The 114th US Congress has more cannabis reform bills pending than ever before due to shifting public opinion and state legalization policies. Key bills would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act (allowing states to set their own laws), protect medical cannabis access and reschedule cannabis. Support is growing among both Democrats and Republicans for allowing state regulation instead of federal enforcement. Success of legalization in states like Colorado has provided credible data that is changing the debate. The cannabis industry and other groups are actively lobbying Congress to pass bills addressing banking access, taxes, and other issues important to the developing industry. While prospects for major reforms are not strong this Congress, momentum is building as more states implement alternative regulatory systems.

1. 114th US Congress and Cannabis
2015 NORML Lobby Day Conference
Allen St. Pierre, Executive Director
NORML / NORML Foundation

2. 101st (1989-1991) vs. 114th (2014-2016)
Congress
• World War II Generation (aka ‘Reefer
Madness’ generation)
• Height of the war on some drugs
• ‘Drugs’ was near top of concerns in public
surveys (today barely cracks top 20…)
• Select Committee on Narcotics (oh so scary!)
• Viciously oppositional media and opinion
makers

3. Five Reasons Why Cannabis Law
Reform Today is Politically Popular
• Baby Boomers and younger
• Internet (pressured media to be less
oppositional, information can be readily
accessed and political organizing)
• Medical Cannabis circa 1996
• Local and state economies need taxes
• Cannabis Prohibition failed a long time ago

4. Cannabis Legalization No Longer An
Abstraction
• Post legalization, notably in CO, and it is good.
• Society now has credible and verifiable data re
the results of legalization (taxes, jobs,
enforcement, regulation, DUIs, youth access
and risk perception, etc…)
• Washington, Oregon and Alaska will provide
even greater baseline

5. Cannabis Legislation Before The 114th
General Talking Points –
• The ongoing enforcement of cannabis
prohibition financially burdens taxpayers,
encroaches upon civil liberties, engenders
disrespect for the law, impedes legitimate
scientific research into the plant's medicinal
properties, and disproportionately impacts
communities of color.

6. General Talking Point #2
• The criminalization of marijuana is a
disproportionate public policy
response to behavior that is, at
worst, a public health matter, but not
a criminal justice concern.

7. General Talking Point #3
Responsible marijuana consumers should
not face arrest, potential incarceration, a
criminal record, and the stigma
associated with it, for using a substance
that is objectively safer than alcohol as
well as most conventional medications.

8. O’Plentiful Pot Bills!
-Currently there are 14 pieces of legislation
pending…more to come…20?
-First time ever to have Senate bills to lobby (Cool!)
-Banking, 280E reform and hemp have best chances
-Marijuana Maypole for us all to ‘dance’ around
-Media regularly covers the topic non-hysterically
-Prospects of passage this Congress…not strong

9. Phalanx of Cannabis Lobbyists
• Cannabis consumers/stakeholders (NORML, CAN)
• Do-Gooders (DPA, ACLU, OSI)
• Cannabis Industry lobby (NCIA; individual
companies, i.e., Privateer, GhostGroup, etc…)
• Medical-only lobby (increasingly for CBD-only)
• Hemp-only lobby (Vote Hemp, HIA, NAIHC)
• Hybrids that front for industry as do-gooders
(MPP, ASA)

10. H.R. 1013: Regulate Marijuana Like
Alcohol Act
PURPOSE: To remove cannabis from the United States
Controlled Substances Act; to remove the enforcement
power from the US Drug Enforcement Administration in
matter concerning marijuana possession, production, and
sales — thus permitting state governments to regulate
these activities as they see fit.
Introduced: Feb 20, 2015
NORML alert online at: http://www.norml.org/act
•

11. HR 103’s Key Talking Points
• Majority of voters support regulating marijuana;
• Majorities of both Republicans and Democrats
believe that the federal government should not
enforce criminalization in states that regulate
marijuana use, production, and sales;
• It is time to stop ceding control of the marijuana
market to untaxed criminal enterprises and to
allow state governments the opportunity to
pursue alternative regulatory policies.

12. S. 683: CARERS Act of 2015
PURPOSE: To 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; to reschedule
marijuana at the federal level and remove the compound cannabidiol
(CBD) from the Controlled Substances Act; to permit opportunities for
financial institutions to legally provide services to medical marijuana
businesses, to permit VA doctors to authorize medical cannabis, and to
remove existing federal barriers to clinical trial research
Introduced: Mar 10, 2015
HOUSE COMPANION BILL: H.R. 1538
Introduced: Mar 23, 2015

13. S. 683’s Key Talking Points
• Nearly 9 out of 10 Americans support allowing physicians to
authorize medical marijuana therapy;
• 23 states and the District of Columbia permit medical
marijuana access. 14 additional states have enacted
separate legislation exempting the compound cannabidiol
(CBD) from the definition of marijuana. Patients and
providers in these states should be able to participate in
these programs without fear of federal prosecution or
interference;
• Leading scientists and medical organizations, including Dr.
Sanjay Gupta, the American Nurses Association, and the
Epilepsy Foundation of America, support medical cannabis
access.

