U.S. Rep. Bulldozes Cannabis Grow Sites, Says They Harm Environment And Support Organized Crime
Today in cannabis news: With a new amendment, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez encourages studies into the usefulness of psychedelics; a Republican congressperson posts videos of themself smirking in a bulldozer while demolishing cannabis growing sites; and U.S. congressional legislators work to gain backing for an amendment that would safeguard all states that have legalized cannabis from federal involvement.
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First up: U.S. House Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is working to eliminate a federal analysis hurdle in the pursuit of increasing study into the medicinal properties of psychedelics such as MDMA, psilocybin, and ibogaine.
Rep. Ocasio-Cortez proposed an amendment to tie the policy shift to a sweeping budget bill that would support a number of agencies. Moreover, multiple further amendments to the bill have been submitted on drug policy matters, such as one that would eliminate safeguards for colleges that do cannabis studies.
Another significant proposed amendment would urge the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to proceed with regulation to develop a regulatory means for cannabidiol (CBD) to be used as a nutritional/dietary supplement.
Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal in particular stands out because it focuses on psychedelics, a topic that has seldom been discussed in Congress. Their bill would repeal an enduring provision that restricts the use of government funds for “any activity that promotes the legalization of any drug or other substance in Schedule I,” which was first passed in 1996.
Next up: A Republican U.S. congressperson posted footage of themself working with local California law enforcement to bulldoze illicit cannabis growing facilities, while flexing, smirking and offering a slew of anti-cannabis remarks.
Earlier in May, the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance in removing the unlicensed cannabis farms, and Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) was one of the first to respond. In videos posted by their staff, a smug Rep. LaMalfa can be seen getting into a bulldozer and assisting in the demolition of a sizable canopy where cannabis was being cultivated.
“I love the smell of diesel power in the afternoon. It smells like victory,” LaMalfa said, adding that “We must stop the human trafficking, the pollution, and the organized crime that is pervasive in these grows. The illegal pesticides and fertilizers that permeate the marijuana plants don’t go away once the plants are sold or destroyed.”
LaMalfa presented an amendment to the fiscal year 2022 budget legislation last week that would move “$25 million from the Environmental Programs and Management enforcement activities account to the National Forest System account for enforcement and remediation of illegal marijuana trespass grow sites on federal lands and for the clean-up of toxic waste and chemicals at these sites.”
Last up: A bipartisan coalition of U.S. congresspeople spearheaded by Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) is issuing a letter to gain backing for a budget legislation amendment they’re presenting that would safeguard all state and tribal cannabis systems from federal intervention, going further than the current statute that only protects states that have legalized medical cannabis.
The amendment to increase safeguards comes as an increasing number of states are legalizing cannabis for recreational use. This year, four states: Connecticut, New Mexico, New York, and Virginia, have made recreational cannabis legal.
The amendment would include in the budget legislation “language preventing the Department of Justice from using any funds appropriated by Congress to enforce federal laws regarding activities that are legal under state, territorial, or tribal law with regard to marijuana, regardless of whether the marijuana laws are recreational or medicinal.”
This wording has been submitted in previous sessions, and it was passed by the House in 2019 and again last year. However, it was not included in the finalized appropriations bill given to the president under Republican control in the Senate. Proponents are hopeful that it will actually be passed now that Democrats hold a slender majority in the Senate.
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