The federal government is “hopelessly out of step” with the American public on marijuana legalization, a congressman said on Tuesday, addressing the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
At a hearing before the House Ways & Means Committee, Congressional Cannabis Caucus co-chair Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) told HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra that “the American public overwhelmingly supports” ending cannabis prohibition, pointing to the fact that a majority of states have legalized marijuana in some form over the past several decades.
“I welcome the president’s call to do a reappraisal of how we characterize this so we can have the federal government catch up with where the American people are as it deals with the reality of cannabis, and I look forward to working with you,” Blumenauer said.
The congressman’s comments seemed responsive to recent remarks the secretary made concerns an ongoing administrative review into marijuana scheduling.
Becerra didn’t directly address Blumenauer’s remarks during Tuesday’s hearing amid other unrelated issues that the congressman also raised, but the health officials said in an interview last week that his department will be taking into account shifts in what marijuana “means” to Americans over the last several decades as part of the cannabis review.
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