S. was losing ground (30%) in the effort. For most other recent readings, Americans were divided as to whether things were improving or getting worse,” Gallup said.

“The public was most optimistic about the nation’s coping with illegal drugs in 1999 and 2000, when an average of 47% believed the U.S. was making progress on the issue.”

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Republican U.S. Representative David Joyce of Ohio will soon introduce a new bill to legalize cannabis at the federal level, according to a report from Forbes published on Wednesday. 

The new legislation is characterized as a “modernized” version of a bill Joyce introduced in 2019 known as the STATES Act. Although the measure has not yet been formally introduced in the House of Representatives, a draft of Joyce’s new bill is titled the STATES 2.0 Act. 

If passed, the legislation would remove cannabis from Schedule l of the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA). However, cannabis products that are grown or manufactured outside of a state-regulated market would remain illegal under federal law, allowing states that do not want to legalize marijuana a way to maintain prohibition within their jurisdictions.

“States and [Native American] tribes have had enough with the federal government’s half-in-half-out approach that is applied without rhyme or reason,” Joyce, the co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, told Forbes in an interview. “Numerous tribes and over 40 states now, including my own, have made it clear that the federal government needs to support their cannabis laws. I’m hopeful this legislation will do just that.”

Despite the popularity of cannabis legalization, political leaders in many states would prefer to keep recreational marijuana illegal. With provisions that maintain the federal illegality of marijuana produced outside of a regulated market, Joyce’s bill allows states to take the lead on cannabis policy.

“This legislation would make it the federal government’s policy to recognize and legitimize the decisions of each state,” said a spokesperson for the congressman. “If the state decides they want to remain prohibitory, the federal government will provide enforcement, if a state decides they want to legalize, the federal government will provide regulation.”

Federal Agencies Would Regulate Cannabis

Joyce’s bill tasks the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) with regulating cannabis at the federal level, similar to the agency’s responsibilities for regulating alcohol. The TTB would issue permits for state-regulated cannabis companies, maintain a track-and-trace system to monitor the production and movement of marijuana and cannabis products, collect taxes and enforce penalties. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would be responsible for regulating cannabis-infused foods and products that make medical claims under the authority of the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act. 

The federal government’s activities to regulate cannabis would be funded by a federal excise tax, although the bill does not include a specific tax rate. The legislation does, however, call for federal taxes to be set “low enough so as not to exacerbate state taxes,” according to the Forbes report.

Joyce’s bill does not prohibit the interstate trade of cannabis, setting the stage for a truly national market for regulated cannabis. The regulated cannabis industry would also be free of an IRS regulation known as 280e that denies most standard business tax business, a development that would prop up the industry rife with operators struggling to make ends meet because of high taxes and regulatory fees.

Shawn Hauser,  a partner at the cannabis law firm Vicente LLP, said that under the bill, “cannabis activity in legal, regulated states would no longer be considered trafficking under the CSA and would be subject to federal regulation and protections, while federal illegality would be upheld in states who have not yet legalized marijuana.”

“This gives us a clear, immediate path to resolving the federal-state cannabis conflict,” Hauser wrote in an email to High Times. “This bill is a promising development as it is a state rights approach preferred by opponents of legalization.”

Andrew Freedman, the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education and Regulation, collaborated with Joyce and his staff on the bill. He sees this legislation as an avenue to appeal to lawmakers who are currently against reforming the nation’s marijuana laws.

“Despite cannabis pulling at 70%, it remains extremely divisive,” said Freedman. “If we’re going move forward as a country on this, we’re going have to acknowledge the realities of the fact that over half of America now has access to adult-use cannabis, while not saying this has to happen everywhere.”

Freedman added that he believes Joyce’s bill could gain support in Congress, despite the dysfunction in the House of Representatives that culminated with the removal of California GOP Representative Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House in October.

“Because it has something today that is helpful to states that don’t want legalization, it has a political power that potentially no other bill has,” Freedman said. “In theory, this has everything that a Republican should want, while moving away from the nonsensical stance the federal government has had on cannabis.”

Joyce drafted the new STATES 2.0 Act in collaboration with several other lawmakers, at least some of whom are expected to sign on as co-sponsors of the legislation. Joyce’s legislative team also received input from stakeholders and groups including Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy organization founded by billionaire Charles Koch. A spokesperson for Joyce said that the congressman expects to introduce the bill in the House of Representatives sometime this week.

