The Most Noteworthy Federal Marijuana Actions of 2024

The year 2024 saw a hodgepodge of federal and congressional marijuana policy developments—with major news related to the Biden administration’s rescheduling push, modest reform proposals advancing on Capitol Hill and various actions from federal agencies.

Ultimately, things didn’t pan out the way advocates and industry stakeholders had hoped. Bipartisan cannabis banking legislation stalled out once again, the rescheduling process wasn’t completed by year’s end and calls to expand clemency by releasing people currently incarcerated over marijuana went unheeded.

But it wasn’t an entirely unproductive 2024 for the marijuana reform movement at the federal level. And there’s a degree of optimism that the Biden administration set up the infrastructure to see through the rescheduling effort even after the president leaves office in January and President-elect Donald Trump takes over.

Here are the top federal marijuana moments of 2024.

Biden administration’s rescheduling efforts proceed

Following an extensive scientific review into cannabis—which resulted in a 2023 Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recommendation to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)—the Justice Department formalized that recommendation in May.

That kicked off a public comment period that saw more than 40,000 submissions, the majority of which voiced support for the proposed rule or called for broader reform. After the comment window ended, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced that it was assigning an administrative law judge to oversee a hearing to solicit additional input before potentially finalizing the rule.

President Joe Biden, on multiple occasions, took credit for facilitating the rulemaking process by initiating the review in late 2022. But while Vice President Kamala Harris called on the DEA to expedite the process, and voiced support for going further by federally legalizing marijuana, the president didn’t weigh in on the merits of the rescheduling recommendation—except to tangentially say that he felt nobody should be incarcerated over low-level cannabis charges.

Over the course of the rescheduling proceedings, advocates and industry stakeholders have questioned the DEA’s position on the reform. Not only did the agency identify components of the HHS review that it seemed to take issue with, but it wasn’t lost on observers that there was a break in precedent when Attorney General Merrick Garland—and not DEA Administrator Anne Milgram—signed the proposed rule.

In any case, the administrative hearings on rescheduling kicked off in December. Merit-based hearings are scheduled for early 2025, meaning the potential reform will not be finalized until after Biden leaves office.

DEA administrative law judge John Mulrooney has made clear that he feels the agency made several missteps throughout the process, including failing to adequately complete its prehearing statements. He also expressed concerns about alleged unlawful communications with a prohibitionist group during the rulemaking process.

Both major presidential election candidates back legalization

In an historic first, Harris and Trump were aligned in their position that cannabis should be decriminalized. Trump also took many by surprise when he came out in support of the Biden administration’s rescheduling push, as well as a Florida adult-use legalization ballot initiative that ultimately failed.

As part of her closing argument before the November election, Harris emphasized her vow to legalize cannabis if elected and ensure that there are opportunities for “all Americans to succeed in this new industry.”

Trump had also discussed the medical benefits of cannabis and said legalization would be “very good” for Florida.

The Harris campaign, however, had accused Trump of lying about his support for marijuana reform—arguing that his “blatant pandering” runs counter to his administration’s record on cannabis.

Following Trump’s announcement of support for the Florida cannabis legalization ballot measure, the Democratic campaign had worked to remind voters that while in office, Trump “took marijuana reform backwards.”

Meanwhile, Trump also went after Harris over her prosecutorial record on marijuana, claiming that she put “thousands and thousands of Black people in jail” for cannabis charges—but the full record of her time in office is more nuanced.

Biden bowed out of the race, his campaign made much of the president’s mass cannabis pardons and rescheduling push, drawing a contrast with the Trump administration’s record.

Trump cabinet picks hold diverging views

While Trump initially selected pro-legalization former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to head up the Justice Department as attorney general, he was ultimately replaced by former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R), who opposed medical cannabis legalization in the state.

The president-elect’s choice for assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Justice Department is Harmeet Dhillon, who has peddled the so-called “gateway drug” theory about marijuana and said cannabis makes people who consume it “silly, boring and smelly.”

The selection of Dhillon came shortly after Trump’s first choice to lead the DEA withdrew from consideration. The Florida sheriff had strongly advocated for marijuana decriminalization, calling it the “right thing to do” as “society is evolving.”

Trump’s pick to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could also be a vociferous opponent of marijuana reform if the former GOP Florida congressman that Trump selected for the job, Dave Weldon, is ultimately confirmed.

