July 10, 2024 • 18 mins
Unlock the secrets behind the federal drug policies that shape our nation’s approach to marijuana regulation. Join us as we sit down with Jordan Davidson, head of government affairs at Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), to discuss their strategic initiatives against the federal rescheduling of marijuana. Learn how SAM has effectively rallied influential lawmakers like Senator Mitt Romney to lead the charge on congressional letters and appropriations amendments, ensuring that rescheduling efforts are grounded in rigorous scientific analysis. Discover the pivotal role of report language in guiding agency actions and the impact of coordinated opposition from 18 state attorneys general.
Get an insider’s perspective on the legislative maneuvers that have successfully blocked the legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington DC, including the powerful Andy Harris rider and a decade-long DOJ restriction on state-legal medical marijuana programs. We discuss the significant new exception to enforce the Drug-Free School Zones Act, emphasizing public health and safety backed by compelling data from a University of Michigan survey. Finally, we explore the growing awareness reflected in recent agricultural and FDA appropriations bills, showcasing our collective effort to prioritize the well-being of our communities. Don't miss this comprehensive discussion on SAM's federal drug policy priorities and the critical measures taken to safeguard public health.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yes or no?
Do you believe nicotine is notaddictive?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I believe nicotine is not addictive.
Yes, Congressman, cigarettesand nicotine clearly do not meet
the classic definitions ofaddiction.
I don't believe that nicotinefor our products are addictive.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I believe nicotine is not addictive.
I believe that nicotine is notaddictive.
I believe that nicotine is notaddictive.
Happy Hump Day everyone.
This is Luke Nifiratis, I'm yourhost of the TDR podcast and I
want to thank our sponsoringorganizations, sam, smart
Approaches to Marijuana, as wellas FDPS, the Foundation for
Drug Policy Solutions.
Between those two organizations, we are covering all of the
(00:37):
things going on in drug policy.
We're active at the nationallevel, the federal level and the
state level, so check us out atthose websites learnaboutsamorg
and gooddrugpolicyorg.
Well, today there's a lot ofnews, a lot of things going on
in the drug policy space, but Ireally want to talk about what
SAM, particularly, is doing onthe federal policy front just
(00:57):
over these first seven months orso, and so I brought Jordan
Davidson, who's been on beforeour head of government affairs,
to chat about this with me,because you know what, sam, it's
.
Our priority to our mission isto advocate for policies and
educate the public and decisionmakers on the best and most
evidence-based ways to reducemarijuana use and its
(01:20):
consequences.
So that is our priority.
We are working very hard everyday at the federal level and the
state level to get this done.
I think a lot of people think,you know, sam, they just fight
against legalization, and thatactually is a very small part,
truly, of what we do.
So much of what we do is focusedon regulations.
It's focused on policy levers,increasing funding for
(01:41):
prevention and treatment andrecovery, policies that
normalize treatment, preventionand recovery as it relates to
marijuana as well as all otherdrugs, as well as just advancing
the ball forward for sensible,smart marijuana policy in state
governments and in the federalgovernment.
So our plate is obviouslystacked high, and so I want to
talk a little bit about some ofthe things we've been working on
(02:02):
, what our priorities have been,what we've been able to
accomplish, and so, just for ourlisteners sake, so you can kind
of get a sense of the scale ofwhat we're up to.
So, jordan, thank you forjoining me.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, Luke, thanks so much for having me on.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
So let's, I guess, kick it off like with marijuana
rescheduling.
You know what have we beendoing at the federal level.
Maybe you can talk through someof the things we've gotten done
and prioritized over these lastyou know, several months since
the Biden administration and HHSannounced this rescheduling
notice of proposed rulemaking.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, I mean in terms of federal affairs.
I think the SAM governmentaffairs team has kind of tried
to split up what we've beendoing into two buckets.
The first bucket is justraising public awareness, making
sure that members of Congress,senators, are really engaged on
this and showing that theypublicly are dismissing the kind
(02:55):
of the rescheduling review, thedownsides, talking about what's
been going on.
So just since the beginning ofthis year, for example, the
beginning of this year, forexample, we've had not one but
four letters on marijuanarescheduling had one from a
member of Congress, had one frommultiple senators, including
being led by Senator Mitt Romney, about kind of the
(03:16):
international relations angle ofthis, which I think we've
talked about and it's veryinteresting.
Another from a group of membersof Congress and then actually
maybe by the time this podcastdrops today, we will have
another letter that's abicameral letter led by Senator
Lankford and Pete Sessions, andwe've got some real powerhouses
on that letter talking about therescheduling review.
