[author: Susan Ryan]

Welcome back to The Week in Weed, your Friday look at what’s happening in the world of legalized marijuana. This week, the House Appropriations committee weighed in on protecting state legal markets and rescheduling. A attempt to establish a retail market in Pennsylvania went down to defeat. We have an update on Congressional discussions around hemp. We nominate a piece of legislation for best cannabis-themed acronym. And finally, we note that Snoop Dogg has opened his own dispensary.

HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS

Members of the House Appropriations Committee handed the marijuana industry a mixed bag in the fiscal year 2025 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The committee held a markup earlier this month, and a proposal from Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) to extend Rohrabacher-Farr protections to state-legal adult-use markets was defeated by Republicans, all but one of whom voted against the measure. The committee did retain protections for state-legal medical marijuana markets. In addition, the measure contains a prohibition on the use of funds to reschedule marijuana, which could have serious ramifications if it remains in the legislation. We are, however, a long way from the finish line. Stay tuned!

PENNSYLVANIA

If you own a dispensary in a state bordering Pennsylvania, you got some good news from the Keystone State’s legislature. Lawmakers were unable to reach an agreement on adult-use legalization this week. Republicans generally oppose legalization, and Democrats were divided over whether state-run stores were the best model for sales. Advocates plan to revisit the question when the legislature reconvenes this fall.

HEMP

The hemp industry has been uneasy over Congressional action concerning their product in the farm bill, as we reported several weeks ago. Now, a similar “industry-killing” provision may make it into an Agriculture appropriations bill. The language would prohibit production of a product with any quantifiable amount of THC. The bill does, however, call for regulation, rather than prohibition. Again, we’re a long way from finished with this, but we can’t blame the hemp industry for their concern.

DOOBIE ACT

Lawmakers frequently give their bills names that form an easy to remember acronym. This week, we offer up a new bill as “best cannabis-themed acronym ever.” The DOOBIE Act would limit federal agencies’ ability to use past marijuana use as a factor in making employment or security clearance decisions. The full name of the bill is the Dismantling Outdated Obstacles and Barriers to Individual Employment Act.

AND FINALLY

We have long reported on Snoop Dogg’s enthusiasm for and involvement in the cannabis industry. Now, he has opened his first fully-licensed cannabis dispensary in Los Angeles.

Be well everyone, and we’ll see you next week.