Cannabis Bill, No Chill

#CannaLaw

Nov 15

Reposted with permission from @SHALWETOKE

Republicans are Drafting a Cannabis Bill!

The States Reform Act is the latest draft measure that is being circulated among stakeholders with a final draft hoping to be filed by the end of this month.

It’s interesting to note that this measure was brought by the Republicans and not by the Democrats.

Here are a couple of things that this new bill states:

Cannabis would be descheduled and it will be treated in the same way as alcohol is.

There will be a 3.75% excise tax imposed on cannabis sales however that revenue would support grant programs for community reentry, law enforcement, and small business administration aid for newly licensed businesses

The chief regulator of this in respect to interstate commerce would be the Treasury Department Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

What’s interesting to note here is that the FDA would be limited in its regulatory authority and that they would have no more control over cannabis as they do for alcohol except for when it comes to medical cannabis

The FDA could however prescribe serving sizes, certify designated state medical cannabis products, and approve and regulate pharmaceuticals that come from cannabis but they can’t just outright ban the use of cannabis or anything that comes from cannabis in a non-drug application like in designated state medical cannabis products, etc.

Raw cannabis would be regulated by the US Department of Agriculture because cannabis is in fact agriculture.

This next part is interesting because it would actually grandfather in existing state license cannabis operators into the federal market because the feds want to ensure that there is continued patient access and it’s also in a way for them to give these cannabis businesses a reason to continue their participation in the legalized federal market.

There would be a safe harbor provision so that they can protect patients in cannabis businesses acting in compliance with existing state laws.

Certain non-violent Federal Cannabis convictions would be eligible for expungement.

There will be a mandatory 21 age limit for recreational cannabis and they will prevent certain restrictions on advertisement which they claim is to protect the youth

As for veterans, they won’t be faced with discrimination in federal hiring due to cannabis use and any doctors with the US Department of Veterans Affairs would be specifically authorized to make recommendations to veterans for medical cannabis.

Congress is also requiring the Bureau of Labor Statistics to issue them a report on the cannabis industry.

This was my headline as a Correspondent on The State of Cannabis NewsHour: Your Daily Dose, exclusively on Clubhouse.