(03:36):
So raising that kind of publicawareness and telling the
government you know this isreally unacceptable.
The other bucket that I put kindof our efforts in is the policy
levers and the things thatwe've tried to do.
So, as we've discussed on thispodcast, the rescheduling review
unfortunately wasn't reallybased on science and wasn't
based on proper analysis, and sosome members of Congress saw
(03:59):
that and we were able to workwith them through the
appropriations process to getsome really solid things in
there.
So two things related torescheduling that are in the
appropriations process is one inthe CJS Commerce, justice and
Science Bill a kind of block onthe rescheduling really, because
it wasn't done properly.
This wasn't done as any otherdrug scheduling would be done.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
So it's an amendment that would block rescheduling
from moving forward correct.
By defunding their ability toenact that regulation correct.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yes, yes, precisely, and the second thing that we've
done that I'm personally reallyexcited for and kind of as we
speak, actually is beingcemented in the agriculture FDA
is being cemented in theagriculture FDA appropriations
bill.
There is report language.
There's like bill language,which is the base text, and then
(04:53):
report language directing kindof how agencies should use
funding, and in that that cameout just yesterday, they told
the inspector general to conducta review of the HHS
rescheduling report based onspecific things that we've
talked about why they usedhand-selected comparator drugs,
why they deviated from 30 yearsof precedent in terms of how
(05:16):
they analyze currently acceptedmedical use, tons of different
things the five-factor versustwo-factor test and I'm really
excited to see how that pans outand where that goes.
The kind of, I guess, note toput on all this, though, is that
this is on the House side, sowe have to see what happens in
the Senate.
This isn't law yet, but I thinkit's a fantastic start that, in
(05:40):
the base text of these bills,we're having these things moving
forward and they're making itthrough committee.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
That's great.
And then one thing I'll add,and this isn't technically in
the federal policy realm, but itinfluences this rescheduling
decision.
We were the centralcoordinators behind the letter
for the 18 attorneys generalfrom 18 different states who
submitted a joint letterrequesting a hearing on
rescheduling with the DEA, whichthat was a really important
(06:05):
letter, and with so manystatewide officials across the
country signing on to it,something that definitely can't
be ignored.
So that was, I think, anotherpiece of this that Sam was
instrumental in coordinating aswell on rescheduling.
So thank you, jordan, for thegood work on that.
Let's let's pan over to hemp.
You know there's been a lot ofdiscussion around hemp and what
we can do to close the loophole.
(06:26):
Sam is really proud to havepartnered with CADCA, the
Community Anti-Drug Coalitionsof America, as well as a number
of other partners, to do this,and so, jordan, maybe you could
talk a little bit about ourachievements and what we've been
working on there, just becauseI think it gets lost in so much
of the things going on out there.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
The hemp intoxicants Delta 8issue is something that we at
SAM have been working on forseveral years and I've been so
excited this year to finallystart seeing some progress.
Folks are probably now all toofamiliar with the farm Bill the
bill that happens every fiveyears.
That is now kind of infamous inour space almost, and the Farm
Bill was actually was added tothe Farm Bill, this Delta 8 ban
(07:13):
that Representative Mary Millerput forward.
So that was super exciting tosee that.
That was voted on in committee.
It got bipartisan support inthe Agriculture Committee
earlier this year support in theAgriculture Committee earlier
this year.
The other thing that we've seenjust recently actually it was
added into another must-passbill, that Ag FDA bill that has
the Inspector General's reportin it.
In the base text of that thatwas included and so now it's in
(07:37):
the base text of two must-passbills, which is very exciting
and I think bodes well for itsability to kind of survive, get
through the House and hopefullyget through the Senate and get
signed on the President's desk.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
That's great and so you know that is something that
I think you know.
Getting our provisions into thebase text of bills is something
that's very hard to do,something, Sam, you know has
been working at for a long time.
It's not something you justkind of oh, you know we're going
to.
You know people get amendmentsoffered all the time and so
amendments are a little biteasier to get done.
But getting your provision intothe base text of a bill
(08:09):
indicates just for those of youwho aren't familiar with the
process and don't follow itindicates that it's something
that is going to be much harderto get out.
At the end of the day it has tobe stricken out when the party
leadership in both houses comestogether, for example, and
conferences on a bill.
That really is one of the fewplaces where they could pull it
out once it's in the base text.
So to get into the place thatwe've gotten, it is something
(08:30):
that I think is extremelyexciting.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
And to be clear.
So it was an amendment in theFarm Bill but they already kind
of laid the groundwork in thebase text for it and it got
bipartisan support.
