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A Republican senator says he supports creating a “comprehensive regulatory framework that treats marijuana just like tobacco,” arguing that “the federal government needs to figure out a safe way to allow this market to occur.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) shared his perspective on cannabis policy issues in an interview with Green Market Report that was published on Tuesday. He was asked about a bipartisan marijuana banking bill and ongoing rescheduling efforts, but took the opportunity to share his broader views on what needs to happen with federal cannabis laws.
The senator said he feels the reason the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act that cleared committee last September is “not moving” further to a floor vote is because “we’re not taking a look at the broader issue.”
Tillis voiced concerns about public safety issues with vaping products and the presence of illicit grow operations in states that have enacted legalization. But rather than cite those concerns as justification for prohibition, he instead argued that those problems underscore why “we need a comprehensive approach to this” that involves federal regulation.
“Banking, to me, is one thing we should consider—but not until we have a federal framework that states can choose to opt into or out of,” he said. “There’s a lot of bad happening in plain sight that we have to end, and then let states to choose to legalize it for better medical use or for recreational use” via the legislature or ballot process.
Asked whether he supports the Biden administration’s proposal to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Tillis said he backs “a comprehensive regulatory framework that treats marijuana just like tobacco.”
That regulatory framework should ensure that crops are tested, illicit operators are stamped out and agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are involved in ensuring that products are safe for consumption, he said.
“We’ve got to get this under control,” the senator said. “We have a majority of states that either have recreational or medical marijuana. We have to understand that this is a market that is going to exist and it’s going to persist, so the federal government needs to figure out a safe way to allow this market to occur.”
The comments are notable in part because it doesn’t appear that Tillis has previously advocated for such a federal regulatory framework for marijuana/
But it’s not as if he’s been entirely silent on the issue. The senator in April joined Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC) in asking federal, state and local officials what steps they were taking to enforce marijuana prohibition as an Indian tribe prepared to launch recreational cannabis sales on its lands within North Carolina.
Meanwhile, back in 2017, Tillis also teamed up with bipartisan colleagues on a bill that was meant to ease researchers’ access to marijuana for studies on its medical benefits and require the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to develop recommendations for good manufacturing practices for growing and producing cannabis for research.
Marijuana Moment reached out to Tillis’s office for more information about his position on ending federal cannabis prohibition, but representatives were not immediately available.
Making the senator’s comments all the more significant is the fact that his state of North Carolina is among the minority that does not even have a comprehensive medical marijuana program in place. A bill to enact such a system cleared the Senate again last month, but its prospects in the House are uncertain.
A poll released in February found that nearly eight in 10 North Carolinians back legalizing medical cannabis.
Meanwhile, the Green Market Report video that Tillis was feature in also included other senators discussing their views on cannabis banking legislation, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Dick Durbin (D-IL).
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