GOP House Lawmakers Keep Messing with Marijuana Reforms, Florida Legalization Init Faces Opposition, More... (7/12/24)

The Florida marijuana legalization initiative is well-funded but its opposition could be too, Missouri pot tax revenues flow to drug treatment, veterans, and legal services for the poor, and more.

Republican lawmakers in the capitol continue to try to wreak havoc with marijuana reforms. (Creative Commons)

GOP Congressional Panel Directs Biden Admin to Explain Marijuana Rescheduling Decision, Saying It's 'Concerned' About 'Deviations.' The GOP-led House Appropriations Committee issued a report Wednesday calling on the Biden administration to explain how it came to the decision to reschedule marijuana. The report for the appropriations bill for Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) demands that the inspector general for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) explain to Congress the FDA's 2023 scientific review into marijuana, which led to its recommendation that marijuana be rescheduled.

The inspector general's report would have to look at "deviations" from the traditional analytical process, justifications for the policy shift, and why marijuana was compared to certain drugs over others to reach its conclusion. The implicit criticism of the review process echoes the talking points of the prohibitionist group Smart Approaches to Marijuana, which has taken credit for influencing lawmakers to stake out anti-marijuana reform positions.

In the committee report's section on marijuana scheduling, the committee said: "The Committee is concerned about deviations from established drug scheduling evaluation standards in the FDA 2023 marijuana scheduling review. The Committee directs the HHS Inspector General to complete a report on the 2023 marijuana scheduling review including but not limited to: deviations from the established five-factor currently accepted medical use test, justification for a new, two-factor currently accepted medical use test and whether this will be the standard for all future reviews, use of a limited number of hand-selected comparator substances, and inclusion of research results that are not statistically significant or inconclusive. The Committee is concerned about reports of the mental health hazards of regular use of high-potency marijuana, particularly among adolescents. The Committee encourages the FDA to support research on high-potency marijuana and its effects on the adolescent brain, specifically regarding addiction and mental illness such as schizophrenia or psychosis."

Florida Marijuana Legalization Initiative Campaign Faces Well-Funded, Organized Opposition. The Amendment 3 marijuana legalization initiative from Smart & Safe Florida is now facing a heavily funded opposition campaign. Florida Gov. Ron De Santis recently created the Florida Freedom Fund, which can receive unlimited donations aimed at achieving the fund's goals.

Chief among those goals is defeating Amendment 3, which De Santis has opposed. The fund will also be used for another socially conservative goal: targeting an initiative that seeks to overturn a restrictive abortion law he signed earlier this year.

The Amendment 3 campaign currently enjoys a huge funding advantage over the opposition, with a single company that stands to profit from the legalization model, Trulieve, already shelling out nearly $40 million for the campaign. But conservatives and hemp industry interests, who think they will lose out under the Florida legalization model, could help fill the Florida Freedom Fund's coffers.

Because it is a constitutional amendment, the initiative must garner 60 percent of the vote to pass. It is currently polling above that.

Missouri Marijuana Revenues Fund Drug Treatment, Veterans Health, Legal Services. The state Department of Health and Senior Services announced Thursday that officials had transferred nearly $11 million in marijuana tax revenues to three programs: drug treatment and recovery, veterans health services, and legal assistance for the poor.

The Missouri Veterans Commission, the Missouri State Public Defender, and the Department of Health and Senior Services each received $3,639,448. The Veterans Commission must use the funds exclusively for health care for veterans and their families, while the Public Defender must use the funds to provide legal assistance to low-income residents.

The Department of Health and Senior Services will use its funds to pay for a grant program to increase access to "evidence-based, low-barrier drug addiction treatment prioritizing medically proven treatment and overdose prevention and reversal methods" as well as "an emphasis on reintegrating recipients into their local communities." To that end, the proceeds will also support overdose prevention education, job placement, housing and counseling for people with substance use disorders.

The nearly $11 million in distributed pot tax revenues announced this week is in addition to another $19 million in distributed pot tax revenues announced in May. Altogether, legal marijuana has generated $58 million in tax revenues, with the remainder going to be operating costs and the costs of court expungements of past marijuana convictions. The state legalized marijuana in 2022.

"It is so rewarding to see the impact of this voter-approved program on organizations that provide vital services to Missourians," said Amy Moore, director of the Division of Cannabis Regulation, part of DHHS.

Medical Marijuana

Ohio Medical Board Rejects Adding Autism and Female Orgasmic Disorder to List of Qualifying Conditions. The State Medical Board has rejected bids to add autism and female orgasmic disorder to the list of qualifying conditions for medical marijuana.

Advocates and lawmakers have fought for years to get autism added to the list of conditions but continue to be rejected by the board even though several other states, including neighboring Michigan and Pennsylvania, do allow it.

Similarly, the board has refused to allow medical marijuana for female orgasmic disorder even though a 2022 study found it can be improved with marijuana use. Connecticut's Medical Marijuana Board of Physicians has approved it for use to treat the condition there, and an Illinois panel has also voted to make it a qualifying condition for medical marijuana.

The state currently has 26 qualifying conditions for medical marijuana:

• AIDS
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• Alzheimer's disease
• Cachexia
• Cancer
• Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
• Crohn's disease
• Epilepsy or another seizure disorder
• Fibromyalgia
• Glaucoma
• Hepatitis C
• Huntington's disease
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Multiple sclerosis
• Pain that is either chronic and severe or intractable
• Parkinson's disease
• Positive status for HIV
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Sickle cell anemia
• Spasticity
• Spinal cord disease or injury
• Terminal illness
• Tourette syndrome
• Traumatic brain injury
• Ulcerative colitis