US Republicans have sharpened their sights on cannabis rescheduling, advancing legislation that would not only stop any hope of rescheduling in its tracks, but also potentially remove existing protections for medical cannabis dispensaries across the US.
Last week (September 10), the GOP-controlled House Appropriations Committee advanced the fiscal year 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) and Related Agencies appropriations bill.
As Business of Cannabis reported in July, the House Appropriations Committee first advanced the fiscal year 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) bill that directly targeted the use of federal funds in the stalled rescheduling project.
Rescheduling funding banned
The July version of this bill acknowledged the tension between federal and state law, noting that cannabis remains a Schedule I substance despite legal medical programmes in 38 states and Washington, D.C.
The July version urged the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to ‘expeditiously complete its review’ of a 2023 recommendation to reclassify cannabis, and required a briefing within 60 days of enactment.
Yet Section 607 of that same bill explicitly prohibited DOJ from using funds to act on rescheduling. At the time, the DEA confirmed that an appeal on the matter remained pending with the Acting Administrator, with no schedule for resolution.
Following its passage in July, the first outright effort by the republican committee to block rescheduling, the Full House Appropriations Committee approved an updated FY2026 CJS bill by 34-28.
The updated September version of the CJS retains the 607 language blocking rescheduling, while adding several new parts specific to cannabis policy.
What’s new?
- The new bill directs the DOJ to investigate potential money laundering involving marijuana businesses allegedly tied to the Chinese Communist Party, as well as financial institutions that may provide services to them.
- Like the July bill, the September version continues the longstanding rider prohibiting DOJ from interfering with state medical cannabis programmes.
- However, it makes explicit exclusions: protections do not extend to Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, and American Samoa, where cannabis remains entirely illegal.
- The July version listed all jurisdictions covered but did not highlight carve-outs as prominently.
- The September draft reiterates that DOJ may enforce enhanced penalties for cannabis distribution within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, playgrounds, or public housing.
- While this language first appeared in earlier versions, the updated bill appears to strengthen the emphasis on these carve-outs, aligning with Republican claims of protecting children and communities.
The Rohrabacher–Farr Amendment is a key provision in US law that protects state medical cannabis programmes from federal interference. First passed in 2014 as part of the federal budget process, the amendment prohibits the Department of Justice (DOJ) from spending federal funds to prevent states from implementing their own medical cannabis laws.
While cannabis remains illegal under federal law as a Schedule I drug, this rider has effectively shielded patients, caregivers and businesses operating in compliance with state programmes from federal prosecution. Courts have largely upheld this protection, though they are divided on whether strict or substantial compliance with state law is required.
The amendment applies only to medical, not recreational, cannabis, and it must be renewed annually. If Congress were to remove it, the DOJ would regain full authority to prosecute individuals and businesses even if they fully comply with state law — exposing providers to criminal charges, asset forfeiture and banking restrictions, and potentially forcing many legitimate businesses to close.
Worrying Implications for State Medical Cannabis Protections
While the bill preserves the long-standing Rohrabacher–Farr Amendment, Deb Tharp, cannabis policy analyst and frequent contributor, warns that the updated language effectively guts these protections in practice.
The rider now explicitly allows DOJ to enforce federal drug-free zone laws under 21 U.S.C. 860. These zones include any area within 1,000 feet of a school, university, playground or public housing, and within 100 feet of youth centres, swimming pools or video arcades.
“Actually, it’s not that allowing those enhanced penalties is the problem. It suspends those Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment protections entirely in Federal Drug-Free Zones. In other words, they’ve completely removed federal medical cannabis protections in most populated areas of the country.
“The Drug Free zones defined by 21 U.S.C. 860 are literally almost every street in your city.”
She detailed how extensive these zones are: “In or on, or within one thousand feet of, the real property comprising a public or private elementary, vocational, or secondary school or a public or private college, junior college, or university, or a playground, or housing facility owned by a public housing authority, or within 100 feet of a public or private youth center, public swimming pool, or video arcade facility. States allow closer locations than this for cannabis dispensaries because NO LOCATION IS NOT ENCOMPASSED BY THE ABOVE LIST.”
“To be crystal clear, we all know that adult use locations are unprotected anyway, BUT, they just removed protection for nearly every medical cannabis dispensary location in the country as well – 99% of them, except for those very few locations that are still outside of these zones. And forget home delivery.
They can snatch up any delivery driver they want. They can also arrest any patient who grows their own, arguing that the amount they possess is enough to justify charges of possession with intent to distribute. They can arrest caregivers for bringing cannabis to their patients, and there will be no more Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment to protect them.
“This is a brick wall for every patient and caregiver in this country.”
While the bill still has a way to go before being passed into actionable legislation, the ‘window is closing fast’, Tharp warned, adding that ‘people concentrate on recreational so much they forget how much we depend on the medical protections’.