So I think that was well.
But it was in the base text ofthe AgFTA Bill, of the
Appropriations Bill.
It was put in there on day oneand I think that's really
fantastic for us.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Right, that's wonderful.
Um, so, moving on from hemp,let's talk about other kind of
broader marijuana things, justkind of miscellaneous things
that the government affairs havebeen up to, and obviously we
can't cover everything we'vebeen up to, but I think this is
good.
We're covering some good groundin terms of the highlights.
Uh so, jordan, maybe just kindof fill us in on a few other
things that you all have been upto.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, um, you know kind of, I guess, starting with
things people are maybe familiarwith, that we've been working
on and have had success in inone appropriations bill, the
Harris Rider, which blocks DCrecreational marijuana sales,
was stripped out of the base ofan appropriations bill even
though it's been there for about10 years, and the Safe Banking
Act was added in, and so we hadabout two weeks of what was
(09:32):
essentially trench warfare feltlike hand-to-hand combat getting
those things resolved and weended up winning on both items
getting the Safe Banking Act outof that bill and getting the
Harris Rider put back in.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
That was fantastic and, just for people's clarity,
the Harris Rider.
What it does is it blocksWashington DC from being able to
legalize recreational marijuanaby acting within the
appropriation setting.
So for those who don't followthis process closely
appropriations that's howgovernment is funded, so these
bills have to be passed in orderto allocate budget and fund the
(10:07):
government for all of itsvarious inner workings and
agencies and et cetera.
And so when a amendment likethe Andy Harris writers passed,
what it does is it blocksfunding from the enactment of
legalization.
So that's just kind of thefunction in terms of, in
layman's terms, what happens,and so a writer like that is
important because it preventsthat from happening.
(10:27):
And that's also a policyfunction that works in a lot of
different ways and is used in alot of other arenas.
So just for the layman outthere who don't know what we're
talking about, just making itclear on the approach process
there.
Continue Jordan.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, no, sometimes I think I'm in DC and just get in
the Beltway mindset, and sosometimes I may forget to
explain some things.
I probably should.
Three more things I want tobring up that we've done.
That are awesome.
Two.
Three more things I want tobring up that we've done.
(10:59):
That are awesome.
Two, proactive and actuallyquite creative, I think, and
another that we've pushed backagainst successfully.
So you know, folks may or maynot be familiar with this, but
for the past 10 years there hasbeen an appropriations measure
that says that the Department ofJustice again what Luke was
saying cannot use funds tointerfere with state legal
medical marijuana programs.
So if something is legal at thestate level with medical
(11:21):
marijuana, even if it'sfederally illegal, the feds
can't do anything about it.
Now that amendment we don'tlike, of course, but it's
certainly too broad at the veryleast.
And something that wasn'tincluded in that amendment, that
should have been an exclusionfrom the beginning, was the
Drug-Free School Zones Act.
There was a law that was passedin the 1980s that says you
(11:43):
cannot sell a controlledsubstance within 1,000 feet of a
school zone.
It makes total sense.
We're trying to protect kids.
But what happens when a statesays, well, you're allowed to
build a medical marijuanadispensary right across the
street from an elementary school.
Some states actually have thatin their state law, crazy enough
, just hundreds of feet away.
Well, the feds can't doanything about it, and they
actually used to.
(12:03):
They used to enforce that law,and then they stopped because of
that appropriations provision.
So what we did is we went toappropriators and said this is a
loophole in this provision thatneeds to be closed, and so in
the base text of the Commerce,justice and Science Bill, we got
an exception to that medicalmarijuana rider.
An exception has never beenadded to that in 10 years, but
(12:26):
it was this year because of ourefforts.
That says actually, theDepartment of Justice can
enforce the Drug-Free SchoolZones Act and they can protect
kids even if states aren't doingit themselves.
So it's a huge win for publichealth and for our kids safety,
and hoping that that makes itall the way through the process
and becomes law, yeah, and Ithink you know, and we can look
at those things as like, oh, youknow, there's an achievement
(12:46):
whatever.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
But you know something like this.
It just gets to how impracticalthe uh, certain members of
congress, certain electedrepresentatives, just blank
check support for this industryand legalization can be.
Because, you know, I'm sure, ifwe asked all the people who
passed that, who voted for thatrider the first year that it was
passed, you know that defundedthe enforcement against the
(13:08):
medical marijuana industry,quote unquote, medical.
You know, if we asked thosepeople, if we said, hey, do you
want a dispensary sellingmarijuana products to be within
a few hundred feet of a school,they would probably say no.
