A provision to have federal agencies study state marijuana laws while preparing for federal legalization has been included in a set of spending packages passed by the full United States House of Representatives.
The provision directs the Department of the Treasury, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to work with experts to assess state marijuana regulatory frameworks. The proposal was previously filed as a standalone bill titled the Preparing Regulators Effectively for a Post-Prohibition Adult-Use Regulated Environment Act (PREPARE) Act, sponsored by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D) and Congressmember Dave Joyce (R).
The provision “urges the Department, in coordination with the Department of the Treasury, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and other agencies which may have relevant regulatory expertise, to coordinate an assessment of the adequacy of State marijuana regulatory frameworks, including commonalities and novel approaches to enforcement and oversight.”
The House voted 339 to 85 to pass the package of bills, sending them to the Senate. The Senate is expected to approve the bills before the Friday deadline.
The House also approved a provision preventing the federal government from interfering with state medical marijuana laws.
Specifically the provision states:
“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, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, or with respect to the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, or Puerto Rico, to prevent any of them from implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”
The House also passed a hemp provision that “encourages NSF to support research exploring domestically grown hemp as a robust plastic alternative to reduce the domestic reliance on Chinese-made plastics and directs NSF to report to the Committees on best practices for facilitating the cost-efficient use of plastic alternatives in government produced or funded materials.”
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