Cannabis News
Bipartisan Congressional Lawmakers Give Mixed Reactions To Marijuana Rescheduling News From Trump Administration
Bipartisan congressional lawmakers are making a potentially immediate decision President Donald Trump to move forward with federal marijuana overhaul—Democrats like Rep. Alex Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) call the reform a “no” and others like Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) have pushed back against the proposal.
It was first reported on Thursday that Trump plans to sign an executive order on the reorganization, possibly directing the attorney general to complete the process started by the Biden administration to reclassify cannabis under Title III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
Since then, several lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have weighed in on the plan in interviews with Marihuana Moment. While Democrats may disagree with the president on many policy issues, they have generally welcomed news of the restructuring’s development, though they would eventually like to see the federal ban end entirely rather than increase change.
Ocasio-Cortez said it was a “no brainer” to implement the policy change, which would legalize marijuana but remove some barriers to research and allow cannabis businesses to take a federal tax deduction, symbolically recognizing the plant’s medical value.
“I have honestly felt that it has been a race between the two major parties to get reform,” said the congressman. “I mean, it’s inevitable, so of course I’m all for that move.”
Asked about reports that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) told Trump not to reschedule, Ocasio-Cortez said an executive order would bypass lawmakers who oppose it. The speaker “has no pen” in such orders, he said.
“If he wants to try to pass some legislation and push his entire Republican team to do that, I think that’s within his power,” the congressman said.
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, told Marihuana Moment that while it’s true that Trump plans to advance rescheduling, that would be a “game changer” and a “huge” accomplishment.
However, he said that it is difficult for any member of parliament to take his word seriously, “because the president has often changed his position on various policy issues in the past. “I hope (he will act on the rescheduling) and it will come true,” he said.
Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), another co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, told Marijuana Moment that “Trump’s proposal would be a positive step toward cannabis policy reform, but more work remains.”
“While it would ease restrictions on medical cannabis research and alleviate some of the tax burden on state illegal cannabis businesses, classifying marijuana as a Schedule III substance still allows for the unfair and disproportionate incarceration of recreational users and limits access to banking services for cannabis businesses,” he said. “We must continue to address the systemic inequality associated with scheduling cannabis as a dangerous drug.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), for his part, did not weigh in on the merits of the reconsideration proposal, but told Marijuana Moment that he was with the president Thursday afternoon and “didn’t hear that” about plans to end the reform process.
One of the House’s most outspoken anti-marijuana lawmakers, Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD), insisted that he doesn’t “agree with everything the president does, and I don’t.” He also appears to question the veracity of recent reports about the imminence of a restructuring move, stating that he was told “for sure” it would happen on Thursday, which did not materialize.
There have been mixed reports on the timing of a possible reconsideration action, with some sources still hopeful it will happen on Friday, CNBC to report that the executive order would be issued on Monday of next week and as early as Axios to report that the reform is expected to come early next year.
Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC), chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), told Marihuana Moment that rescheduling is a “terrible idea” and noted that he had never discussed the issue with the House Speaker.
In a statement Friday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) said she was “encouraged to see the first move by the Drug Enforcement Administration under President Biden to reorganize marijuana, and I urge President Trump to continue that effort.”
“Common sense tells us that marijuana should not be in the same category as deadly drugs like heroin, and reclassifying it is a small step forward in creating economic opportunity, supporting research into the medical benefits of marijuana, and increasing public safety,” he said. “However, much more work remains to be done. I will continue to advocate for the complete decriminalization of marijuana and the expungement of the records of Americans convicted of marijuana possession.”
Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) reacted to the news by criticizing the Biden administration after it “failed” to complete marijuana rescheduling, and said he hopes the Trump administration doesn’t make the “same mistake.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s former White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, discussed the news development on an episode of his “The Huddle” podcast on Friday and said Trump’s potential reshuffle action, like other policy issues, “comes back to power and money.”
“There are a lot of people who instinctively think it’s a good play with young voters,” he said. “The bottom line, this whole reclassification, really comes down to the financial part of this.”
Spicer added that there is a “bank part” because cannabis companies have long faced a federal ban on accessing banking services, regardless of state laws. However, it inflated the impact of the reorganization on that issue, because placing marijuana in Schedule III of the CSA would not make it federally legal, so some banks would likely continue to avoid serving the marijuana industry even if this modest reform were enacted.
“It’s a big business with a lot of money, and I have to believe that’s what it really comes down to,” he said. “The president is not running for re-election … there are a lot of people who will not be happy about this. I am one of them.”
