House Postpones Vote On Bill To Federally Legalize Marijuana Until After Election
In an at least temporary blow to reform advocates, the legislation was not included in a weekly floor schedule posted by the office of Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) on Thursday, though he made a commitment that the body would bring up the bill sometime “later this autumn,” presumably after the November elections. This comes two weeks after Hoyer initially said a vote was being planned for the week of September 21
It appears that the decision was influenced by certain moderate Democrats who’ve expressed concern that voting on a cannabis reform bill while another round of coronavirus relief legislation is still unresolved would be bad optics for their reelection campaigns.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), cochair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, said on Wednesday that she was open to delaying the vote if it meant that more members would sign onto it, but she also told Marijuana Moment that lawmakers would be “doing everything we can over the next week to build broad coalitions of support to ensure that happens sooner rather than later.”
The MORE Act would federally deschedule cannabis, expunge the records of those with prior marijuana convictions and impose a federal five percent tax on sales, revenue from which would be reinvested in communities most impacted by the drug war.
A total of 31 Republicans House members voted in favor of a floor amendment in July that would prevent the Department of Justice from interfering with state marijuana
Vermont Bill To Legalize Marijuana Sales One Step Away From Governor’s Desk After House Vote
The House approved the compromise legislation in a 92-56 vote. It’s expected to be taken up by the Senate next week, and if it passes there as well, it will head to the the desk of Gov. Phil Scott (R).
for retail sales.
“It’s exciting to see that Vermont is on the cusp of ending cannabis prohibition for adults,” Matt Simon, New England political director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said in a press release. “Most Vermonters are not interested in growing their own plants, and many are unable to do so because it is prohibited by their rental agreements, so the only sensible policy is to create a regulated market for adult-use cannabis in Vermont. Governor Scott should recognize the merits of this bill and sign it into law after it passes the Senate.”
Under the proposed bill, cannabis would be subject to a 14 percent excise tax, in addition to the state’s six percent sales tax.
S. 54 also contains some social equity provisions such as prioritizing marijuana business licenses for minorities, women and people disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs. An independent regulatory commission would additionally be tasked with promoting small business participation in the market.
A new Cannabis Control Commission
A new Cannabis Control Commission would be responsible for issuing licenses for retailers, growers, manufacturers, wholesalers and labs. The body would also take over regulation of the state’s existing medical cannabis industry from the Department of Public Safety .
A 30 percent THC limit would be imposed on cannabis flower, while oils could contain up to 60 percent THC. Flavored vape cartridges would be banned.
“Why do we tax and regulate and control particular substances? We have several reasons,” Rep. Tommy Walz (D) said during the House’s debate prior to voting on the legislation. “One, of course, is that we can get revenue out of it. But also because we can provide some harm reduction. It can provide some protections.”
The three House and three Senate members charged with negotiating the final bill had at times contentious meetings where they hashed out issues such as tax rates, local control, advertising, saliva testing of drivers and even an unrelated seat belt enforcement provision the House unsuccessfully pushed to insert.
egislation.
“Why do we want a tax and regulate sales system for marijuana in Vermont? I think we have a list of pretty good reasons,” she said. “We began with the acknowledgement that this is something that people are using and, in fact, are using legally in Vermont. We want to divert it from the black market. The only way to do that is to create a tax and regulate legal market.”
A fiscal analysis on the final bill projects that Vermont will generate between $13.3 million and $24.2 million in annual cannabis tax revenue by Fiscal Year 2025. Licensing fees will lead to additional funds for the state, but the regulatory board created by the legislation will set those levels at a later date. For now, the Joint Fiscal Office estimates the fees could lead to another $650,000 in revenue every year. Municipalities hosting marijuana businesses will also be able to levy additional local fees.
Outside of the cannabis sales legalization bill, the House approved separate legislation this month that would provide for automatic expungements of marijuana convictions and allow people to possess and grow more cannabis without the threat of jail time than is currently allowed. The Senate could give approval to the latest version next week, setting it up to head to Scott’s desk.
Marijuana Consumer Group Launches Nationwide Get-Out-The-Vote Campaign
With the launch of a nationwide get-out-the-vote campaign this week, marijuana legalization advocates hope to muster cannabis consumers as a powerful voting bloc this November and maintain that momentum for elections to come.
Spark the Vote, a new effort by the nonpartisan Cannabis Consumer Policy Council (CCPC), is deploying in eight states, organizers said in a video presentation on Wednesday, with plans to expand further. On-the-ground “action teams” will be stationed at marijuana retail stores and cannabis-friendly businesses, they said, to register consumers to vote and encourage them to stay politically active. The initiative will also host virtual education and organizing sessions.
Initially the program will launch in Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey and Utah, the group said. All those states have legalized medical marijuana, and all but New Jersey and Utah have legalized cannabis for adults, with New Jersey set to vote on an adult-use legalization referendum in November.
Zoom call on Wednesday to announce Spark the Vote, CPCC Executive Director Nate Bradley said that after working for the increasingly influential cannabis industry for seven years, he came to believe “it’s imperative that we consumers have that same voice.”
“One of the things that we’ve seen over the last few years, as the movement to end cannabis prohibition has begun to move across the country and the world as a whole: A lot of people have started to believe the fight is over,” Bradley said. “The reality is that it’s only just starting.”
“Pandering on legalization is just not going to cut it for candidates this year,” Fremgen said
“We’ve never been able to engage cannabis consumers like this before in such a concentrated effort,” Fendrick, who previously served as a staffer for NORML, said, adding that Spark the Vote is “going to be invaluable to ensuring that our consumers, our constituencies, have a voice and are represented in the public debate.”
, Berkeley Patients Group, Caliva and Higher Path in California; Mission Dispensary locations in Illinois, Massachusetts and Michigan; NuLeaf in Nevada; and Dragonfly Wellness in Utah.
“In the last five minutes I got a text saying that the SPARC chain of dispensaries are coming online,” he told Marijuana Moment in an email Wednesday. “Right before that I got word that the Hudson Valley Cannabis Industry [Association] was joining.” A number of other retail and industry partners are listed on the campaign’s website.
approach, Fremgen, the campaign director, said there are certain issues on which many in the cannabis community agree: “They care about the cost of health care,” he said, noting that many veterans use cannabis. “We care about access to good jobs, social and criminal justice, the environment and many more issues.”