Meet the new boss same as the old boss

A powerful House Committee cleared a drug policy reform amendment for consideration on the House floor on Monday. But at the same time, it blocked a separate marijuana reform proposal from advancing.

The measure moving to a full House vote, introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), would eliminate a long-standing rider on a spending bill that prohibits federal agencies from using funds for “any activity that promotes the legalization of any drug or other substance in Schedule I” of the Controlled Substances Act.

The congresswoman argued in a summary of her proposal that the current provision impedes valuable research into substances that have therapeutic potentials such as psilocybin and MDMA. Cannabis is also listed among those substances as a Schedule I drug.

The amendment blocked from advancing to the floor, filed by Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA), would have prevented the Department of Education from denying or limiting “any funding or assistance to institutions of higher education” that allow the use or possession of medical cannabis on campus in states where it is legal.

Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), chair of the House Rules Committee, said last year that he was “not going to block marijuana amendments like my predecessor has done.”

“I’m not going to block marijuana amendments,” he said last year shortly after Democrats took back control of the House in the midterm elections. “People ought to bring them to the floor, they should be debated and people ought to vote the way they feel appropriate.”

The rider that Ocasio-Cortez’s amendment would remove has been attached to spending legislation for the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education since at least 1996.

The congresswoman’s effort comes at an especially relevant time, as jurisdictions across the U.S. are pursuing psilocybin reform with a focus on the fungi’s medical potential. Voters in Denver approved a local measure to decriminalize the substance in May, and last week the Oakland City Council unanimously passed a similar measure that also applies to other psychedelics including ayahuasca, mescaline and ibogaine.

Just before the Rules Committee meeting on Monday, Reps. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) signed on as cosponsors of the amendment.


Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
✔
@AOC
We now have *bipartisan support* for our amendment allowing expanded research into psychedelics.

This is important, as several studies have shown promise in treatment-resistant PTSD, severe depression, & more.

The War on Drugs has caused so much harm. It’s time to reverse it.

Tom Angell 🌳📰
✔
@tomangell
NEW: Reps. @mattgaetz and @RoKhanna have just been added as cosponsors of @AOC’s amendment to expand research on psilocybin, MDMA and other psychedelic drugs.

The Rules Committee decides tonight whether this can go to the House floor...

BACKGROUND:https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2019/06/08/aoc-pushes-to-make-it-easier-to-study-shrooms-and-other-psychedelic-drugs/ …

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Correa’s amendment on medical marijuana at colleges and universities would have helped undercut a major reason some administrators say they won’t allow even approved patients to bring cannabis on campus: the threatened loss of federal funds over a failure to bar federally illegal drug use and possession.

“It is frustrating that patients who are seeking to improve their position in life by attending college would be forced to choose between their education and their medication,” University of Utah NORML Director Pedro Padilla told Marijuana Moment.

While the Democratic-controlled House has produced several wide-ranging marijuana bills this congressional session, including a cannabis banking bill expected to hit the floor in the coming weeks, it’s apparent that there’s strong interest in advancing reform through the appropriations process.

House Appropriations Committee reports released so far this year call for the expansion of research into medical cannabis, funding the implementation of hemp regulations, tackling the challenges associated with impaired driving, creating an alternative regulatory framework for CBD and ensuring that military veterans don’t lose their benefits due to their involvement in state-legal cannabis markets.

A committee report published on Monday also implored the federal government to reevaluate its employment polices as it pertains to workers who use cannabis in accordance with state law.

McGovern did not say during Monday’s Rules Committee meeting why he chose to block the medical marijuana amendment from advancing despite his previous pledges to allow such proposals to advance for consideration by the full House.

He had joined marijuana policy reform advocates in criticizing his predecessor, then-Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), for consistently impeding cannabis proposals from advancing.

The overall spending bill and amendments made in order will be debated on the floor this week.

This is bullshit. We voted these people into office to represent us not undermine us. I am really pissed off over this one. If you are too and you live in his district you can contact him and ask why he pulled this stunt.