The Nevada Senate has approved a resolution urging Congress to federally legalize cannabis. About a month after the Assembly passed the legislation from Assemblyman Reuben D’Silva (D), the Senate advanced it in a vote of 18-3 on Wednesday.
It states that cannabis has “many well documented medical uses,” yet remains a Schedule I drug under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA) “alongside heroin.”
The resolution goes on to note that Nevada voters have approved ballot initiatives to legalize medical and recreational cannabis and that a state district court ruled last year that the state Board of Pharmacy’s designation of cannabis as a Schedule I substance is unconstitutional.
Further, because of the federal classification of cannabis, patients are “unable to receive medical insurance prescription health coverage” for cannabis, and they’re also not covered under health savings accounts.
It goes on to discuss the financial barriers that cannabis businesses face under federal prohibition, namely the lack of access to banking services that forces many licensed businesses to operate on a cash-only basis that, makes them targets of crime.
“Cannabis does not belong in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, a classification intended for exceptionally dangerous substances with high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical use,” the resolution says.
Read the entire article at Marijuana Moment