But you know, those sorts ofnuances, those sorts of issues
are not discussed when thesethings are passed.
And it's the same thing withlegalization more broadly.
(13:29):
Oh, you know, do you want tolegalize marijuana?
Oh, you know, sure.
But then, you know, peel backthe onion.
Oh well, what if that meansthat these products are more
prevalent in your community?
What if that means there's ashop in your community?
Overwhelmingly, communitiesreject that.
Overwhelmingly, states thatvoted for legalization reject
having these stores in theircommunities and in their
neighborhoods.
(13:49):
So again.
You know, we really need tothink about these things before
just blatantly voting for wideranging policy.
And so this is just one ofthose situations, jordan, where
you pass something like this.
It's totally out of touch withcommunities, totally out of
touch with what makes sense forpublic health and safety and
fostering safe communities forour kids.
And here's what you have.
Literally, the federalgovernment passed something that
(14:11):
protects the industry as theyrelentlessly target our kids,
and I think that, anyway, that'sjust.
You know, that's one of thosethings where it's like, wow,
can't believe that happened.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
A last note on this, like just to provide some, of
course, what everything you'resaying is right, but to provide
some like statistical data on onshowing that you're right.
Parents are 100 percent with uson this.
University of Michigan actuallydid a survey a few years ago of
parents, um, and for elementary, middle and high school
students, um.
Three out of four parents saidthat they disapprove of pot
(14:43):
shops near their kids' schools.
That was a survey that was done.
75% of parents said that.
So we know that that is a realissue and that parents are
totally with us on this.
Another thing that I wanted tobring up that we did was
something we've been working onfor a few years and it should
have been low-hanging fruitalmost.
We've been working on for a fewyears and it should have been
(15:06):
low hanging fruit almost, and Ithink it's.
It shows that, now that it's inthis year, shows that people
are actually kind of waking upto the issues.
Uh, in that ag FDAappropriations bill, there was
also a provision that urges theFDA to study the impacts of high
potency marijuana specificallyon things like psychosis and
schizophrenia and addiction andother mental illnesses, and I
hope that they do conduct moreof that research.
(15:26):
But it's already, I think, justa win having that in there,
because for the first time, atleast that I know, congress in
an appropriations bill isrecognizing this is a problem
and the FDA needs to take itseriously and actually see
what's going on with people whoare using high potency marijuana
.
So that's a huge win as well.
(15:47):
Last thing I wanted to mentionon this approach stuff just
yesterday, just to, I guess,maybe give a little bit of a
glimpse for the listeners of theflurry and craziness that
sometimes happens with allissues, but RSU too.
On Capitol Hill there was amarkup, and a markup is just
when a committee votes toadvance a bill and it leaves
that committee and maybe it goesto another committee, but
(16:09):
oftentimes it goes to the Housefloor and it gets voted on.
So in the AppropriationsCommittee they marked up that
Commerce, justice and Sciencebill that had the rescheduling
block in it and the school zonesthing in it.
And during the committeehearing I learned that
Representative Barclay Lee wasgoing to introduce an amendment
that would not protect, you know, states who enact medical but
(16:33):
states who enact recreationalmarijuana legalization from
Department of Justiceinterference.
And so I had to work, you know,in less than an hour to try and
do what I could to get goodsupport in the committee and get
members to speak up and makecomments.
And I worked with multiplemembers of Congress and they
kind of looked at the talkingpoints we gave them and gave
(16:54):
great and eloquent speeches asto why this was a bad idea and
we beat it.
We beat it in the committee bya voice vote and they didn't
even want to have a recordedvote.
They didn't even want to go onthe record on it and I think
there are some Democrats whotold me Can't imagine why
(17:19):
actually thought we were goingto lose that vote and we won
that vote and it's quite amazingthat we did and it just shows
like literally had less than anhour of time and our team was
able to scramble and make surethat this thing was killed and
that was fantastic.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
That's awesome.
Well, jordan, thank you for thegood work, thanks to our
government affairs team and thewhole SAM team for the great
work on this, and I think youknow it's just important to us
that we make sure that you allare aware of what's going on in
DC, what's going on behind thescenes.
We see that as really our jobto expose that, to work hard to
represent your voice.
So, for those of you whosupport us, we want to thank you
(17:53):
for supporting us and for thoseof you who are listening to
this and think, wow, like Sam's,you know they're doing a lot.
We have a very small, nimbleteam.
If you want to give to supportthis effort and help us expand
this team so we can do more ofthis kind of work and have more
hands on deck, we're alwaysappreciative.
You can give to us.