“You walk through downtown (Washington, DC) or any city, it smells like pot and piss,” he added. “I think, given where we are as a society, the last thing we need to do is make drugs more accessible. I don’t think it’s a good idea, but I’ll tell you, I think where people are missing the story is: Follow the money.”
Trump said this in mid-August he would make the reorganization decision in a week. But despite the growing timeline and rumors, a White House spokesperson told Marihuana Moments on Thursday that “no final decision has been made on rescheduling marijuana.”
The Washington Post reported Thursday afternoon that Trump planned to issue an executive order to federal agencies to move ahead with cannabis rescheduling.
The outlet also said the president met with marijuana industry executives Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this week in the Oval Office. with Secretary of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz. During that meeting, Trump called Johnson, the House Speaker, who spoke out against the cannabis redistricting,
If the administration ultimately enacts the rescheduling, it would mark one of the most significant developments in federal marijuana policy since its prohibition half a century ago, when it was banned under Article III. With a reclassification, marijuana has medical value and a lower abuse potential compared to Schedule I drugs like heroin.
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It’s Marijuana Time tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelic and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters by pledging at least $25/month, you’ll get access to our interactive maps, charts, and audio calendars so you never miss a development.
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Trump endorsed the rescheduling — as well as an initiative to legalize access to industrial banking and adult use in Florida — on the campaign trail. The president had been silent on the issue since taking office for a second term, until a meeting in August where, in response to a reporter’s question, he announced that the administration would decide to reschedule in a few weeks.
The possibility of an immediate rescheduling announcement comes a few weeks later the president signed a major spending bill that would effectively ban most consumer hemp productsdrawing criticism from hemp industry players who say the policy change would wipe out the market.
LCB Contributed reporting from Washington DC
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A Florida bill to significantly reduce the fee for military veterans to obtain medical marijuana registry identification cards has cleared another legislative committee.
The House Health and Human Services Committee approved the measure by Reps. Susan Valdés (R) and Michelle Salzman (R) on a 22-0 vote Tuesday. This comes after the legislation cleared two other House panels and Senate legislation to reduce the cost of cannabis for veterans is also advancing.
If enacted into law, HB 887 would require honorably discharged veterans to pay $15 to obtain a medical cannabis card, down from the current $75 rate for most eligible patients.
The $15 charge will also apply to replacement cards as well as annual renewals.
To receive the reduced fee, veterans must provide the state Department of Health (DOH) with a copy of the discharge form, a US Veterans Affairs (VA) identification card, or a Florida driver’s license with a “veteran designation.”
The law will come into effect on July 1 of this year.
“Medical cannabis has shown promise in alleviating symptoms commonly experienced by our military veterans, such as managing chronic pain, easing the effects of PTSD, improving sleep, and most importantly reducing opioid addiction,” Valdés said before the final committee vote. “This bill will go a long way in reducing the financial barriers veterans face when getting a card.”
According to A invoice study, the reform “would have an unspecified negative fiscal impact on the DOH.” While there are currently 931,000 registered medical marijuana patients in Florida, “the number of veterans with an active medical marijuana use registry identification card is unknown” and thus “the amount of revenue reduction is unknown.”
That said, the analysis says the policy change “would have a positive fiscal impact on veterans who will see a $60 reduction in the cost of ID cards under the bill.”
Earlier this month, the Senate Health Policy Committee advanced a bill by Sen. Alexis Calatayud that would reduce medical cannabis registration fees for veterans to $15 and implement other reforms to expand access to medical marijuana.
Under that amended proposal, a physician would recommend a 70-day supply limit for cannabis, or a 35-day supply limit for marijuana smoking products for 10 supply limits. Under current law, they can recommend up to three 70-day supply limits for non-smoking cannabis and six 35-day supply limits for smoking marijuana.
The SB 1032 bill would also require doctors to evaluate patients to qualify for medical marijuana every 52 weeks, rather than the legal requirement of evaluations every 30 weeks.
Here’s an overview of some of the pending Florida marijuana bills:
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It’s Marijuana Time tracking hundreds of cannabis, psychedelic and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters by pledging at least $25/month, you’ll get access to our interactive maps, charts, and audio calendars so you never miss a development.
Learn more about our marijuana bill tracking and become a Patreon supporter to gain access
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Meanwhile, a The Florida campaign seeking to put marijuana legalization on the ballot has another complication As the status of the 2026 signature drive remains in dispute. According to a new electoral law, the hundreds of thousands of activist signatures already collected this year will not be carried over to the 2028 cycle.
Smart & Safe Florida recently shipped An appeal of the annulment of about 71,000 signatures to the state Supreme Court For the 2026 order, for example.
