Senate Approves Bill Protecting Medical Marijuana States From Federal Intervention

The Senate approved spending legislation on Thursday that extends a provision protecting medical marijuana states from federal interference—but the question remains as to whether a House-passed version with broader protections for all state cannabis programs could still be adopted in the final bill that’s sent to the president.

The so-called “minibus” appropriations legislation covers funding for Commerce, Justice, Science, Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation and Housing and Urban Development for the 2020 fiscal year.

The vote on the bill, which also includes new hemp and CBD-related language, was 84 to 9.

The medical cannabis provision in question prohibits the Department of Justice from using its resources to prosecute individuals acting in compliance with state laws. The rider has been in place and renewed each year since 2014.

But after the House passed a Justice Department spending bill in June that for the first time would extend those protections to all state cannabis programs, including those allowing recreational use and sales, some advocates hoped the Senate would follow suit. In the lead up to a committee markup where that would have happened, however, several senators told Marijuana Moment that the prospects were unlikely, as congressional leaders made a bicameral agreement not to add new policy riders in the appropriations process unless agreed to by leadership on a bipartisan basis.

Now the only chance that Congress will send the broader provision to President Trump’s desk for 2020 is if negotiators on a bicameral conference committee agree to put the House language in the final package, though there is a chance that the larger chamber could simply approve the bill as passed by the Senate in an effort to avoid a government shutdown that would occur if no spending legislation is signed into law by November 21.

“It’s our hope that the House will insist that today’s minibus appropriations package include the provision to restrict the Department of Justice from interfering with state-legal marijuana programs that passed with bipartisan support,” said Justin Strekal, political director for NORML.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) introduced a separate amendment to the large-scale appropriations bill last week that would have called on the attorney general to study the criminal justice implications of marijuana legalization, but the measure was not considered on the Senate floor.

The medical marijuana protections language isn’t the only cannabis-related rider that has advanced via the spending process this year. The Senate Appropriations Committee also approved legislation that includes existing policies barring Washington, D.C. from using its local tax dollars to implement a legal marijuana market, in addition to a provision providing funds to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enact regulations for a legal hemp program.

The latter language is included in the minibus the Senate approved on Thursday, as are report provisions urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to issue enforcement discretion guidelines for CBD, encouraging the Farm Credit Administration to provide services to hemp businesses and supporting “competitive USDA grants for hemp projects.”

“The FDA has been dragging its feet to issue the guidance required following the legalization of hemp-derived CBD,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), told Marijuana Moment. “This is about helping Oregon’s hemp industry continue to create jobs, protecting consumers and putting an end to the regulatory confusion and uncertainty. This language again shows that the Senate is serious about the FDA doing its job.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who with Wyden was a leading advocate for hemp legalization, also cheered the spending bill provisions.

“Hemp farmers, processors and manufacturers are exploring the crop’s great potential, and I’m proud to work with them every step of the way. As federal and state governments continue to develop how to best support this industry, I’ll keep working to benefit Kentucky producers and ensure hemp is treated just like any other legal commodity,” he said in a press release. “Ensuring law enforcement can differentiate between industrial hemp and its illicit cousin is critical, and I’ll continue working with the DEA and other federal agencies so hemp can be treated the same as any other legal commodity.”

Senate approves @SenateMajLdr McConnell's funding requests to: ✅combat Asian Carp in #Kentucky ✅implement & research Kentucky's #hemp industry ✅help address #opioid & substance abuse epidemic ✅support economic development & infrastructure prioritieshttps://t.co/dOMA8VUUib

— Senator McConnell Press (@McConnellPress) October 31, 2019

The hemp riders are timely given that USDA unveiled draft rules for hemp, which was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, on Tuesday. The interim final rule will be formally adopted following a 60-day public comment period.

Another House-passed appropriations bill also includes protections for banks that work with the marijuana industry, and the rider preventing D.C. from establishing a cannabis market was removed from the chamber’s version of the legislation.

While the Republican-controlled Senate is mostly sticking to the agreement not to add new policy riders to appropriations legislation, it could soon take up a separate, standalone marijuana bill: the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which would allow banks to service cannabis businesses without being penalized by federal regulators.

The House overwhelmingly approved that legislation in September, along largely bipartisan lines, and the chair of the Senate Banking Committee said recently that he plans to take up the legislation in his panel before the year’s end. He also outlined several changes he’d like to see to the House-passed version in an interview with Marijuana Moment.

USDA Releases Proposed Hemp Regulations For Public Comment

This story has been updated to include comments from Wyden and McConnell.

Opioid Addiction Is Now A Medical Marijuana Qualifying Condition In New Jersey

People suffering from opioid addiction now qualify for medical marijuana in New Jersey.

Gov. Phil Murphy (D) made the announcement on Wednesday as he unveiled several other initiatives aimed at mitigating the state’s opioid crisis. For example, regulators will also eliminate the prior authorization requirement for Medicaid recipients to receive medication-assisted treatment (MAT).

Today I announced new initiatives to fight the opioid epidemic, including removing the requirement for prior authorization for Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) and adding opioid addiction as an eligible condition to our medical marijuana program.https://t.co/Uswebrrqi8pic.twitter.com/BTnNi5zfHd

— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) January 23, 2019

The state Department of Health said physicians may begin recommending cannabis for opioid addiction immediately.

