As discussed in prior posts, the efforts to reschedule marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act have slowed to a crawl during the Trump administration. 

As reported by Kyle Jaeger in Marijuana Moment, the House Appropriations Committee released the text of the spending measure on Monday, and the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee advanced the legislation on a 9-6 vote on Tuesday. The bill now heads to the full committee and then, potentially, to the floor.

The legislation, in its current form,  would block the Justice Department from using its funds to reschedule or de-schedule marijuana. Specifically,  the bill stipulates:

“SEC. 607. None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used to reschedule marijuana (as such term is defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802)) or to remove marijuana from the schedules established under section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812).”

This legislation could derail efforts to reschedule or de-schedule marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act. We will continue to monitor this legislation as it progresses.