Learnaboutsamorg slash, donateand give to support the mission.
Also, give to support the drugreport, the website, newsletter
(18:16):
and podcast trio that welaunched earlier this year.
We're getting a lot of greatengagement Thanks to all of you,
new listeners.
It seems like we're growingactually every day with this
podcast, which is prettyexciting, as well as the
newsletter also.
So thank you, jordan, forjoining me.
Thank you to our listeners, asalways, for your engagement.
Please leave us a five starreview and a comment, if you
haven't done that already, andhave a great rest of your week,
(18:38):
thank you.
Yes or no?
Do you believe nicotine is notaddictive?
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I believe nicotine is not addictive.
Yes, Congressman, cigarettesand nicotine clearly do not meet
the classic definitions ofaddiction.
I don't believe that nicotinefor our products are addictive.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
I believe nicotine is not addictive.
I believe that nicotine is notaddictive.
I believe that nicotine is notaddictive.
Happy Hump Day everyone.
This is Luke Nifiratis, I'm yourhost of the TDR podcast and I
want to thank our sponsoringorganizations, sam, smart
Approaches to Marijuana, as wellas FDPS, the Foundation for
Drug Policy Solutions.
Between those two organizations, we are covering all of the
(00:37):
things going on in drug policy.
We're active at the nationallevel, the federal level and the
state level, so check us out atthose websites learnaboutsamorg
and gooddrugpolicyorg.
Well, today there's a lot ofnews, a lot of things going on
in the drug policy space, but Ireally want to talk about what
SAM, particularly, is doing onthe federal policy front just
(00:57):
over these first seven months orso, and so I brought Jordan
Davidson, who's been on beforeour head of government affairs,
to chat about this with me,because you know what, sam, it's
.
Our priority to our mission isto advocate for policies and
educate the public and decisionmakers on the best and most
evidence-based ways to reducemarijuana use and its
(01:20):
consequences.
So that is our priority.
We are working very hard everyday at the federal level and the
state level to get this done.
I think a lot of people think,you know, sam, they just fight
against legalization, and thatactually is a very small part,
truly, of what we do.
So much of what we do is focusedon regulations.
It's focused on policy levers,increasing funding for
(01:41):
prevention and treatment andrecovery, policies that
normalize treatment, preventionand recovery as it relates to
marijuana as well as all otherdrugs, as well as just advancing
the ball forward for sensible,smart marijuana policy in state
governments and in the federalgovernment.
So our plate is obviouslystacked high, and so I want to
talk a little bit about some ofthe things we've been working on
(02:02):
, what our priorities have been,what we've been able to
accomplish, and so, just for ourlisteners sake, so you can kind
of get a sense of the scale ofwhat we're up to.
So, jordan, thank you forjoining me.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Yeah, Luke, thanks so much for having me on.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
So let's, I guess, kick it off like with marijuana
rescheduling.
You know what have we beendoing at the federal level.
Maybe you can talk through someof the things we've gotten done
and prioritized over these lastyou know, several months since
the Biden administration and HHSannounced this rescheduling
notice of proposed rulemaking.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, I mean in terms of federal affairs.
I think the SAM governmentaffairs team has kind of tried
to split up what we've beendoing into two buckets.
The first bucket is justraising public awareness, making
sure that members of Congress,senators, are really engaged on
this and showing that theypublicly are dismissing the kind
(02:55):
of the rescheduling review, thedownsides, talking about what's
been going on.
So just since the beginning ofthis year, for example, the
beginning of this year, forexample, we've had not one but
four letters on marijuanarescheduling had one from a
member of Congress, had one frommultiple senators, including
being led by Senator Mitt Romney, about kind of the
(03:16):
international relations angle ofthis, which I think we've
talked about and it's veryinteresting.
Another from a group of membersof Congress and then actually
maybe by the time this podcastdrops today, we will have
another letter that's abicameral letter led by Senator
Lankford and Pete Sessions, andwe've got some real powerhouses
on that letter talking about therescheduling review.
(03:36):
So raising that kind of publicawareness and telling the
government you know this isreally unacceptable.
The other bucket that I put kindof our efforts in is the policy
levers and the things thatwe've tried to do.
So, as we've discussed on thispodcast, the rescheduling review
unfortunately wasn't reallybased on science and wasn't
based on proper analysis, and sosome members of Congress saw
(03:59):
that and we were able to workwith them through the
appropriations process to getsome really solid things in
there.
So two things related torescheduling that are in the
appropriations process is one inthe CJS Commerce, justice and
Science Bill a kind of block onthe rescheduling really, because
it wasn't done properly.