The courts again agreed to close a separate case involving legal review of the ballot measure From Smart & Safe Florida, he has now been given another case challenging the cancellation of the earlier mass signature.
In December, advocates filed a lawsuit in Leon County Circuit Court alleging that Secretary of State Cord Byrd (R) illegally ordered county election officials to invalidate about 42,000 signatures from so-called “inactive” voters and about 29,000 signatures collected by out-of-state petitioners.
That lawsuit came after another court upheld an earlier decision to strike with about 200,000 signatures, which the state said were invalid because the petition did not include the full text of the proposed initiative. The campaign challenged the legal interpretation, but declined to appeal the decision, confident it had collected enough signatures to settle the dispute.
Smart & Safe Florida has generally disputed the secretary of state’s signature count, confirming that the campaign has submitted more than 1.4 million petitions, hundreds of thousands more than the 880,062 valid signatures needed before voters.
In return for the signature, Florida’s attorney general and several businesses and anti-marijuana groups has asked the state Supreme Court to block the cannabis initiativecalling it a “fatal flaw” and unconstitutional.
The Florida Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Legal Foundation and Judge Frank Shepherd filed another joint document, stating that the parties “remain particularly vigilant about the abuse of the citizen initiative process by out-of-state interests who believe that Florida is another market and that the citizen initiative process is another means of exploiting that market.”
The Florida Chamber of Commerce has consistently opposed attempts to move forward with adult-use legalization, as well his polls have shown a majority in favor of reform.
The campaign fought several legal battles this cycle to get its initiative on the ballot.
Last month, the state attorney general’s office opened dozens of criminal investigations and subpoenaed Smart & Safe Florida and its contractors and subcontractors for records over alleged fraud related to the application effort.
Activists said in November they had collected more than a million signatures to put the cannabis measure on the ballot, but still He has sued state Supreme Court officials for delaying the certification processarguing that the review of ballot content and summary should have gone ahead several months ago when the initial signature threshold was reached. The state then he agreed to proceed with the processing.
The governor campaigned hard against an earlier version of the legalization proposal, which received a majority of voters in 2024, but was not enough to meet the 60 percent threshold needed to pass a constitutional amendment. Former Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) unsuccessfully challenged the earlier initiative in court.
Last March, however, two Democratic members of Congress representing Florida asked the federal government to investigate What they described as an “illegal diversion” of millions in state Medicaid funds Through a group with ties to DeSantis. The money was used to fight a popular ballot initiative the governor vehemently opposed that would have legalized adult marijuana.
The lawmakers’ letter alleges that a $10 million donation from a state legislative settlement was misappropriated to the Hope Florida Foundation, which later sent the money to two political nonprofits, and sent $8.5 million to the anti-Amendment 3 campaign.
The governor said last February The latest measure to legalize marijuana is in “big trouble” with the state Supreme Courthe announced that it would be blocked from going before the voters this year.
the last the initiative It was introduced to the secretary of state just months after initial versions failed in the November 2024 election, despite President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
Smart & Safe Florida expressed optimism that the revised version would be successful in 2026. The campaign — which received tens of millions of dollars from cannabis industry players in the last election cycle, notably from multi-state operator Trulieve — introduced some changes in the new version that address criticisms of the 2024 push by opponents.
For example, it now specifically states that “smoking and vaping marijuana in any public place is prohibited.” Another section states that the legislature should adopt rules governing the “time, place and public manner of consuming marijuana.”
In 2023, the governor accurately predicted this The campaign’s 2024 cannabis measure would survive a legal challenge From the state attorney general. It’s not entirely clear why he thinks this version will face a different outcome.
Although there is uncertainty about how the state’s highest court will navigate the measure, a poll released last February It showed the overwhelming support of a bipartisan voter for reform— 67% of Florida voters support legalization, including 82% of Democrats, 66% of independents and 55% of Republicans.
Max Jackson’s photo.
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A 20-acre cannabis farm near Upper Lake went up for sale last week for $599,000, according to a recent Zillow listing. The property has a 10-year occupancy permit and 43,560 square feet of permitted cultivation, for a total of 78,550 square feet of approved growing area, according to the listing. The infrastructure described in the publication includes a well, a security gate, water storage tanks, parking and a 30 x 75 meter barn.
The photos show growing houses and outdoor plants. Lux Places real estate agent Forest Nikola Elie promoted the listing on social media.
“Grow Big. Live Close. Win Fast!”, he wrote in a post on a local Facebook group. “Whether you are expanding your operation or looking for an income producing private home, this property is move in ready.”
Read more at The Mendocino Voice
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