Cannabis News of Note for the Week:
Politico Pro Cannabis: Departure of ‘cannabis czar’ leaves void on Capitol Hill (paywalled, text below)
Politico Pro Cannabis: Unpacking the biggest weed policy battles for 2025 (paywalled newsletter, text below)
Politico Pro Cannabis: SAFE Banking Act Finds Friend in New Fin Services Gavel (paywalled newsletter, text below)
MJ Biz Daily: Finance experts mixed on prospects of marijuana capital infusion post-rescheduling
Green Market Report: SEC fines Acreage $225k over suspicious $4 million cash transfer
Cannabis Reports of Note for the Week:
Federally Funded Survey: Marijuana Use By Teens Is at Historic Low
Politico Pro: Departure of ‘cannabis czar’ leaves void on Capitol Hill
The Oregon lawmaker has championed cannabis policy changes on Capitol Hill for nearly three decades.
By: Natalie Fertig | 12/27/2024 11:20 AM EST
Half a century ago, a Republican hog farmer delivered the most convincing argument for cannabis legalization Earl Blumenauer has ever heard.
Stafford Hansell, a 60-year-old state senator, was a lead sponsor of Oregon’s groundbreaking 1973 marijuana decriminalization bill.
Hansell held up a cigarette and a bottle of alcohol, and explained that they each killed tens of thousands of people every year. Then he held up a bag of weed, and said it doesn’t kill anybody.
“It was the most powerful statement I ever heard anybody make in favor of decriminalization,” remembered Blumenauer, who at the time was a 25-year-old state legislator representing Portland.
Fifty years on, cannabis is still federally illegal. But in that time, the issue has gone from fringe to mainstream, with more than half of Americans now living in states where adults can legally possess the drug. And the “cannabis czar” – as Blumenauer became known during 14 terms in Congress championing the issue – has seen it all.
Blumenauer is now exiting Capitol Hill at a time when significant changes are occuring at the federal level. Long-time drug warrior Joe Biden has pushed forward a plan to loosen federal marijuana restrictions – arguably the biggest change in national drug policy in half a century – and President-elect Donald Trump says he supports those changes. This follows a decade of the Department of Justice not enforcing federal cannabis laws in states that voted to legalize, and Congress passing protections for medical marijuana programs.
But Blumenauer’s exit also leaves uncertainty about who will fill the void on cannabis policy on Capitol Hill. While many lawmakers now support the loosening of federal marijuana laws in some capacity, few are motivated to make cannabis one of their signature issues in the way Blumenauer has during his tenure. That’s because the issue ranks far behind the top concerns of voters like immigration and health care, even as it’s grown into a $30 billion industry.
There’s big unfinished business – including a long-stalled bill to increase banking access for cannabis companies and a looming fight over intoxicating hemp products – that will likely require a bipartisan coalition to push policy changes forward, regardless of which party is in charge.
“You always look for people that have plowed the road,,” said Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.), one of the lawmakers who has worked with Blumenauer in the past on cannabis issues. “Earl is one of them.”
Blumenauer’s big tent
Blumenauer didn’t immediately become the top champion of marijuana legalization when he joined Congress in 1996. At that time, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank was the leading voice on the issue, and Blumenauer built his reputation as a team player rising through the ranks of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. In 2010, a key moment came when The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws awarded Blumenauer an award for his service to the cause.
“He didn’t hesitate to stand up in the national spotlight, but he was a little nervous,” Blumenauer senior adviser and former chief of staff Willie Smith recalled. Blumenauer had never been recognized for his work in such a public forum — and positive emails started pouring in.
“I don’t think he realized how broad the support was,” added Smith. “That was the pivotal moment where Earl then said, ‘We are going to lead and get this done.’”
It’s a rite of passage in Blumenauer’s office for staffers to be handed a dictation device with hours of the boss discussing his thoughts, often recorded during one of the former marathoner’s long runs and sprinkled throughout with huffs and puffs. Somewhere in an archive are multi-hour sessions of musings on cannabis policy, recorded during two runs over a 2015 weekend in Portland. Those recordings became the basis for a 20-page cannabis policy memo released by Blumenauer and then-Democratic Rep. Jared Polis, who is now governor of Colorado.