The president-elect’s choice to run the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is also a medical marijuana skeptic, promoting claims that cannabis use is linked to cardiovascular issues and mental health problems for youth. He has also suggested that marijuana is a “gateway drug.”

In contrast, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president-elect’s choice for secretary of the HHS, which oversees FDA, supports ending marijuana prohibition and legalizing certain psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.

Trump’s choice for surgeon general has said she’s “all for” the use of medical cannabis for certain conditions, but she’s also promoted research linking cannabis smoking to cardiovascular issues.

A non-governmental advisory body that Trump is putting together will have two familiar names helming the ship: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. And while both are proponents of marijuana and psychedelics reform, giving hope to some reformers that the new entity will recommend scaling back the costly war on drugs, Ramaswamy has previously insisted on expanding the DEA.

Harris hosts pardon recipients at White House and campaigns on legalization

In March, Harris hosted cannabis pardon recipients, rapper Fat Joe and others at a White House event to tout the administration’s reform efforts. During a closed-door portion of the meeting, she reiterated her support for federally legalizing marijuana.

Harris had already made news earlier in the day, calling on the DEA to reschedule cannabis “as quickly as possible” in public opening remarks before the closed-door roundtable with the clemency beneficiaries.

The vice president sponsored a marijuana legalization bill while serving as a US senator and ran on the issue during her unsuccessful 2020 Democratic presidential primary campaign, but up until that point she had not publicly called for the broad reform since signing on as Biden’s running mate later that year.

Biden ignores calls for clemency expansion

Biden earned praise after issuing two rounds of mass cannabis pardons in 2022 and 2023 for people convicted of federal marijuana possession charges. But advocates and lawmakers have been quick to point out that those clemency actions are largely symbolic, as nobody was released from prison and thousands remain incarcerated over cannabis convictions.

In December, Biden did issue additional pardons and clemency, including to people with drug convictions, but he’s yet to address most marijuana cases for those still behind bars. Advocates are holding out hope that he will still deliver on his campaign promise before leaving office, and the White House has indicated that there’s more clemency to come.

The president strongly leaned into the pardons during his 2024 campaign, before bowing out and leaving the party nomination to Harris. With strong majority support for comprehensive reform, including across party lines, it became clear that the administration recognized the popularity of the issue.

“I keep my promises when I said no one—no one—should be in prison for merely possessing marijuana or using it, and their records should be expunged,” Biden said in January.

However, it took months before the president explicitly acknowledged that the pardons he’s issued did not actually expunge records, as he’d previously falsely claimed they did.

Cannabis companies advance lawsuit challenging prohibition

A federal lawsuit filed by a coalition of marijuana businesses—which argues that the government’s ongoing prohibition on marijuana under the CSA is unconstitutional—worked its way through the court system in 2024.

The lawsuit is being led by the multi-state operator Verano Holdings Corp. and the Massachusetts-based cannabis businesses Canna Provisions and Wiseacre Farm, along with Treevit CEO Gyasi Sellers.

The law firms Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and Lesser, Newman, Aleo & Nasser LLP are representing the plaintiffs. David Boies, chairman of the former firm, has a long list of prior clients that includes the Justice Department, former Vice President Al Gore (D) and the plaintiffs in a case that led to the invalidation of California’s ban on same-sex marriage, among others.

Over the summer, a district judge dismissed the challenge and the companies subsequently appealed the case to the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, arguing that Congress in recent decades has “dropped any assumption that federal control of state-regulated marijuana is necessary.”

The federal appeals court panel heard oral arguments on the case earlier this month, with plaintiffs contending that the US government in recent years has abandoned its attempts to rein in what it still considers a federally banned substance.

Biden continues to support ban on Washington, D.C. cannabis sales

In this year’s presidential budget request, Biden once again called for the inclusion of a controversial appropriations rider from Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) that has kept the District from using its funds to implement a system of regulated cannabis sales.

It was the fourth year in a row that he included the rider in his budget request, despite pushback from congressional and local lawmakers. District of Columbia voters approved legalization in 2014, but local legislators have been forced to find workarounds to the prohibition.

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To the disappointment (and sizable frustration) of industry stakeholders, a bipartisan bill to allow mariju

Author Of article : Kyle Jaeger / Filter

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