Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce of Ohio says he is unsure if cannabis policy reform is a priority for President Donald Trump and his administration. Despite the uncertainty, however, the co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus said that he and members of the bipartisan group will be prepared to make progress on reform when the “opportunity does present itself.”
In an interview with online cannabis news outlet Marijuana Moment, Joyce also said he is glad to see some of his colleagues in Congress making progress on psychedelics policy reform, which could lead to new therapies for service members and military veterans. When he was asked about the status of legislation related to cannabis policy reform, the congressman said that it’s a “tougher issue” because it’s “like comedy—the timing has to be perfect.”
re“I think it’s important to make sure when the opportunity does present itself, we’re ready to go,” said Joyce, adding that he is encouraged that Trump has been “pretty forward on it.”
In December, the president signed an executive order directing the Department of Justice to expedite issuing a decision on a proposal to reclassify cannabis under federal drug laws. Under the proposal, cannabis would be moved from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to the less restrictive Schedule III.
“Given the opportunity and the timing, I think we can do it,” Joyce said.
Lawmaker Claims Progress on Reform
Although the bipartisan Congressional Cannabis Caucus, a group of lawmakers committed to advancing cannabis policy reform, has not yet met during the current legislative session, Joyce said, “we made a tremendous amount of progress” on the issue.
In comparison, the Psychedelic Assisted Therapy (PATH) Caucus is “still working on getting things done.”
“I applaud their efforts. And if it’s helping our soldiers and veterans, then god bless,” Joyce added, although he said that it is important for representatives focused on cannabis policy reform to “stay in our lane” to ensure progress.
The Ohio Republican added that he and his colleagues “certainly provided the input that is important for their review” to the Trump administration and the Department of Justice.
“But I don’t know if it’s a priority. They seem to have a lot on their plate,” Joyce said, adding that it “seems like all-hands-on-deck for pushing out” files related to Jeffrey Epstein.
“There’s so many things in the fire,” he said. “Once we get through this spending bill, I think we’ll finally have a point where we’re worried about [other issues].”
Some Advocates Not As Optimistic
While Joyce seems positive about the prospect of progress on the issue, other cannabis policy reform advocates aren’t as optimistic. Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a staunch backer of legalization, said earlier this month that it’s “too early to tell” what the outcome of Trump’s executive order would be, saying that although there are “things that look promising” about it, he is “very concerned about where the DOJ will land.”
“The ability of the Trump administration to speak out of both sides of their mouth is staggering,” said Booker. “So I’m just going to wait and see right now. Obviously, there’s things that look promising—to end generations of injustice. I really want to wait and see.”
Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), expressed even less confidence in the likelihood that the Trump administration will substantially change cannabis policy through rescheduling. He told Salon that he expects the rescheduling process to take years or perhaps longer.
“I’ve been on the record for the last three years or so, making it very clear that this is designed to be a very long and drawn-out process,” Armentano said. “When you look back historically at previous rescheduling petitions, of which there have been numerous ones, they have all taken many years until they’ve reached their resolution. And in fact, the longest rescheduling petition, which was filed by NORML in 1972, was not resolved until 1994. So we’re talking a span of multiple decades from the initiation of that petition until its conclusion.”
“If parties want to drag this process out, the mechanisms exist within the administrative process that allow them to do so nearly indefinitely,” Armentano said. “Again, that’s not a bug. That’s the way the process was designed.”
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