A key House subcommittee has advanced a new spending bill that would prevent the Department of Justice from using any funds to reschedule marijuana.
The House Appropriations Subcommittee today approved the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bill by a vote of 9 to 6, sending it to the full committee for consideration. The measure includes language that would bar the DOJ from using any of the funds in the bill to “reschedule marijuana… or to remove marijuana from the schedules established under section 202 of the Controlled Substances Act.”
This provision directly targets the Drug Enforcement Administration’s pending rescheduling proposal, which has been delayed for months as the agency conducts a formal administrative review.
While this anti-rescheduling language was included in committee-approved legislation last year, it was stripped from the final version of the broader federal funding package. It remains unclear whether it will survive final negotiations again this year, but proponents of rescheduling are hopeful it will again be removed.
In addition to the rescheduling ban, the CJS bill would authorize heightened penalties for marijuana sales occurring near schools and parks, language that some lawmakers have criticized as a return to outdated war-on-drugs policies. However, the bill also maintains a long-standing rider that protects state medical marijuana programs from federal interference, shielding compliant entities from DOJ enforcement.
The committee’s move comes amid increasing bipartisan support for marijuana reform in Congress, with over 100 lawmakers backing rescheduling and dozens supporting full descheduling. The new bill sets the stage for a heated debate as the full House prepares to vote on the proposal in the weeks ahead.
More articles from The Marijuana Herald:
