Politics
Senator Says It’s ‘Extremely Concerning’ Trump Has Delayed Marijuana Rescheduling After Pledging Action Two Months Ago
A Democratic senator says it’s “extremely concerning the Trump administration continues to drag its feet” on a marijuana reform—including the pending cannabis rescheduling decision that the president said in August would be decided on within weeks.
By delaying action on the plan to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the administration is “perpetuating the injustices of the failed war on drugs,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) told Marijuana Moment on Friday.
“Whether it’s lowering prescription drug costs, protecting health care, or bringing our nation’s cannabis laws into the 21st century, Donald Trump’s presidency is one big broken promise,” he said. “I’ll continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate to press the administration to get with the program and meet the overwhelming majority of American voters where they are on this issue.”
Reclassifying cannabis as a Schedule III drug wouldn’t federally legalize it, but it would recognize the medical value of marijuana, free up certain research barriers associated with Schedule I drugs and allow licensed cannabis businesses to take federal tax deductions they’ve been barred from under Internal Revenue Service code 280E.
Polls have shown bipartisan support for that policy change, but a majority of Americans also support ending prohibition altogether. Trump endorsed rescheduling—as well as cannabis industry banking access and a Florida legalization ballot initiative that fell short last year—but he hasn’t gotten behind federal legalization.
Trump’s latest comments on the timeline for rescheduling also lacked a clear signal that he intended to move forward with a Schedule III reclassification, even though he pledged to do so last year during his presidential campaign.
Wyden, as well as two other GOP senators, additionally weighed in on rescheduling and bipartisan marijuana banking reform legislation in interviews with Marijuana Moment on Thursday. The Democratic senator said rescheduling would send a “huge message” to his colleagues about the need to “finally come up with a modern approach” to marijuana laws.
“I’d like it a lot. I mean, it would set up the path to getting into a store and all the areas where there’s consumer demand,” he said, adding that Trump has “been all over the map on this, but I hope he’ll want to help work out the market.”
“There are a lot of senators that are ready for it,” he said.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), who’s been the lead GOP sponsor of the cannabis banking measure in past sessions, said he’s “not sure absolutely” whether the president rescheduling marijuana would move the needle within the Republican caucus.
“Many senators hold strong opinions,” and “they keep those opinions separate from SAFE Banking,” he said.
“I’m not a fan of recreational marijuana. I voted against it in Montana, but it passed. But I definitely support SAFE Banking and taking that cash off the streets, and put it into banks,” Daines said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), for his part, said he’s “not tracking” developments on rescheduling, and he suggested that his constituents have not been especially vocal in their outreach to his office about the issue.
“My view is we have to just [pass] the Banking Act,” he said. “I mean, that’s the one that’s got a lot of bipartisan support.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) told AskAPol last month that he did feel that Trump advancing rescheduling would be an “important domino” to advance the bipartisan cannabis banking legislation.
The senator, who is expected to be the lead sponsor of the legislation this Congress, previously said that the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act would be taken up this fall.
“We’re still seeing what we can do to get it done in Q4,” Moreno said. “As you know, the Democrats give us a lot of stuff to do. We have to fund the government, we have to get [the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA] across the finish line. We’ve gotta get [Trump’s judicial nominations] done.”
Separately, the president last month posted a video on his Truth Social platform promoting the health benefits of cannabis—suggesting that covering CBD under Medicare would be “the most important senior health initiative of the century.”
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Meanwhile, during a House Appropriations Committee markup last month, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) criticized the exclusion of provisions to protect banks that work with state-licensed marijuana and hemp businesses from a key spending bill.
Relatedly, a bipartisan coalition of 32 state and territory attorneys general from across the U.S. recently called on Congress to pass a marijuana banking bill to free up financial services access for licensed cannabis businesses.
The Democratic Senate sponsor of the marijuana banking bill in past sessions, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), recently said that, despite efforts to coordinate meetings around the legislation, other priorities have taken precedence for now.
In January, the office of Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), who is again leading the effort on the House, told Marijuana Moment that he would be filing the cannabis banking legislation this session but that its introduction was “not imminent” as some earlier reports had suggested.
The LCB contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.
Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.