14. H.R. 667: Veterans Equal Access Act
PURPOSE: To permit Department of Veterans
Affairs health care providers “to provide
recommendations and opinions to veterans
regarding participation in state marijuana
programs.”
Introduced: Feb 3, 2015

15. H.R. 667’s Key Talking Points
• Passage of this act would allow VA doctors to recommend cannabis
therapy to veterans in the 23 states that presently allow for its
therapeutic use;
• Many veterans suffer from PTSD, a condition that is poorly treated
by conventional therapies. Studies have determined that marijuana
mitigates various symptoms of post-traumatic stress, including
nightmares and insomnia. One recent peer-reviewed study reported
a greater than 75 percent reduction in post-traumatic stress
symptoms following subjects’ legal use medical cannabis (Greer et
al., 2014. PTSD Symptom Reports of Patients Evaluated for the New
Mexico Medical Cannabis Program);
• In a recent House floor vote, some 200 members of Congress
decided in favor of an amendment to allow veterans greater ability
to access medical marijuana therapy.
•

16. H.R. 525: Industry Hemp Farming Act
PURPOSE: To amend the federal Controlled
Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp.
Introduced: Jan 26, 2015
SENATE COMPANION BILL: S. 134
Introduced: Jan 8, 2015

17. H.R. 525’s Key Talking Points
• 21 states have enacted legislation redefining hemp as an
agricultural commodity and allowing for state-sponsored
research and/or commercial cultivation of hemp;
• The United States is the only western nation that does not
permit commercial hemp production and manufacturing;
• Hemp is a genetically distinct species of cannabis lacking in
THC content; its consumption is not mood altering;
• A 2015 Congressional Research Service report concluded,
"[A] commercial hemp industry in the United States could
provide opportunities as an economically viable alternative
crop for some US growers."

18. H.R. 1774: Compassionate Access Act
PURPOSE: To provide for the rescheduling of
marijuana, the medical use of marijuana in
accordance with State law, and the exclusion of
cannabidiol from the definition of marijuana,
and for other purposes.
Introduced: April 14, 2015
Referred to Committee: April 14, 2015

19. H.R. 1774’s Key Talking Points
• Nearly 9 out of 10 Americans support allowing physicians to
authorize medical marijuana therapy;
• 23 states and the District of Columbia permit medical marijuana
access. 14 additional states have enacted separate legislation
exempting the compound cannabidiol (CBD) from the definition of
marijuana. Patients and providers in these states should be able to
participate in these programs without fear of federal prosecution or
interference;
• Leading scientists and medical organizations, including Dr. Sanjay
Gupta, the American Nurses Association, and the Epilepsy
Foundation of America, support medical cannabis access;
• Removing cannabis from Schedule I will facilitate scientific research
and clinical studies by doctors.

20. CBD-only Legislation
H.R. 1635 Charlotte’s Web Medical Access Act
S. 1333 Therapeutic Hemp Medical Access Act

21. Cannabis Industry Favored Bills
H.R. 2076: Marijuana Business Access To
Banking Act
PURPOSE: To create protections for depository
institutions that provide financial services to
marijuana-related businesses, and for other
purposes.
Introduced: April 28, 2015

22. H.R. 2076’s Key Talking Points
• No industry can operate safely, transparently or
effectively without access to banks or other financial
institutions;
• Forcing state-licensed businesses to operate on a ‘cash-
only’ basis increases the risks for crime and fraud;
• Ultimately, the responsibility is upon Congress — not
upon the U.S. Treasury Department — to change
federal policy so that this growing number of state-
compliant businesses, and their consumers, may
operate in a manner that is similar to other legal
commercial entities.

23. It’s About…The Money!
H.R. 262: States’ Medical Marijuana Property Rights Protection Act
PURPOSE: To amend the Controlled Substances Act so as to exempt real
property from civil forfeiture due to medical marijuana-related conduct that
is authorized by State law.
Introduced: Jan 9, 2015
S. 987: Small Business Tax Equity Act of 2015
PURPOSE: To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow deductions
and credits relating to expenditures in connection with marijuana sales
conducted in compliance with State law.
Introduced: Apr 16, 2015
HOUSE COMPANION BILL: H.R 1855
Introduced: Apr 16, 2015

24. The Democratic vs. Republican Divide
-It is there…clear as day!
-Depending on the survey, there is about a 17%-
25% gap in support between Ds and Rs
-NORML, DPA, MPP, etc…PACs all give more to
Ds (Why? Because they ask for it!)
-Reformers need to double down on Rs to
hasten cannabis law reforms…as it takes two to
tango in politics

25. Politicians Know How To
Count…Votes and Cash
-Surveys are great, but politicos and their
machinery better count donations and votes
-14% of the public consumes cannabis, but
upwards of 54% support legalization
-Very similar to arc of gay rights in U.S.
-More state reform is equating to more federal
policymakers aping their state peers (it really is
binary!)

26. Need Easy Equivalent To…
Alcohol Prohibition largely boiled down to:
Wet vs. Dry
What is today cannabis prohibition equivalent?
Tolerant vs. Intolerant??

27. The Bottom Line
Cannabis Prohibition must end in the United
States post haste and replaced with
constitutionally-compliant, free-market and
consumer-friendly tax-n-regulate polices; the
prohibition is no longer popular in public
surveys or voting booths; more and more states
are legalizing cannabis, taking in hundreds of
millions in taxes and putting upward political
pressure on the federal government.