“This is a significant step in the right direction for cannabis reform! Removing marijuana from Schedule I is long overdue, and the STATES 2.0 Act addresses two major concerns for the industry: the unfair 280e tax burden and the limitations on interstate commerce,” Jeffrey M. Zucker, president of Denver-based cannabis consulting firm Green Lion Partners, tells High Times. “Both of these changes are crucial for the responsible growth and development of the legal cannabis market.”

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Republican Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called on state legislators to amend and whittle down the provisions of Issue 2, the law voters in the state just approved, before the bill takes effect on Dec. 7. And since Issue 2 is a citizen initiative, Ohio lawmakers could lawfully make changes to the law, but they only have about a month to do so. 

Ohio Capital Journal reports that less than two days after voters approved adult-use cannabis in Ohio, the governor wants to scale it back.

“My recommendation to the General Assembly is that they take action to make sure that both rights are protected,” DeWine said Thursday. “People have a right to smoke it. People have a right to consume it. But also that everybody else’s who doesn’t choose to do so is also protected with their rights as well.”

DeWine is “already plotting to change Ohio’s legal weed law,” Benzinga reports. 

The people who fought hard to campaign for Issue 2 are ready for a battle. “I can’t believe in 2023 we’re actually talking about elected officials not respecting the will of the voters and not respecting the outcome of an election,” Tom Haren, spokesperson for the Coalition To Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol, which led Issue 2, told the Columbus Dispatch.

The governor claims he’s not ignoring the will of his constituents. “We respect what the people have done,” DeWine said, suggesting that he’s not in fact going against the will of Ohio voters. “What the people have clearly told us is they want legal marijuana in Ohio. We are going to see that they have that. We’re also going to live up to our responsibility to all the people in the state of Ohio, whether they voted for it or voted against it. In doing so, he wants to make sure various protections are in place, starting with Ohio’s children.”

The people in Ohio have already decided. Nov. 7, voters in Ohio approved a ballot proposal, Issue 2, to legalize adult-use cannabis, beating out voters in opposition to the measure. The election’s outcome makes Ohio the 24th state to allow adult-cannabis, 14 of which have done so via a public vote. 

Per the new legislation, adults ages 21 and up can legally buy and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and grow plants at home—up to six plants per person and 12 plants per residence, where at least two adults reside. A 10% tax will be imposed on cannabis purchases and will go toward administrative costs, addiction treatment, municipalities with dispensaries, and social equity and jobs programs.

Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, who also voiced opposition to the bill, said lawmakers could clarify language “regarding  limits for THC and tax rates as well as other parts of the statute.”

Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) agreed. “Now is the time for the legislature to lead on how best to allocate tax revenues while responsibly regulating the industry,” Stephens said in a statement.

A similar scaled-back cannabis law took place in Utah in 2019. House Bill 3001, which lawmakers passed in a legislative special session, was installed by the Republican-dominated Utah Legislature in response to the voter-approved Proposition 2, which Utah voters approved in November 2018.

HB 3001 was supposedly a “compromise bill.” But critics of the bill say that H.B. 3001 actually functions as a replacement to Proposition 2. Organizations and people such as Rocky Anderson sued the state for attempting to undo the will of voters. Could the same happen in Ohio?

Protect the Children

“One goal will be to make sure that they are protected from advertising in regard to marijuana,” DeWine said. “We want to do everything within our power to reduce the number of inadvertent consumption of gummy bears, cookies and other products that have marijuana.”

Fueling the myth that adults are passing out edibles to trick-or-treaters, an actual incident re-sparked fears that cannabis is a threat to children.

In 2022, a 10-year-old student at Upper Arlington elementary school brought her dad’s infused gummies to school and shared with them with fellow students at lunch. After eating the gummies, the students became sick and were all taken to a local hospital for treatment.

“We have every responsibility to do everything we can to keep those [emergency room visits] numbers down as much as we can,” DeWine said.  

DeWine also wants to reduce the number of drivers who smoke cannabis. Opposition group Protect Ohio Workers and Families claim that if Ohio legalizes pot, it would be subject to an additional 48 fatal vehicle crashes and 2,298 more injury crashes per year if Issue 2 passed.

