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 next month and President-elect Donald Trump takes over.
Here are the top federal marijuana moments of 2024:
Biden administration’s efforts to reschedule marijuana proceed
Following an extensive scientific review into cannabis—which resulted in a 2023 U.S. 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 this 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 (ALJ) 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 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 offenses.
Over the course of the rescheduling proceedings, advocates and industry stakeholders have questioned 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 ALJ 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 party presidential candidates back legalization ahead of 2024 election
In a historic first, both Harris and the Republican nominee—now President-elect Donald 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 last month’s election in which she was the Democratic nominee following Biden’s dropping out, 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 offenses—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 on marijuana policy
While Trump initially selected pro-legalization former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to head up DOJ 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 gateway drug theory about marijuana and says cannabis makes people who consume it “silly, boring and smelly.”
The selection of Dhillon came shortly after Trump’s first choice to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration (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 (CDC) 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 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that 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 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 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 U.S. 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.
Following mass marijuana pardons, Biden declines to answer advocates’ call for major clemency expansion
Biden earned praise after issuing two rounds of mass cannabis pardons in 2022 and 2023 for people who’ve committed federal marijuana possession offenses. 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 non-violent cannabis convictions.
In December, Biden did issue addition 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.
Federal lawsuit from cannabis companies challenging prohibition advances
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 this year.
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.
This summer, a district judge dismissed the challenge and the companies subsequently appealed the case to the U.S. 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 U.S. government in recent years has abandoned its attempts to rein in what it still considers a federally illegal substance.
Biden proposes to maintain congressional ban on Washington, D.C. marijuana 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. D.C. voters approved legalization in 2014, but local legislators have been forced to find workarounds to the prohibition.
Marijuana banking bill stalls, while other reform measures advance in Congress
To the disappointment (and sizable frustration) of industry stakeholders, a bipartisan bill to allow marijuana businesses to access the banking system stalled out yet again after moving through the Senate Banking Committee in September 2023.
While Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said several times that he views the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act as a legislative priority for the chamber, it never made it to the floor. Pushback from GOP leadership, questions about the bill’s prospects in the Republican-controlled House and logistical challenges largely prevented the advancement of the measure.
There were some other marijuana policy reform successes in Congress this year, with other proposals passing either in committee or on the floor—though no new measures were ultimately signed into law.
For example, in September the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved a bill to limit the ability of federal agencies to use past marijuana use as a factor in making employment and security clearance decisions. The legislation—titled the Dismantling Outdated Obstacles and Barriers to Individual Employment (DOOBIE) Act—did not reach the floor by the end of the session.
The House passed a version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) over the summer that contained language to prevent drug testing for marijuana as a condition of enlistment in the military or for commission as an officer. However, those provisions were stripped out follow bicameral negotiations.
The House Rules Committee had previously blocked nearly all proposed marijuana amendments—some that were pro-reform and others that were anti-reform—from floor consideration as part of the large scale defense bill.
Members of the panel separately approved amendments to a large-scale spending bill that would authorize U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doctors to issue medical marijuana recommendations to military veterans and support psychedelics research and access. Appropriations legislation broadly stalled out in the 118th Congress, however, so the provisions were not ultimately enacted.
In May, Schumer, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR), Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and a coalition of other Democratic senators reintroduced a bill to federally legalize marijuana titled the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA).
Congress debates amending federal hemp laws to ban intoxicating cannabinoid products
In May, the House Agriculture Committee amended a large-scale agriculture bill in a way that would impose a general ban on hemp-derived cannabinoids such as delta-8 THC—with some industry stakeholders saying it could even federally criminalize many CBD products because the measure’s scope covers all ingestible hemp products with any level of THC.
The legislation didn’t move to enactment by the year’s end. But hemp industry stakeholders are closely monitoring the next Farm Bill that’s expected to be taken up again in the next Congress.
The move comes following a push from prohibitionists and certain marijuana companies who argued in favor of restricting the cannabinoid products, describing it as a fix to a “loophole” that was created under the 2018 Farm Bill.
