Senate legislation, S. 683: The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS) Act, is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. The senate measure seeks to strengthen statewide medical marijuana protections and impose various changes to federal law.
Passage of this measure would permit qualified patients, doctors, and businesses to engage in state-sanctioned behavior involving the production, sale, or use of medical cannabis without fear of federal prosecution. The proposal reschedules marijuana at the federal level and removes the compound cannabidiol (CBD) from the Controlled Substances Act. Additional provisions would allow opportunities for financial institutions to legally provide services to medical marijuana businesses, permit VA doctors to authorize medical cannabis, and would remove existing federal barriers to clinical trial research. You can read the full text of the measure here.
Despite growing public and political support for the amendments proposed by the CARERS Act, Sen. Grassley has so far refused to consider hearing the bill. Please urge him to reconsider.
The Senate Appropriations Committee rencently voted two-to-one in favor of an amendment from Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) that prohibits the Justice Department, including the DEA, from using federal funds to interfere in the implementation of state medical marijuana laws. This amendment mirrors the provisions in the CARERS Act and shows that a majority of Senates now support the need to respect state medical marijuana laws.
Contact Senator Grassley today and urge him to hold a hearing on the CARERS ACT.
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws – Advocacy Campaigns
