A bipartisan coalition of members of Congress are pressing President Donald Trump and key members of his Cabinet for additional guidance on how the partial rescheduling of marijuana will affect cannabis businesses and consumers. Among other things, they want to know whether there are plans for Medicare to cover medical cannabis.
The administration’s marijuana rescheduling move “marks a significant step in establishing a federal framework for certain state-licensed medical marijuana entities to register and comply” with the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV), David Joyce (D-OH), Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Greg Steube (R-FL) wrote in the letter, sent on Tuesday.
“We appreciate this development and the progress it reflects toward greater clarity in federal policy,” the lawmakers wrote to Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Todd Blanche. “As implementation moves forward, additional guidance would be helpful on several practical questions, including worker protections, patient rights, healthcare coverage, privacy safeguards, home cultivation, and the operation of the new DEA registration system.”
Blanche in April issued an order that immediately reclassified state-licensed medical cannabis, as well as marijuana products approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III.
Under a separate order the acting attorney general signed, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hearing is considering more comprehensively moving marijuana to Schedule III.
Titus, Joyce and Omar are three of the co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus. Together with Steube, they are laying out several specific questions about the rescheduling move’s implications:
- How will the order affect patients currently participating in state medical marijuana programs?
- Is medical marijuana cultivated by a patient or their registered caregiver in accordance with state law currently considered a Schedule I or Schedule III substance?
- Does the DOJ anticipate coordination with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regarding Medicare coverage or reimbursement considerations for Schedule III medical marijuana products?
- Please describe how, if at all, the framework addresses health insurance reimbursement or coverage for marijuana-based treatments for patients operating in compliance with state medical marijuana laws.