“I would hope … that when Dec. 7 comes and goes that we will be able to inform the people of the state exactly how this program will roll out,” he said. “I think it would be good if that was all done by the 7th so that we’re not in a situation of taking something away from people.” 

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Cannabis is so stigmatized that some New Yorker’s don’t even want to see it. One New York Republican wants to remove the eyesore of cannabis billboards and signs throughout the state, and introduced a bill that would do so, increasing penalties for signs that are already restricted.

Assemblyman Scott Gray (R-Watertown) recently introduced A8200, which would punish people with cannabis signs each day the signage is up. It would prohibit the display of ads for cannabis unless the ads are by an authorized dealer on the site of an authorized business. 

New York already restricts cannabis-related billboards, extensively. Regulations that were established recently by the state’s Office of Cannabis Management include a ban on cannabis billboards for all cannabis businesses except those with retail sales or delivery. And those signs can only be used to alert consumers of the location.

The proliferation of cannabis billboards raised alarm—but one particular ad that mimicked the “Got Milk?” campaign, saying “Got Weed?” especially irked the lawmaker, who said it appeals to teens.

“The rollout Office of Cannabis Management has included many delays, turmoil, and confusion,” Gray said, The Post-Journal reports. “A concern of many New Yorkers is that advertisements of many cannabis products will be geared towards adolescents, including those who may not even be of legal age to possess cannabis or cannabis products. For example, in my district there is a large billboard with a pronounced ‘Got Weed?’ advertisement, closely resembling the ‘Got Milk?’ campaign that was directed towards teenagers.”

To that end, “Got Milk?” isn’t exactly healthy advice either: It turns out that drinking cow milk everyday could be harmful as well, as dairy is the number one source of saturated fat—leading to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. It can also up your chances of getting ovarian or prostate cancers, and the four advised food groups including dairy were tossed out decades ago.)

The bill would prohibit roadside signage for the sale of cannabis or cannabis products on roads and highways, and establish a civil penalty of $1,000 for the first offense and a subsequent fine of up to $2,500 for each day that a violation continues.

“Numerous scientific studies have shown serious effects from marijuana on teenagers brain’s, and this legislation will ensure that products are not advertised in a harmful way, while protecting the rights of authorized establishments to have signage acknowledging the location of their venue. This legislation does not prohibit the signage for retail operations, rather specific product advertising,” Gray wrote.

Three states with adult-use cannabis—including New York—ban cannabis advertising on public property. Oregon restricts the distribution of handbills on public property while eight of the states prohibit cannabis advertising on public vehicles and mass transit. Six states ban cannabis advertising at locations related to transportation, i.e. roads. Three more states, also including New York, restrict general visibility on signs and billboards. Alaska restricts cannabis business to a maximum of three signs that are visible from a public right of way.

Other States Take Action on Cannabis Signage

Several states have implemented restrictions on cannabis-related ads and billboards to date. Michigan State Representative Mary Whiteford, a Republican based in Allegan County, introduced a bill in 2021 that would ban cannabis billboards in Michigan.

House Bill 4609 would do just that, but it didn’t initially pick up steam. Like New York, Michigan also restricts cannabis billboards, which are regulated by the state’s Marijuana Regulatory Agency.

“About four years ago, when medical marijuana and recreational marijuana were legalized, I had a great concern among our youth that they would find using marijuana as an acceptable form of recreation, and that really bothered me,” said Whiteford. “I got a niece who was addicted to drugs who took her life when she was 23 years old. And I know that she was exposed to marijuana as a teenager and was using it. So I do find in my heart that it’s not good for children to be using marijuana.”

California has gone back and forth on the issue. A 2021 regulation, which comes from the California Bureau of Cannabis Control, overturns a previous ruling, which provided that billboards were allowed unless they were within a 15-mile radius of the state border. 

California’s previous ruling allowed for cannabis billboard advertising along state and interstate highways. While cannabis billboards are still allowed, they are prohibited on any highway that crosses state borders.

In Utah, billboards urged state voters to successfully approve the state’s Prop. 2, which legalized medical cannabis in the state.

Now it’s up to New York legislators to determine what’s appropriate for cannabis-related signage and billboards along roadsides.

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