A GOP senator says marijuana rescheduling and industry banking legislation are "half-assed measures," and lawmakers should instead focus on legalizing cannabis under a federal regulatory framework similar to alcohol and tobacco. He also argued that hemp-derived products that are available in states across the country are "more harmful" than marijuana itself.
That position distinguishes Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) from the vast majority of other members of the Republican caucus who oppose cannabis legalization. But in an interview with AskAPol that was published on Tuesday, Tillis said "I think we're reaching a point to where we've got to take a look" at comprehensive reform.
The Biden administration's efforts to reclassify cannabis as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)—as well as a bipartisan marijuana banking bill that moved through a committee he sits on last year—"are all half-measures—we could even argue half-assed measures," he said.
"We probably need to look at a federal comprehensive framework to deal with the banking issues and scheduling issues," Tillis said. "But I think, in my opinion, we need a federal regimen that's not unlike what we have for tobacco and alcohol, where you authenticate the crops on the front end, you mandate flavorings and delivery methods through the FDA and you allow banking."
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