Trump’s Marijuana Rescheduling Comments Are Making More Lawmakers Pay Attention To The Issue, Democratic Congresswoman Says

As President Donald Trump continues to weigh a marijuana rescheduling proposal, a Democratic congresswoman says there’s been more discussion among lawmakers about cannabis reform recently–adding that she’ll “continue to push for” other modest policy changes such as industry banking access.

In an interview with Marijuana Moment on Tuesday, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, also reacted to the launch of non-tribal adult-use marijuana sales in her home state of Minnesota, saying there’s “still heavy contention between underserved communities that [officials are] still working through.”

“I’m hoping that the rollout does include all the voices that are supposed to be” included in the reform, she said. “My hope is that, when our bill was crafted and debated, we took in all of the lessons learned from Colorado and California. So I do hope that there will be an excellent rollout that could serve as a model of how to do it right.”

Asked about the current status of cannabis policy talks on Capitol Hill, Omar said there’s been more conversation as Trump weighs rescheduling—a policy he endorsed on the campaign trail ahead of his second term.

“It seems like he’s hinted at” enacting rescheduling, “which is kind of a positive step,” she said.

As far as the prospect of any federal interference in Minnesota’s fully launched cannabis program, Omar said, “I don’t think that there is a serious worry in that regard.”

“We’ve had medicinal use for a really long time, and I think our full legalization should work out pretty well,” she said.

She added that she’s had “the opportunity to travel across the country and visit with entrepreneurs,” and marijuana banking reform at the federal level is “the one thing that they complain about.”

“It’s things that we’ve been trying to legislate, so we’ll continue to push for that,” she said.

But the fate of marijuana reform in the GOP-controlled Congress under Trump remains murky. While Trump said late last month that the administration would be making a decision on the proposal to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substance Act (CSA) within weeks, no new developments have since emerged on the issue.

—Marijuana Moment is tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters pledging at least $25/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don’t miss any developments.

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At the same time, the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, & Accountability has scheduled a hearing—titled “Invasion of the Homeland: How China is Using Illegal Marijuana to Build a Criminal Network Across America”—for Thursday.

Last week, the House Appropriations Committee separately passed a spending bill that contains provisions to block the Justice Department from rescheduling marijuana.

Also last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee approved a bill to repeal a Washington, D.C. law expanding expungements for marijuana possession.

The LCB contributed reporting from Washington, D.C. 

Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.