This wasn't done as any otherdrug scheduling would be done.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
So it's an amendment that would block rescheduling
from moving forward correct.
By defunding their ability toenact that regulation correct.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yes, yes, precisely, and the second thing that we've
done that I'm personally reallyexcited for and kind of as we
speak, actually is beingcemented in the agriculture FDA
is being cemented in theagriculture FDA appropriations
bill.
There is report language.
There's like bill language,which is the base text, and then
(04:53):
report language directing kindof how agencies should use
funding, and in that that cameout just yesterday, they told
the inspector general to conducta review of the HHS
rescheduling report based onspecific things that we've
talked about why they usedhand-selected comparator drugs,
why they deviated from 30 yearsof precedent in terms of how
(05:16):
they analyze currently acceptedmedical use, tons of different
things the five-factor versustwo-factor test and I'm really
excited to see how that pans outand where that goes.
The kind of, I guess, note toput on all this, though, is that
this is on the House side, sowe have to see what happens in
the Senate.
This isn't law yet, but I thinkit's a fantastic start that, in
(05:40):
the base text of these bills,we're having these things moving
forward and they're making itthrough committee.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
That's great.
And then one thing I'll add,and this isn't technically in
the federal policy realm, but itinfluences this rescheduling
decision.
We were the centralcoordinators behind the letter
for the 18 attorneys generalfrom 18 different states who
submitted a joint letterrequesting a hearing on
rescheduling with the DEA, whichthat was a really important
(06:05):
letter, and with so manystatewide officials across the
country signing on to it,something that definitely can't
be ignored.
So that was, I think, anotherpiece of this that Sam was
instrumental in coordinating aswell on rescheduling.
So thank you, jordan, for thegood work on that.
Let's let's pan over to hemp.
You know there's been a lot ofdiscussion around hemp and what
we can do to close the loophole.
(06:26):
Sam is really proud to havepartnered with CADCA, the
Community Anti-Drug Coalitionsof America, as well as a number
of other partners, to do this,and so, jordan, maybe you could
talk a little bit about ourachievements and what we've been
working on there, just becauseI think it gets lost in so much
of the things going on out there.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, absolutely.
The hemp intoxicants Delta 8issue is something that we at
SAM have been working on forseveral years and I've been so
excited this year to finallystart seeing some progress.
Folks are probably now all toofamiliar with the farm Bill the
bill that happens every fiveyears.
That is now kind of infamous inour space almost, and the Farm
Bill was actually was added tothe Farm Bill, this Delta 8 ban
(07:13):
that Representative Mary Millerput forward.
So that was super exciting tosee that.
That was voted on in committee.
It got bipartisan support inthe Agriculture Committee
earlier this year support in theAgriculture Committee earlier
this year.
The other thing that we've seenjust recently actually it was
added into another must-passbill, that Ag FDA bill that has
the Inspector General's reportin it.
In the base text of that thatwas included and so now it's in
(07:37):
the base text of two must-passbills, which is very exciting
and I think bodes well for itsability to kind of survive, get
through the House and hopefullyget through the Senate and get
signed on the President's desk.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
That's great and so you know that is something that
I think you know.
Getting our provisions into thebase text of bills is something
that's very hard to do,something, Sam, you know has
been working at for a long time.
It's not something you justkind of oh, you know we're going
to.
You know people get amendmentsoffered all the time and so
amendments are a little biteasier to get done.
But getting your provision intothe base text of a bill
(08:09):
indicates just for those of youwho aren't familiar with the
process and don't follow itindicates that it's something
that is going to be much harderto get out.
At the end of the day it has tobe stricken out when the party
leadership in both houses comestogether, for example, and
conferences on a bill.
That really is one of the fewplaces where they could pull it
out once it's in the base text.
So to get into the place thatwe've gotten, it is something
(08:30):
that I think is extremelyexciting.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
And to be clear.
So it was an amendment in theFarm Bill but they already kind
of laid the groundwork in thebase text for it and it got
bipartisan support.
So I think that was well.
But it was in the base text ofthe AgFTA Bill, of the
Appropriations Bill.
It was put in there on day oneand I think that's really
fantastic for us.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Right, that's wonderful.
Um, so, moving on from hemp,let's talk about other kind of
broader marijuana things, justkind of miscellaneous things
that the government affairs havebeen up to, and obviously we
can't cover everything we'vebeen up to, but I think this is
good.
We're covering some good groundin terms of the highlights.
