As the Republican National Committee (RNC) convention comes to a close, a number of Republican congressional lawmakers are sharing predictions about the prospects of marijuana policy reform—including rescheduling—if President Donald Trump wins another term in White House in November.
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Perspectives were mixed in a series of interviews with Marijuana Moment this week, as delegates formally voted to nominate Trump as the party’s pick and the former president announced his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH). While the general theme of the conversations was deference to Trump’s largely unknown cannabis policy desires, there were significant divides among GOP members about what they’d personally like to see happen.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, tempered concerns that a Trump administration would reverse course on the modest reforms that have been achieved under the Biden administration. Having “new blood in office” with upcoming congressional elections means there will be more people who “didn’t lock themselves in” to past prohibitionist positions that they’re unwilling to depart from, he said, adding that those new lawmakers are “going to have a new position.”
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To underscore that point, the congressman drew a parallel to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH). While in office, both GOP leaders have opposed cannabis reform, because they had longstanding positions on the issue while serving in elected office. McConnell, who is still in office, has maintained that opposition. Since leaving office, Boehner has since advocated for federal marijuana reform in his capacity as a lobbyist.
“He was staunchly against it. And now it’s like his biggest lobbying client,” Mast said.
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With the majority of states having enacted legalization in some form, the congressman said, “then it’s the will of the people—and the Republican Party is supposed to be about states’ rights.”
Asked whether he had any concerns about the possibility that a Trump administration or GOP-controlled Congress would block the marijuana rescheduling proposal made by President Joe Biden’s Justice Department, Mast said, “I don’t think so, no.”
He said that his argument to Republican colleagues who might raise the issue is that if you supported the states’ rights philosophy of the U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned abortion rights under Roe v. Wade, you should apply that same principle to state cannabis laws.
Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), who has sponsored legalization legislation, was also asked about the prospect of a Trump administration rollback of rescheduling. She didn’t directly answer the question, but said, “I support rescheduling, but I support descheduling.”
“Leave it up to the states to decide,” she said, echoing points she made during a separate interview at the RNC convention this week.
But the interviews with Mast and Mace did not necessarily reflect the consensus, as other GOP lawmakers made clear they did not personally back reform—rescheduling or otherwise—and didn’t want to speak to the party nominee’s position.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), for his part, declined to address cannabis altogether when asked about it, instead stating that Republicans are “looking at an agenda focused on getting the economy moving again,” pointing out convention themes such as lowering inflation and tackling border security, for example.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN), who was among 25 GOP members who recently urged the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to keep marijuana in Schedule I in a joint public comment on the proposed rescheduling rule, told Marijuana Moment that he wasn’t sure how Trump would navigate the issue. But he said the former president “is going to have to sit back and look at every executive order that this administration has put in,” including rescheduling.
“I can’t speak to what he’s going to do,” he said. “I’m a fiscal and social conservative, so I’ve seen marijuana and other drugs ruin families… I’m going to defer all those decisions to Trump.”
“I think it’s part of the Republican ethos. I think we just need to refocus it. I think Nancy Reagan said it best when she said, ‘Just say no,'” he said. “I think we have to have massive education programs. We need to get that information out to the people so that they can make very strong decisions about any substance.”
He added that he plans to “oppose” the Justice Department’s marijuana rescheduling proposal.
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“I think ultimately, right now, it’s with the states,” he said. “But the federal government, I think is probably ultimately going to leave it where it’s at [in Schedule I].”
Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) told Marijuana Moment that he’s more immediately interested in addressing federal hemp policy, voicing concerns about the consumable hemp product market that has come into sharp focus in recent weeks. As the House moves to enact bans on such items, Boozman said he shares his GOP colleagues’ perspective that there’s a “loophole” in the 2018 Farm Bill that legalized the cannabis crop that needs to be “stopped.”
He went on to say that while there may be certain conditions that medical marijuana can help with, he feels the scope of its treatment potential has been inflated. And the senator continues to believe that marijuana is a “gateway drug,” so he’s only comfortable with it being prescribed by a physician for a limited set of conditions.
“Most of the states with medical marijuana, it’s a the Wild West,” Boozman said. “I think it’s really hard now. I think the states probably need to get it sorted out. On the other hand, I’m not for any federal expansion.”
Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN), another signatory on the anti-rescheduling letter to DEA who has similarly argued that marijuana is a gateway drug, told Marijuana Moment that he doesn’t view cannabis reform as a “matter of liberty and freedom.”
Rather, he looks at it “as a parent” with “great concern about where it leads.”
“This is far stronger than anything that people were doing back in the 60s,” he said. “I certainly don’t want to see this encouraged. And, you know, I don’t I didn’t see anything in the [GOP] platform that would make me go otherwise.”
The Democratic National Committee (DNC), meanwhile, is touting Biden’s marijuana pardons and rescheduling moves, while calling for broader reform to expunge prior records. However, unlike in 2020, the party’s latest draft platform that was approved by a party committee on Tuesday doesn’t promote broader cannabis decriminalization.
The Biden campaign has also been stepping up its push to draw a contrast between the president’s marijuana policies at those of Trump
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