As of today, #opioid use disorder is a condition for which physicians can recommend #medicalmarijuana to patients. We are also taking steps to ensure that these patients will be on MAT for their addiction, in addition to #marijuana. @ShereefElnahalpic.twitter.com/tLv3uNeW2z

— NJDOH (@NJDeptofHealth) January 23, 2019

“We are pleased to announce that, as of today, opioid use disorder is a condition for which physicians can recommend medical marijuana to patients,” Dr. Shereef Elnahal, the state health commissioner, said in a press release. “We are also taking steps to ensure that these patients will be on MAT for their addiction, in addition to marijuana.”

Previously, individuals addicted to opioids could only qualify for medical cannabis if they became dependent while attempting to treat chronic pain caused by a musculoskeletal disorder.

The health department announced that it was exploring adding opioid addiction to the list of qualifying conditions in October. Elnahal said at the time that physicians “should consider marijuana as another appropriate treatment for patients with many medical conditions, especially diseases for which conventional therapies aren’t working for their patients.”

.@GovMurphy also announced the addition of opioid addiction to the Medicinal Marijuana Program as an eligible condition.

— NJ DHS (@NJDHS) January 23, 2019

The development comes as Murphy and legislative leaders seem to be at an impasse over provisions of a proposal to more broadly legalize marijuana for recreational use.

While legislative committees approved a legalization bill late last year, leaders have not brought the measure to the floor of either chamber in light of disagreements with the governor. At issue is the proposed tax rate for retail cannabis sales, as well as how the industry would be regulated.

Sources told NJ.com that talks on marijuana reform have stalled, but advocates hope that the issue will be worked out soon.

“I still believe we can make progress on this,” Murphy said earlier this week. “To be determined.”

Meanwhile, neighboring New York, which is also considering adult-use marijuana legalization this year, recently moved to allow patients who would normally be prescribed opioids for any condition to use medical cannabis instead.

Marijuana Dispensaries Reduce Local Opioid Overdose Rates, Study Finds

DC Lawmaker Proposes Same-Day Medical Marijuana Access And Social Use Spaces

A Washington, D.C. lawmaker introduced a bill on Tuesday that would make significant changes to the way patients are able to obtain medical marijuana in the nation’s capital.

Instead of having to wait several weeks for regulators to process their medical cannabis approvals, patients would simply fill out an application with the city health department and would then automatically qualify to legally purchase marijuana on a provisional basis.

Today I introduced the Medical #Marijuana Patient Health and Accessibility Improvement Amendment Act of 2019. We are all concerned w/the ongoing tragedy of residents dying from #opioid overdoses—this bill is another part of the effort to stop that crisis. https://t.co/vWb1Pr6dDM

— David Grosso (@cmdgrosso) January 22, 2019

While patients would have same-day access to dispensaries after submitting the paperwork, their applications could be potentially be rejected later.

The legislation’s author, at-large Councilmember David Grosso (I), introduced a similar bill in 2017, though that version allowed residents to self-certify as medical marijuana patients—without the need to involve a doctor—by signing an affidavit, and it didn’t have the stipulation that their qualifications could be later rejected.

“While we have made significant improvements to our medical marijuana program over the past few years, there is more we can do to expand access for patients, and bring more people into the regulated market,” Grosso said in a press release about the new bill.

The lawmaker argued that by expanding access to medical cannabis, the legislation could help combat opioid abuse.

While we have made significant improvements to our medical marijuana program over the past few years, there is more we can do to expand access for patients, and bring more people into the regulated market.

— David Grosso (@cmdgrosso) January 22, 2019

The proposed Medical Marijuana Patient Health and Accessibility Improvement Amendment Act also includes several other changes to the district’s medical cannabis program. Dispensaries would be able to establish “safe use facilities” where patients could consume marijuana socially. That would “address the challenge that many patients face of having nowhere to consume,” Grosso said.

There are a number of other improvements to the program as well, such as removing the plant count limit, and allowing more residents affected by the war on drugs to be employed in these businesses.

— David Grosso (@cmdgrosso) January 22, 2019

Limits on the number of marijuana plants a cultivation center can grow would be removed under the bill, and delivery services would be allowed.

The legislation also seeks to loosen restrictions on participation in the cannabis industry by people with prior criminal records.

The bill has two initial cosponsors signed on: Councilmembers Vincent Gray (D) and Brianne Nadeau (D).

“Improving access makes sense when we are in the midst of an opioid overdose crisis, but it also is an appropriate response to the challenges we face as a result of congressional interference with our local efforts to regulate marijuana,” Grosso said, referencing a congressional spending bill rider that has blocked D.C. from using local tax dollars to legalize and regulate the sale of recreational marijuana.

“That is posing real problems for the small business owners in the medical marijuana community, and our whole medical marijuana system could be in jeopardy if we don’t take action,” he said.

The rider is still included in a spending bill that the Democratic-majority U.S. House is expected to vote on this week. Its inclusion in the legislation, along with its appearance in two other spending bills the House has approved this month, isn’t necessarily a reflection of the majority party’s current attitude toward the district’s cannabis laws; rather, lawmakers are voting on what amounts to a copy of legislation that advance in the Senate last year—part of Democrats’ strategy to end the government shutdown, which entered its 32nd day on Tuesday.

Separately, Grosso filed a bill earlier this month that would enact a retail market for recreational marijuana in the District. But the rider would have to be removed in order for D.C. to be able to move ahead with implementing the legislation without risking violating a congressional directive.

D.C. Lawmaker Files Bill To Legalize Marijuana Sales Despite Federal Concerns

Photo courtesy of WeedPornDaily.