Congress Discusses Remaining FY2024 Spending Bill With Provisions On Cannabis Sales And Psychedelic Clinical Trials

On March 20, Congressional leaders at both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees released new spending legislation that would continue blocking Washington D.C.'s legal marijuana sales and fund psychedelic clinical studies.

The new Financial Services and General Government legislation follows an agreement on the remaining FY 2024 spending (second and final round,) and legislators aim to pass it before a close deadline on the current continuing resolution, noted Marijuana Moment.

D.C.'s current rider, in effect since 2014, bans the use of local tax dollars for implementing a legal cannabis sales system. The new legislation would leave that ruling intact as does President Biden's FY 2025 proposal despite D.C. voters having approved cannabis legalization at the ballot a decade ago. 

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Specifically, it says that "None of the Federal funds contained in this Act may be used to enact or carry out any law, rule, or regulation to legalize or otherwise reduce penalties associated with the possession, use, or distribution of any schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act or any tetrahydrocannabinols derivative."

The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Education Dept. would also not be able to use funds "for any activity that promotes the legalization of any drug or other substance" in Schedule I, which to date includes cannabis and virtually all psychedelics.

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Another section, including the report covering funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), calls on the department's Investigations division to report to Congress on issues related to illicit grow operations in legal marijuana states that are run by "transnational criminal organizations, including but not limited to those based in the People's Republic of China."

Separately, the legislation would provide a total $10 million for psychedelic medical clinical trials under the Department of Defense. This funding allocation likely responds to the implementation of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) tasking the federal department to conduct trials on psilocybin, MDMA, ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT for active duty service members with PTSD or TBI.

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