Federal Policy

As part of a bipartisan effort in the U.S. Senate, New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez has proposed a bill aiming to open up business insurance opportunities for state-legal cannabis companies.

Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler and Sen. Kamala Harris are introducing a federal cannabis reform bill called the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act to both decriminalize cannabis and set up the expungement of prior cannabis convictions.

The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs has scheduled a hearing to consider the SAFE Banking Act despite hints from the Republican committee chair in April that such a hearing was unlikely.

FDA officials say they will rush the release of federal CBD rules and regulations, potentially by the end of summer or early fall.

Federal lawmakers yesterday hosted the first-ever bipartisan hearing to recognize and address the racial disparity in cannabis laws and enforcement actions. During the hearing, members from both parties pushed for the end of prohibition.

Federal lawmakers from Oregon have introduced legislation to allow the state’s recently passed interstate cannabis commerce legislation to move forward; part of said state law requires federal permission before cannabis products can start shipping across state borders.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has signed into law several cannabis policy updates, including a bill allowing the state to export cannabis products to other states with cannabis programs.

The House of Representatives has approved a federal spending bill amendment that would block the Department of Justice from interfering in state-legal cannabis programs. The rider must now be approved by the Senate before it can take effect.

The House Committee on Small Business heard testimony on Wednesday from cannabis industry operators about the difficulties they face accessing Small Business Administration programs, despite the industry being primarily comprised of smaller firms.

The U.S. Postal Service has updated its policies to clarify that hemp and hemp products — including CBD — are legal to mail so long as they comply with hemp rules laid out by state agricultural programs.

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe in South Dakota is suing the USDA for having failed to approve its proposed plan to regulate hemp production on tribal lands within the 60 days required under last year’s Farm Bill.

The FDA’s first-ever CBD hearing took place last Friday. The agency heard from a host of speakers including nutritional supplement experts, private citizens, medical cannabis patients, hemp businesses, and more.

Idaho law enforcement says it will continue arresting long-haul truck drivers who ferry industrial hemp through the state and confiscating their cargo, despite hemp’s federal legalization and a USDA memo that clarifies interstate hemp transport is legal.

A federal appeals court has ruled that a lawsuit challenging the prohibition of cannabis can remain open — despite being dismissed last year — so that actions can be taken against the Drug Enforcement Agency if it fails to address the issue of cannabis’ Schedule 1 status.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert (R) accused the federal government this week of “lack of action and attention” on medical cannabis policies. The governor, however, originally opposed the creation of Utah’s medical cannabis industry.

Sens. Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries announced they will reintroduce the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act, which would legalize cannabis nationwide and authorize spending for cannabis crime expungement.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture — which is the only agency in the country capable of certifying agricultural products as “organic” — has issued its first-ever organic certification for a hemp flower product.

A consultant for the Department of Veteran Affairs said that until the DEA and Department of Justice establish clear guidelines, the agency could not move forward with approval of cannabis for vets.

By 2028, the U.S. cannabis market could be worth $41 billion pre-tax, according to analysts at Barclays.

The SAFE Banking Act, which was co-sponsored by one-third of the House and one-fifth of the Senate, may never advance further than the Senate Banking Committee after the committee’s chair Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said he would not commit to granting the legislation a hearing.

California Senator and 2020 presidential hopeful Kamala Harris said during a live-streamed interview on Wednesday that convicted cannabis dealers should be pardoned and given the opportunity to participate in the industry they pioneered.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released guidance allowing farmers to import hemp seed from international industrial hemp markets — as long as said seeds are documented to produce plants containing less THC than the federal limit of 0.3 percent.

Immigrants and green card-holders in the U.S. can be denied citizenship for cannabis use or for working in the industry even in states where it is legal, according to a recent federal guidance.

President Trump’s Attorney General said on Wednesday he would prefer the proposed STATES Act, which would allow states to set their own cannabis policies, over the current disconnect between state and federal cannabis laws.