A GOP congressman is applauding the House passage of an appropriations package that includes report language urging the Justice Department and other agencies to study state regulatory frameworks for marijuana in anticipation of federal legalization.
Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, said on Thursday that, with “nearly every state adopting its own set of cannabis reforms, it is time for the federal government to respect the will of our voters and begin a much-needed conversation on what post-cannabis prohibition America looks like.”
He pointed specifically to a section of the House-passed Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations report that’s modeled after his standalone bill to prepare the federal government for eventual legalization.
That report language urges DOJ to work with the Department of the Treasury, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau and other agencies with “relevant regulatory expertise” to assess the “adequacy of State marijuana regulatory frameworks, including commonalities and novel approaches to enforcement and oversight.”
The standalone bill that Joyce introduced with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) last April—titled the Preparing Regulators Effectively for a Post-Prohibition Adult-Use Regulated Environment Act (PREPARE) Act—would direct the attorney general to create a commission charged with
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