That memo led to a blueprint for how they wanted Congress to approach cannabis. Each new Congress, Blumenauer’s office issued an updated agenda based on what had been accomplished and what was possible given control of the two chambers and the White House.
When Blumenauer took the helm of cannabis policy, he attacked it the same way colleagues and former staffers say he treated all tasks: methodically and with a big-tent mentality.
“His colleagues listen to him,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who came to Congress a few years before Blumenauer and worked with him on many different policies over the years. As the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, DeLauro has both shepherded through and fought against cannabis-related amendments and riders to the federal budget.
A cannabis caucus was floated by staff in those early days, but Blumenauer decided there wasn’t enough support yet. He and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) instead kicked off a cannabis working group. “I think it was four people in our office,” said Smith, of the initial gathering.
It was perfect timing: Washington and Colorado became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana in November 2012. Over the next decade, more than 20 states would go that route, and more than two-thirds would allow medical marijuana. As legalization spread, more staffers showed up to the working group, which became the epicenter for cannabis policy on Capitol Hill. Staffers — joined by pro-weed advocates and eventually lobbyists for the growing industry — brainstormed and debated legislation.
The working group was the personification of Blumenauer’s political philosophy: find ideas or passions in common and use that to get legislation passed.
“When I first got here [in 2017], I was considered a conservative, and so Earl didn’t really take well to me,” recalled Correa, a Blue Dog Democrat and champion of alternative medicines like marijuana and psychedelics for veterans struggling with chronic pain and PTSD. But the two lawmakers saw each other at the congressional gym — Correa doing weights, and Blumenauer yoga — and found common ground on cannabis. “He warmed up to me,” Correa said.
Over the past decade, lawmakers have proposed bills to protect veterans who want to use cannabis, allow the marijuana industry to have easier access to banking services, protect users’ right to own a firearm and decriminalize marijuana, among many other proposals.
There is no limit to who Blumenauer is willing to work with — including Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), chair of the far-right Freedom Caucus and one of the staunchest foes of pro-cannabis legislation on Capitol Hill. But Harris is a doctor, and Blumenauer appealed to his medical background.
“[It was] Earl being very strategic. ‘Hey, if you think there is no medical value, as a doctor, to cannabis, let’s find out,’” recalled Nicole L’Esperance, who served as Blumenauer’s communications director from 2015-2018. “If you’re anti-pot, you should be pro-research. … That’s the pitch that he made to Andy Harris.”
The end result of those discussions: The first piece of standalone marijuana-related legislation signed into law was a marijuana research bill co-sponsored by Blumenauer and Harris.
Blumenauer, in his signature bow tie and a bike pin, was the ultimate proselytizer. He’d show up in a freshman’s office, hand them a bike pin of their own and introduce himself.
One of those freshmen was Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), who joined Congress in 2017. “He makes those relationships and tries to bring people into the fold. He’s just excellent at it,” Mast recalled.
The Congressional Cannabis Caucus launched in early 2017, with two Democratic and two Republicans co-chairs. Blumenauer’s early outreach to Mast eventually paid dividends: He’s now one of the two Republican co-chairs of the caucus.
The next generation
On his last day in Washington, D.C. before retiring from Congress, Blumenauer sat at a table by a big picture window in Bullfeathers, a favorite Capitol Hill watering hole.
“I thought it wouldn’t be this hard, take this long,” he said about federal legalization. Despite the immense ideological strides on the Hill during Blumenauer’s tenure, there are only a few legislative wins. But he has no regrets.
“I had been working on this for more than three decades,” Blumenauer said. “I was under no illusion that it would be simple and quick.”
Cannabis policy is not a must-pass issue like the budget or defense. It doesn’t have hundreds of highly paid lobbyists. So getting policy passed, even with broad support, means having a champion — someone who will bring it up over and over and over again.