Uh so, jordan, maybe just kindof fill us in on a few other
things that you all have been upto.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Yeah, um, you know kind of, I guess, starting with
things people are maybe familiarwith, that we've been working
on and have had success in inone appropriations bill, the
Harris Rider, which blocks DCrecreational marijuana sales,
was stripped out of the base ofan appropriations bill even
though it's been there for about10 years, and the Safe Banking
Act was added in, and so we hadabout two weeks of what was
(09:32):
essentially trench warfare feltlike hand-to-hand combat getting
those things resolved and weended up winning on both items
getting the Safe Banking Act outof that bill and getting the
Harris Rider put back in.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
That was fantastic and, just for people's clarity,
the Harris Rider.
What it does is it blocksWashington DC from being able to
legalize recreational marijuanaby acting within the
appropriation setting.
So for those who don't followthis process closely
appropriations that's howgovernment is funded, so these
bills have to be passed in orderto allocate budget and fund the
(10:07):
government for all of itsvarious inner workings and
agencies and et cetera.
And so when a amendment likethe Andy Harris writers passed,
what it does is it blocksfunding from the enactment of
legalization.
So that's just kind of thefunction in terms of, in
layman's terms, what happens,and so a writer like that is
important because it preventsthat from happening.
(10:27):
And that's also a policyfunction that works in a lot of
different ways and is used in alot of other arenas.
So just for the layman outthere who don't know what we're
talking about, just making itclear on the approach process
there.
Continue Jordan.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah, no, sometimes I think I'm in DC and just get in
the Beltway mindset, and sosometimes I may forget to
explain some things.
I probably should.
Three more things I want tobring up that we've done.
That are awesome.
Two.
Three more things I want tobring up that we've done.
(10:59):
That are awesome.
Two, proactive and actuallyquite creative, I think, and
another that we've pushed backagainst successfully.
So you know, folks may or maynot be familiar with this, but
for the past 10 years there hasbeen an appropriations measure
that says that the Department ofJustice again what Luke was
saying cannot use funds tointerfere with state legal
medical marijuana programs.
So if something is legal at thestate level with medical
(11:21):
marijuana, even if it'sfederally illegal, the feds
can't do anything about it.
Now that amendment we don'tlike, of course, but it's
certainly too broad at the veryleast.
And something that wasn'tincluded in that amendment, that
should have been an exclusionfrom the beginning, was the
Drug-Free School Zones Act.
There was a law that was passedin the 1980s that says you
(11:43):
cannot sell a controlledsubstance within 1,000 feet of a
school zone.
It makes total sense.
We're trying to protect kids.
But what happens when a statesays, well, you're allowed to
build a medical marijuanadispensary right across the
street from an elementary school.
Some states actually have thatin their state law, crazy enough
, just hundreds of feet away.
Well, the feds can't doanything about it, and they
actually used to.
(12:03):
They used to enforce that law,and then they stopped because of
that appropriations provision.
So what we did is we went toappropriators and said this is a
loophole in this provision thatneeds to be closed, and so in
the base text of the Commerce,justice and Science Bill, we got
an exception to that medicalmarijuana rider.
An exception has never beenadded to that in 10 years, but
(12:26):
it was this year because of ourefforts.
That says actually, theDepartment of Justice can
enforce the Drug-Free SchoolZones Act and they can protect
kids even if states aren't doingit themselves.
So it's a huge win for publichealth and for our kids safety,
and hoping that that makes itall the way through the process
and becomes law, yeah, and Ithink you know, and we can look
at those things as like, oh, youknow, there's an achievement
(12:46):
whatever.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
But you know something like this.
It just gets to how impracticalthe uh, certain members of
congress, certain electedrepresentatives, just blank
check support for this industryand legalization can be.
Because, you know, I'm sure, ifwe asked all the people who
passed that, who voted for thatrider the first year that it was
passed, you know that defundedthe enforcement against the
(13:08):
medical marijuana industry,quote unquote, medical.
You know, if we asked thosepeople, if we said, hey, do you
want a dispensary sellingmarijuana products to be within
a few hundred feet of a school,they would probably say no.
But you know, those sorts ofnuances, those sorts of issues
are not discussed when thesethings are passed.
And it's the same thing withlegalization more broadly.
(13:29):
Oh, you know, do you want tolegalize marijuana?
Oh, you know, sure.
But then, you know, peel backthe onion.
Oh well, what if that meansthat these products are more
prevalent in your community?
What if that means there's ashop in your community?
Overwhelmingly, communitiesreject that.
Overwhelmingly, states thatvoted for legalization reject
having these stores in theircommunities and in their
neighborhoods.
(13:49):
So again.
