Blunt Rochester responds to state legislators

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester

May 12, 2023

Event Date:

Fri, 05/05/2023 - 11:00 am

The following is a response to a letter from Delaware legislators urging the federal delegation to deschedule marijuana as a controlled substance.

Thank you for contacting me about descheduling marijuana. I appreciate hearing from you on such a critical issue that impacts thousands of individuals across our state.

It has been clear for some time that marijuana does not belong on the federal schedule of controlled substances. That is why last Congress, I voted to pass the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, HR 3617, to remove marijuana from federal scheduling pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act. The bill takes significant steps to right the wrongs of federal marijuana criminalization and establishes a tax structure for cannabis products.

I have also recognized the banking issues facing legitimate cannabis-related businesses due to the inconsistencies in the status of marijuana across federal and state jurisdictions. That’s why last Congress, I co-sponsored and voted to pass the Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act, HR 1996, to require financial institutions to provide legitimate cannabis-related businesses with banking services, and to treat proceeds and profit from cannabis-related business as legal and legitimate.

I applaud your leadership on this issue in Delaware and I am so proud to be in this fight with you. I hope you will continue to keep me informed of the issues important to your offices, as your input helps me to better represent the First State in Congress.

A letter to the editor expresses a reader's opinion and, as such, is not reflective of the editorial opinions of this newspaper.

To submit a letter to the editor for publishing, send an email to viewpoints@capegazette.com. All letters are considered at the discretion of the newsroom and published as space allows. Due to the large volume of submissions, we cannot acknowledge receipt of each submission. Letters must include a phone number and address for verification. Keep letters to 400 words or fewer. We reserve the right to edit for content or length. Letters should be responsive to issues addressed in the Cape Gazette rather than content from other publications or media. Letters should focus on local issues, not national topics or personalities. Only one letter per author will be published every 30 days regarding a particular topic. Authors may submit a second letter within that time period if it pertains to a different issue. Letters may not be critical of personalities or specific businesses. Criticism of public figures is permissible. Endorsement letters for political candidates are no longer accepted. Letters must be the author’s original work, and may not be generated by artificial intelligence tools. Templates, form letters and letters containing language similar to other submissions will not be published.