As spotted by Marijuana Moment
In another sign that marijuana reform may be taking a back seat amid competing political priorities during the second Trump administration, the Congressional Cannabis Caucus has yet to have a single meeting this legislative session, one of its members tells Marijuana Moment.
Asked about the status of the caucus, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), one of the four bipartisan co-chairs of the group, said it hasn’t convened at this point—even as several cannabis bills have been filed this Congress, including those originating from group members.
“The Cannabis Caucus still hasn’t met yet?” Marijuana Moment asked.
“Nope,” Omar said, while also stating that she’s yet to review provisions of an agriculture spending bill that would ban consumable hemp products containing any quantifiable amount of THC.
A spokesperson for the other Democratic co-chair of the caucus, Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), did clarify that while the group itself hasn’t met, staffers for the bipartisan lawmakers have been in touch and they expect a formal meeting of the caucus “will happen” after a key budget bill that’s been occupying much of Congress’s time recently is “processed.”
Marijuana Moment also reached out to the offices of Omar and the two Republican caucus co-chairs—Reps. Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Brian Mast (R-FL)—for additional comment on the status of the group and future plans for meetings, but representatives did not respond by the time of publication.
While there are various competing priorities at the time, including key appropriations legislation, it’s struck some advocates as odd that the caucus hasn’t at least held an initial meeting—especially considering that marijuana and hemp issues have been raised this session, including the filing of reform bills such as one from Joyce to end federal prohibition and let states decide on the issue.
Omar and Titus are the newest co-chairs of the Cannabis Caucus, replacing former Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Barbara Lee (D-CA). In a sense, that makes it all the more notable that the coalition wouldn’t have had an introductory meeting on a bipartisan basis to align on priorities for the 119th Congress, which is now a quarter over.
That said, both Democratic leaders separately talked about the group’s legislative agenda for marijuana reform during a Last Prisoner Project (LPP) event in April.
