By Ruth Hill R.N.
The White House’s 2026 fiscal year budget request calls for the repeal of a long-standing federal budget rider that prohibits the Justice Department from using taxpayer dollars to prosecute patients and others involved in state-legal medical marijuana programs. CA Norml asks you to urge U.S. Senators Adam B. Schiff and Alex Padilla and U.S. Representative Ken Calvert not to strip protections for medical cannabis patients. Revise, in our own words, the suggested letter provided by Norml. Legislators discard most canned letters.
The provision, which has been in place since 2014, protects patients, caregivers, and medical cannabis providers in the 39 states that have legalized medical access. Without this provision, parents and specifically, 20.3% of adults in recreationally legal states, 15.4% in medically legal states, and 11.9% in non-legal states who use cannabis risk federal interference or criminal prosecution.
Fixing the 2018 Farm Bill Loophole
Previous articles by Cannabis Corner explained the loophole in the 2018 Farm Bill that allows hemp-derived intoxicating cannabinoids to flood the market. The Miller amendment proposed by Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill. making the intoxicating hemp-derived cannabinoid market illegal went nowhere. A House Appropriations subcommittee advanced a spending bill Thursday, June 5, that targets most consumable cannabinoid products. The subcommittee approved the revision during its markup session on Thursday.
The legislation would redefine hemp under federal law, excluding any hemp-derived cannabinoid products that have “quantifiable amounts” of Delta 9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or any other cannabinoids marketed with similar effects on humans.
THC is a psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant and the primary component responsible for the “high” that is associated with marijuana, according to WebMD. The bill targets a broad range of items, including Delta-8 THC, THC-O, and even smokable hemp flower.”
The bill closes the hemp loophole that resulted in the proliferation of unregulated intoxicating hemp products sold online and in gas stations across the country, Republican Maryland Rep. Andy Harris stated in a press release. The proposal has sparked varying reactions.
Hemp advocates, such as the U.S. Hemp Roundtable, claim the bill “could ban the vast majority of safe, legal hemp-derived products sold nationwide,” adding that it signals a direct attack on a lawful, federally regulated industry.” In an X post, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), on the other hand, said the bill is a “big step toward protecting public health and ending the loophole Big Marijuana has exploited for years”
“Despite the claims of Big Marijuana and its advocates, THC-laced candy, drinks, and other products are inherently dangerous,” Luke Niforatos, Vice President of SAM, told the Daily Caller in a statement. “A ban will, in addition to protecting Americans, choke off a key revenue stream for Big Marijuana and a major source of future adult users by making it harder for kids to get addicted,” Niforatos said. “It’s the ‘Joe Camel’ playbook; Big Tobacco ran it, and Big Marijuana is trying to rerun it. Congress must make the ban law.”
He called claims that the legislation will endanger industrial hemp “ludicrous.”
“Congress never intended to encourage the production and sale of dangerous and addictive products aimed at the young,” he asserted. “Getting these intoxicating THC products off of gas station shelves in the name of public health and safety is exactly the purpose of this bill.” Some state governments are also targeting THC products. Texas is attempting to make it a misdemeanor to “sell, possess or manufacture consumable products” with THC, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
California Legislation
The California Assembly has unanimously approved AB 564 to delay the implementation of a planned 25% hike on excise cannabis taxes. About a month after state officials announced that the cannabis excise tax rate would increase from 15 percent to 19 percent on July 1, the Assembly voted 74-0 to pass legislation from Assemblymember Matt Haney (D) to delay the change for five years.
The bill now goes to the CA Senate for consideration. Still, advocates hope to see its language incorporated into a separate budget trailer measure that would take effect upon enactment—as opposed to at the beginning of next year, as would be the case under Haney’s bill.
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