Senate Marijuana & Psychedelics Reforms: Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy Marks 12 Bills For FY 2023

Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) recently released a set of spending bills and related reports for the fiscal year 2023, including a number of drug policy sections that potentially overlap with spending measures that have already been approved in the House earlier in July, as first noted by Kyle Jaeger in Marijuana Moment. 

One major novelty is that this time the Senate is including report language aimed at urging federal health agencies to promote research into the medical potential of psychedelics. 

A second new section addresses VA cannabis policy and concerns over its interference in veterans’ access to medicinal marijuana programs. Related to this provision, the mayor of D.C. recently signed a local bill allowing medical marijuana patients to self-certify. 

The report discusses marijuana research, most notably calling federal agencies to further support studies and stressing current concerns over research barriers under federal prohibition.

The report contains language on hemp and its derivatives like CBD, including an edict for the FDA to implement enforcement discretion guidance for its marketing, a revision of the allowed THC content levels in hemp, a suggestion for the DEA to further advance field testing technology to help law enforcement distinguish hemp from marijuana. It also foresees an indication for the USDA to study hemp’s potential as an alternative to plastics. 

Furthermore, concerning marijuana and hemp, the proposed legislation only preserves the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies (CJS) rider preventing the Justice Department from interfering in medical cannabis programs; it currently does not provide any broader protections for them. And while it’s still possible to amend a more holistic language to the project, Republican appropriators have stated their position against that project. 

For instance, vice chair Richard Shelby (R-AL) opposed the withdrawal of “legacy riders” in a recent statement as the legislation presumably “clears the way for marijuana legalization in Washington, D.C., and allows federal funds to be used to finance needle exchange programs in the nation’s capital without restriction.”

The Appropriations Committee has not yet approved the provisions, which means there is still room for further negotiations and changes that are likely to take place.

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