Hemp industry stakeholders have recognized that there’s a need to address legitimate concerns related to the unregulated market that’s proliferated since hemp was federally legalized, but the solution they’ve put forward is to enact strategic regulations to ensure product safety and prevent youth access.
Federal Agencies Continue To Waver On Marijuana Policy Amid Legalization Movement
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
CBP came under pressure from lawmakers, advocates and stakeholders amid reports that its agents were seizing state-legal cannabis products in New Mexico at border checkpoints inside the state.
“Although medical and recreational marijuana may be legal in some U.S. States and Canada, the sale, possession, production and distribution of marijuana or the facilitation of the aforementioned remain illegal under U.S. federal law, given the classification of marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance,” a CBP spokesperson told Marijuana Moment in April.
DEA
DEA released quotas for the production of Schedule I and Schedule II controlled substances for research purposes—calling for an increase in the manufacturing of the psychedelics ibogaine, psilocybin and psilocyn, while continuing to maintain stable quotas for other substances such as marijuana, THC and MDMA.
It later adjusted the proposed rule, increasing the quota for DMT in response to comments from researchers.
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
IRS on several occasions warned that certain marijuana companies have, without a “reasonable basis,” attempted to take federal tax deductions that they’re prohibited from receiving under a provision known as 280E.
In June, the agency advised that just because the administration was moving to reschedule cannabis, that doesn’t mean the industry could start claiming deductions in the interim.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
USDA once again announced it is delaying enforcement of a rule requiring hemp growers to test their crops exclusively at labs registered with DEA, citing “setbacks” at the agency that have led to “inadequate” access to such facilities.
USDA has been working to bolster the hemp industry, including by appointing a number of industry stakeholders to a federal trade advisory committee that’s meant to support efforts to promote U.S.-grown cannabis around the world.
The department also awarded $745,000 to the National Industrial Hemp Council (NIHC) to support efforts to promote the industry internationally in emerging markets across the world. In 2020, USDA awarded NIHC $200,000 as part of a different grant program.
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
FinCEN released updated data in October showing that a record number of banks are reporting that they’re working with state-legal marijuana businesses amid increased pressure on Congress to enact broader protections for financial institutions interested in servicing the cannabis industry.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
NIDA announced last month that it’s creating a new working group made up of “people with lived or living experience with drug use,” meant to advise on ways to “enhance and increase meaningful engagement” with current or former substance users in government-funded research.
NIDA, which earlier this year cited its various marijuana and psychedelics research efforts in an effort to justify its congressional funding, has also been working to study peripheral cannabis-related matters, like how to improve product warning labels to better inform people about the risks of marijuana use.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
After Ohio voters approved an adult-use marijuana legalization ballot initiative, VA issued a reminder that government doctors are still prohibited from recommending medical cannabis to veterans—at least as long as it remains a Schedule I controlled substance under federal law.
Office of Personnel Management (OPM)
In December, OPM reiterated that, “despite changes in state laws,” marijuana use is still a factor when considering a job applicant’s eligibility for government employment—though it stressed that candidates will still be evaluated holistically.
Marijuana advocates and stakeholders turn to 2025
Looking ahead to next year, the future for cannabis policy remains murky on Capitol Hill and under the forthcoming Trump administration.
While the president-elect has signaled support for modest reforms and even endorsed a state-level legalization ballot measure, few believe that Trump considers the issue is a top priority. And it’s also the case that his executive authority to enact cannabis reform is limited.
Adding to the challenge of advancing cannabis policy legislation is the fact that both chambers will be controlled by Republicans in the new Congress. Despite the bipartisan popularity of legalization, GOP lawmakers have long resisted even incremental policy changes around the issue. The prospects of getting leadership on board are still dubious.
Even so, many remain optimistic that the rescheduling push could be completed under the next administration, especially considering Trump’s stated position in support of the effort. DEA administrative hearings on the proposed rule are ongoing, however, so the timeline is unclear for when it could be potentially finalized.
CBD Reduces Cravings For Alcohol Among People With Drinking Problems, New Study Shows
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
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 Read More