You know, we really need tothink about these things before
just blatantly voting for wideranging policy.
And so this is just one ofthose situations, jordan, where
you pass something like this.
It's totally out of touch withcommunities, totally out of
touch with what makes sense forpublic health and safety and
fostering safe communities forour kids.
And here's what you have.
Literally, the federalgovernment passed something that
(14:11):
protects the industry as theyrelentlessly target our kids,
and I think that, anyway, that'sjust.
You know, that's one of thosethings where it's like, wow,
can't believe that happened.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
A last note on this, like just to provide some, of
course, what everything you'resaying is right, but to provide
some like statistical data on onshowing that you're right.
Parents are 100 percent with uson this.
University of Michigan actuallydid a survey a few years ago of
parents, um, and for elementary, middle and high school
students, um.
Three out of four parents saidthat they disapprove of pot
(14:43):
shops near their kids' schools.
That was a survey that was done.
75% of parents said that.
So we know that that is a realissue and that parents are
totally with us on this.
Another thing that I wanted tobring up that we did was
something we've been working onfor a few years and it should
have been low-hanging fruitalmost.
We've been working on for a fewyears and it should have been
(15:06):
low hanging fruit almost, and Ithink it's.
It shows that, now that it's inthis year, shows that people
are actually kind of waking upto the issues.
Uh, in that ag FDAappropriations bill, there was
also a provision that urges theFDA to study the impacts of high
potency marijuana specificallyon things like psychosis and
schizophrenia and addiction andother mental illnesses, and I
hope that they do conduct moreof that research.
(15:26):
But it's already, I think, justa win having that in there,
because for the first time, atleast that I know, congress in
an appropriations bill isrecognizing this is a problem
and the FDA needs to take itseriously and actually see
what's going on with people whoare using high potency marijuana
.
So that's a huge win as well.
(15:47):
Last thing I wanted to mentionon this approach stuff just
yesterday, just to, I guess,maybe give a little bit of a
glimpse for the listeners of theflurry and craziness that
sometimes happens with allissues, but RSU too.
On Capitol Hill there was amarkup, and a markup is just
when a committee votes toadvance a bill and it leaves
that committee and maybe it goesto another committee, but
(16:09):
oftentimes it goes to the Housefloor and it gets voted on.
So in the AppropriationsCommittee they marked up that
Commerce, justice and Sciencebill that had the rescheduling
block in it and the school zonesthing in it.
And during the committeehearing I learned that
Representative Barclay Lee wasgoing to introduce an amendment
that would not protect, you know, states who enact medical but
(16:33):
states who enact recreationalmarijuana legalization from
Department of Justiceinterference.
And so I had to work, you know,in less than an hour to try and
do what I could to get goodsupport in the committee and get
members to speak up and makecomments.
And I worked with multiplemembers of Congress and they
kind of looked at the talkingpoints we gave them and gave
(16:54):
great and eloquent speeches asto why this was a bad idea and
we beat it.
We beat it in the committee bya voice vote and they didn't
even want to have a recordedvote.
They didn't even want to go onthe record on it and I think
there are some Democrats whotold me Can't imagine why
(17:19):
actually thought we were goingto lose that vote and we won
that vote and it's quite amazingthat we did and it just shows
like literally had less than anhour of time and our team was
able to scramble and make surethat this thing was killed and
that was fantastic.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
That's awesome.
Well, jordan, thank you for thegood work, thanks to our
government affairs team and thewhole SAM team for the great
work on this, and I think youknow it's just important to us
that we make sure that you allare aware of what's going on in
DC, what's going on behind thescenes.
We see that as really our jobto expose that, to work hard to
represent your voice.
So, for those of you whosupport us, we want to thank you
(17:53):
for supporting us and for thoseof you who are listening to
this and think, wow, like Sam's,you know they're doing a lot.
We have a very small, nimbleteam.
If you want to give to supportthis effort and help us expand
this team so we can do more ofthis kind of work and have more
hands on deck, we're alwaysappreciative.
You can give to us.
Learnaboutsamorg slash, donateand give to support the mission.
Also, give to support the drugreport, the website, newsletter
(18:16):
and podcast trio that welaunched earlier this year.
We're getting a lot of greatengagement Thanks to all of you,
new listeners.
It seems like we're growingactually every day with this
podcast, which is prettyexciting, as well as the
newsletter also.
So thank you, jordan, forjoining me.
Thank you to our listeners, asalways, for your engagement.
Please leave us a five starreview and a comment, if you
haven't done that already, andhave a great rest of your week,
(18:38):
thank you.
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