Blumenauer’s departure — as well as the retirement of Lee — means more of that burden will be on Ohio GOP Rep. Dave Joyce — a former prosecutor and now the most senior member of the cannabis caucus — and Mast. They’ll be joined by two new Democratic co-chairs: Reps. Dina Titus of Nevada and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
“The role of caucus co-chairs is really important in convening people and in also being the champions for this never getting forgotten,” said Sonia Norton, a former legislative aide in Blumenauer’s office. She says Blumenauer’s ability to see how cannabis policy intersects with other lawmakers’ top issues was indispensable.
When asked if the cannabis machine is ready to run without Earl — as his staff call him — Norton paused.
“It’ll definitely be a transition,” she said. “It takes a moment to adjust and step up into a gap like that.”
Without Blumenauer, there’s fears the cannabis caucus may not be as unified. There are pre-existing tensions in the new leadership: Mast and Omar have taken opposing sides on a number of high-profile issues, like the war in Gaza. Blumenauer, though, managed to straddle partisan divides — doing daily yoga with Joyce, for example.
Blumenauer’s ability to appeal broadly in the House may be in part because of his interest in cannabis only as a serious policy area. He doesn’t consume it, and he doesn’t even like to joke about it.
When Oregon decriminalization passed in 1973, a group of advocates and lawmakers returned to the apartment of then-state Rep. Stephen Kafoury, the Democratic co-sponsor of the bill, to celebrate.
When Blumenauer, Kafoury’s roommate, returned home and opened the door, he was hit in the face with a billow of marijuana smoke. Despite his support for the decriminalisation bill, he chewed them out.
“I suggested that I couldn’t think of anything more stupid than having a pot party celebrating our victory in the legislature,” Blumenauer recalled. “We needed to take the issue seriously.”
Politico Pro Cannabis Newsletter for 12/16: SAFE BANKING ACT FINDS FRIEND IN NEW FIN SERVICES GAVEL
A moderate Republican banker from Little Rock, Ark. will have the future of the cannabis banking bill in his hands next Congress. Rep. French Hill received the nod from the GOP’s steering committee last week to chair the Financial Services Committee, according to POLITICO’s Eleanor Mueller and Jasper Goodman.
His chairmanship will likely mean a more open field for the cannabis banking bill: Unlike outgoing Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), Hill voted for the bill when it came up for a floor vote in 2021. He has not ever signed on as a cosponsor of the legislation, however.
Hill is also a champion of cryptocurrency, an issue often paired with cannabis policy in terms of financial services legislation. Both industries face difficulties receiving services from traditional banks.
Politico Pro Cannabis for 12/23: Unpacking the biggest weed policy battles for 2025
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH TAKES CHARGE — All federal action on cannabis policy came from the executive branch, not Congress, this year — and it’s likely that trend will continue in 2025. The Department of Justice in 2024 moved to change marijuana to a less restrictive schedule on the Controlled Substances Act. If the rule change is enacted, it will be the largest shift in federal drug policy in decades and could spell a major boost for the cannabis industry — particularly in the amount of federal taxes they pay. Slow progress: The DOJ, however, also decided to send the rule for review by an Administrative Law Judge, who held the first hearing in early December. In 2025, there will be six weeks of hearings before the process moves forward. President-elect Donald Trump has voiced support for the rescheduling process — and if he stands by that, it’s likely that we’ll have a final decision in 2025. There’s always a chance that Trump, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, the DOJ itself, or a number of other factors will hold up the process. The Hill, asleep: Despite high expectations and strong support from key lawmakers cannabis policy did not progress on Capitol Hill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) did not succeed in finding a way through the legislative weeds on the cannabis banking bill, despite his alliance with lead GOP sponsor Sen. Steve Daines(Mont.). The bill passed out of the Senate Banking Committee for the first time in 2023, and issues with the legislation were worked out between the House and Senate. But ultimately, the bill languished. The reason the bill stalled (again) is due primarily to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), Schumer said in December. Neither McConnell nor Johnson’s offices disputed the accusation. But the biggest fault of all might be the way Congress leaves things until the very last second. This was not the first time that the cannabis banking bill was left until the lame-duck session, a reality that doomed it once Democrats lost the Senate and White House and opted to devote their time to judicial nominations — not to mention trying to pass a budget resolution and a defense spending bill. A Republican trifecta has the potential to get things done: Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is from a legal medical marijuana state and has not taken as strong a stance against cannabis banking as McConnell. Daines is coming off a successful stint as chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, helping Republicans win back the Senate. And although Speaker Johnson is not supportive of the SAFE Banking Act, House Republican cosponsor Dave Joyce(Ohio) said he’s optimistic about the next congress. But the legislative area to watch in the next Congress is actually CBD and hemp. Support for forcing the FDA to act is growing on both sides of the aisle, as many states grapple with the lack of federal regulation for the exploding intoxicating hemp industry.
