A key Senate committee has advanced a large-scale spending bill that preserves a rider preventing Justice Department intervention in state medical marijuana programs—and without adding a new exception that was included in the House version of the legislation this year.
The panel also approved a report demanding that the Biden administration explain why it has not escalated diplomatic efforts to secure the release of American citizen Marc Fogel, who is serving a 14-year sentence in a Russian prison over possession of medical cannabis he used to treat pain.
The Senate Appropriations Committee passed several spending bills and attached reports on Thursday. As in past sessions, the legislation covering Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) contains a rider blocking the Justice Department from using its funds to interfere in the implementation of state medical cannabis programs.
SEC. 531. None of the funds made available under this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, or with respect to the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, or Puerto Rico, to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.
The same language is included in the House version of the CJS legislation. But as approved by the House Appropriations Committee this month, there’s a new section in that chamber that adds an exception to the protections, authorizing enhanced penalties for sales near schools and parks.
Both versions also contain identical sections preventing DOJ interference in state hemp research programs.
SEC. 530. None of the funds made available by this Act may be used in contravention of section 7606 (‘‘Legitimacy of Industrial Hemp Research’’) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Public Law 113–79) by the Department of Justice or the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Meanwhile, the report attached to the Senate spending bill covering State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS) measure features a new section focused on Fogel, the medical cannabis patient incarcerated in Russia over low-level marijuana possession. It calls on the State Department to provide a report to Congress within 90 days of enactment that includes “detailed information about the detention of Marc Fogel in the Russian Federation.”
That report should feature a “comprehensive timeline” about the department’s efforts to help and communications with Fogel, his family and congressional committees, as well as a “full justification” for so far declining to designate his detention as unlawful, which would prompt enhanced diplomatic action to secure his release.
Marc Fogel.—Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the act, the Secretary of State shall submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees with detailed information about the detention of Marc Fogel in the Russian Federation. Such report shall include a comprehensive timeline of efforts taken by the Secretary to assist and communicate with Mr. Fogel, his family, and relevant congressional offices, as well as a full justification for the Department of State’s determination that his sentencing and detention are neither unlawful nor wrongful. Such report shall also include details about Mr. Fogel’s health and additional steps the Secretary plans to take to request humanitarian release as his health continues to decline.
While the section doesn’t describe the specific details of Fogel’s case, this comes about a month after the Senate approved a resolution calling for his release, emphasizing that he was a lawful medical cannabis patient in Pennsylvania using state-legal products as an opioid alternative.
The resolution says the 14-year sentence that Marc Fogel received after being convicted of “large-scale drugs smuggling” over possession of a half-ounce of cannabis is politically motivated and disproportionate, especially when taking into account the fact that he was using marijuana for medical purposes in accordance with a doctor’s recommendation.
Another SFOPS report section targets Chinese-owned illicit grow operations, demanding the State Department and Treasury Department to furnish a report within 45 days of enactment “regarding Chinese criminal syndicates or nationals who may be directly or indirectly involved in marijuana grows and money laundering operations in the United States, including in Maine, California, and Oregon.”
Chinese Criminal Syndicates and Marijuana Grows.—Not later than 45 days after the date of enactment of the act, the Secretaries of State and the Treasury shall provide to the appropriate congressional committees, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence any information in the possession of the Departments of State or the Treasury, if any, regarding Chinese criminal syndicates or nationals who may be directly or indirectly involved in marijuana grows and money laundering operations in the United States, including in Maine, California, and Oregon. The information should include, as relevant, officials of the Government of the PRC and syndicates operating in Southeast Asia. Such information shall also be made available to the heads of other relevant Federal agencies
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, took credit for that language, stating in a press release that in her state of Maine, “houses are being destroyed by illegal marijuana grows connected to Chinese criminal organizations.”
“It poses a significant threat to our communities, public health, and national security,” she said. “Maine’s county, state, and local law enforcement have been working tirelessly to target these illicit operations, but their efforts must be supported by a robust federal response that can help to identify any possible connections to money laundering or other criminal activity.”
The CJS report similarly calls on the Justice Department to submit a report within 90 days of enactment that assesses “the proliferation of illegal marijuana growing operations associated with foreign nationals.”
That report should include information about the scope of illegal cannabis grows operated by foreign nationals, any known connections to Chinese cartels or the Chinese government and what federal enforcement resources can be deployed to mitigate the grows, it says.
Illegal Growing Operations.—The Committee directs the Department to submit a report, within 90 days of the enactment of this act, assessing the proliferation of illegal marijuana growing operations associated with foreign nationals. The report shall be coordinated among the FBI, DEA, and the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, and shall specifically assess: (1) the extent of illegal growing operations in the United States that are associated with foreign nationals; (2) any connections or links to Chinese transnational criminal organizations and/or the government of the People’s Republic of China; and (3) the Federal resources that can be deployed to support State, local, and Tribal law enforcement efforts. The report may be transmitted through classified channels as necessary and appropriate. The Committee urges the Department, in coordination with Federal law enforcement partners, to fully support State, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies in their efforts on this matter.
The CJS report also directs the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to continue its work to develop methods to distinguish federally legal hemp from illegal marijuana, and to ensure that state and local law enforcement agencies “have access to this field test technology so they can more efficiently conduct their drug interdiction efforts at the local level.”
Hemp Testing Technology.—The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (Public Law 115–334) removed hemp and its derivatives from the Controlled Substances Act (Public Law 91–513, as amended), and authorized the production, consumption, and sale of hemp and hemp-derived products in the United States. The act requires random testing to ensure hemp meets the definition under the law of having a delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] concentration of less than 0.3 percent. The Committee is aware that DEA has developed field-testing kits that can distinguish between hemp and marijuana on the spot. The Committee directs the DEA to continue to work to ensure State and local law enforcement have access to this field test technology so they can more efficiently conduct their drug interdiction efforts at the local level. The Committee further directs the DEA to report to the Committee, not later than 180 days after enactment of this act, and not less than every 180 days thereafter, until such time as testing kits are deployed to State and local law enforcement in the field.
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Meanwhile, the Senate Appropriations Committee also advanced legislation this month urging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to explore medical marijuana as an alternative to opioids for veterans, and it’s also asking the agency to consider allowing its doctors to formally recommend cannabis to their patients in light of the Biden administration’s rescheduling push.
In a series of reports attached to the spending bills, lawmakers included a variety of marijuana, psychedelics and hemp sections—including a directive for VA to account for a little-known policy that blocks veterans from receiving GI benefits for educational courses aimed at preparing them to participate in the cannabis industry.
On the House side, appropriations legislation that cleared committee this month also directs the Biden administration to account for how it arrived at the decision to reschedule marijuana, while expressing concerns about cannabis-impaired driving and the market for intoxicating hemp-based cannabinoids.
Members of that panel separately passed a spending bill with a section that would block DOJ from using its funds to reschedule or deschedule cannabis,
The House Appropriations Committee also passed spending legislation last month that was amended to remove provisions safeguarding banks that work with state-licensed cannabis businesses. Members also reattached a section blocking Washington, D.C. from legalizing marijuana sales that was omitted from the base bill.
GOP Lawmakers Demand Answers From Biden Administration About ‘Unusual’ Marijuana Review Process Behind Rescheduling Push
Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis // Side Pocket Images.
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