Bicameral congressional leaders have released a spending package that contains a number of marijuana-related items—including bill provisions preserving protections for state medical cannabis programs and report language that calls for the federal government to study state legalization laws and expand scientists’ access to commercially available cannabis for research.
The legislation covering Fiscal Year 2024 was posted on Sunday by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, with bipartisan legislators aiming to pass the package this week before the latest continuing resolution providing funding for several federal agencies expires at midnight on Friday.
The section of the legislation covering Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) would maintain a longstanding rider that prevents the Justice Department from using its funding to interfere in the implementation of state medical marijuana programs. While there have been efforts to expand those protections to adult-use cannabis laws, the bicameral agreement limits it to medical marijuana.
“SEC. 531. None of the funds made available under this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to any of the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana,
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