Senator Says It’s ‘Extremely Concerning’ Trump Has Delayed Marijuana Rescheduling

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.*

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