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| WHAT’S AHEAD FOR THE GREAT FEDERALISM EXPERIMENT — This year was a decidedly quiet year for state marijuana reforms: Only one state, Nebraska, passed medical marijuana legalization at the ballot on Election Day (and that’s being contested in the courts). Three legalization ballot measures — in North Dakota, South Dakota and Florida — were rejected by voters.
Ohio was the only state to launch a new adult-use market, in August, after voters approved a legalization measure in 2023. Are the tides turning against legalization? Not necessarily. “We’re victims of our own success,” Marijuana Policy Project Executive Director Matthew Schweich said after the election. Blue states that are more friendly to the policy proposal have already legalized marijuana. Most conservative states have already legalized medical cannabis, and a handful of them including Montana and Missouri are also home to recreational weed markets. Pro-cannabis advocates are facing tougher electorates and state capitals while also facing difficult fundraising prospects. So what will 2025 bring? Pro-cannabis Democrats in Virginia plan to push another bill to implement an adult-use market in the Commonwealth. Whether Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin — a longtime foe of establishing recreational sales — will change his tune on the matter, however, remains to be seen. Pennsylvania is closer than it has ever been to legalizing marijuana. Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro plans to include legal weed in his budget request next year, and pro-legalization lawmakers are set to continue their collaborations on bipartisan legislation. The biggest hurdle in the Keystone state remains the Republican leadership in the Senate. Hawaii will also be a target for legalization advocates. A legalization bill got further than it ever had before in the 2024 session, but didn’t quite make it across the finish line this year. When it comes to initiatives, advocates in Idaho will be working on collecting signatures for a marijuana decriminalization measure that they hope to put on the 2026 ballot. Meanwhile, medical marijuana advocates will be looking to advance legislation for comprehensive medical programs in Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin. New markets are slated to launch too: Adult-use sales should be up and running at some point in 2025 in Delaware and Minnesota, while Kentucky is on track to launch its medical marijuana program.
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| A BIG FIGHT BREWING — The biggest cannabis policy battle slated to take place in state legislatures in the new year will be over the market for intoxicating hemp cannabinoids.
As the federal farm bill gets punted to next year, the onus will be on state policymakers to navigate competing interests from companies operating in regulated marijuana markets, industrial hemp, and the burgeoning market for hemp products that contain some form of THC. Illinois will kick things off during its lame-duck session in January. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker is throwing his weight behind a proposal to regulate intoxicating hemp products like marijuana. The Illinois Hemp Growers Association opposes the legislation, which it says will hurt small hemp farms and businesses by recriminalizing a majority of the hemp industry. In Missouri, lawmakers have pre-filed four bills aimed at regulating intoxicating hemp cannabinoids, while similar legislation could be added on to other bills as amendments, the Missouri Independent reports. Prior efforts to clamp down on the industry have faltered, though the next session will be the first that Missouri’s hemp businesses will throw their weight behind a regulation bill. The biggest fight will be in Texas, which is home to a multi-billion-dollar intoxicating hemp market. Lt Gov. Dan Patrick is pushing legislation to ban all forms of consumable THC products. The industry is gearing up to push back on the ban, arguing instead for regulations like age restrictions. |