Robert Aderholt opposes rescheduling of marijuana
Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-AL04) was one of 14 Republican members of Congress to join in a letter to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram expressing their opposition to federal rescheduling of marijuana. While the State of Alabama is in the process of issuing licenses to farmers to grow marijuana and for doctors to recommend it to their patients, it remains a Schedule 1 narcotic with no medicinal value, according to the federal government. There is momentum to change that. The Biden Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services has released a letter urging that marijuana be federally rescheduled, a move that Aderholt opposes. Aderholt said that he opposes the move even if it is politically popular. “I am proud to join @PeteSessions and @SenatorLankford in a letter to Administrator Milgram. As Chairman of the Approps Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, I share the concern that our nation’s drug policies should not be set based on popular opinion.” Eight Republican U.S. Senators and six Republican members of the House of Representatives declared the Department of Health and Human Services’ August 29 recommendation to move marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act part of an “irresponsible” “pro-pot agenda.” They urged that marijuana remain listed among the most dangerous drugs. The letter was sent to Milgram because the decision is now up to her and federal attorneys to consider relevant questions of law and policy in a review of the recommendation by Health and Human Services (HSS). Chey Garrigan is the founder and CEO of the Alabama Cannabis Industry Association. Garrigan said that marijuana does have documented health benefits and maintains that there are Alabamians who would benefit from medical marijuana. “Congressman Robert Aderholt can have an opinion,” Garrigan said. “Where is the data that backs up why he is against it?” “Any effort to reschedule marijuana should be based on proven facts and science – not popular opinion, changes in state laws, or the preferred policy of an administration,” the Republicans, led by Republican Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) and Representative Pete Sessions (R-Texas) wrote in the September 11 letter to the DEA. “Current research, science, and trends support the case that marijuana should remain a Schedule 1 drug.” Lankford, Aderholt, and Sessions were joined by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Sen. Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), Sen. M. Michael Rounds (R-South Dakota), Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-Georgia), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Arizona), Rep. Chuck Edwards (North Carolina), and Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Kentucky). Even though Oklahoma has over 7,000 marijuana farms and businesses, Lankford argued in a recent column that marijuana has not befitted Oklahomans. “Drug cartels—from not just south of the border, but also Asia—are now deeply ingrained across Oklahoma, operating grow facilities that ship marijuana across the country,” Lankford wrote. “Oklahomans often now wake up to read the news about the latest execution-style murder, human trafficking, or prostitution at a grow facility in rural Oklahoma. In January 2023, the Tulsa World reported that about 2,000 licenses for medical marijuana were being investigated because they were suspected of having been either obtained unlawfully or were covering up an operation to sell on the black market. Oklahoma is now the top source for black market marijuana in the nation. So much for the argument that widening legal access to a drug gets rid of the illicit market.” President Joe Biden launched the first federal administrative review of marijuana’s legal status last October, calling current federal policy a “failed approach.” To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Robert Aderholt supports protecting pharmacists’ First Amendment rights regarding prescriptions for elective abortions
Congressman Robert Aderholt announced that he has become a co-sponsor of a bill to protect the First Amendment rights of pharmacists when choosing whether or not to fill prescriptions for elective abortions. The Pharmacist Conscience Protection Act H.R. 8820 was introduced by Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-Georgia), Diana Hashbarger (R-Tennessee), and Blake Moore (R-Utah). Reps. Carter and Harshbarger are both pharmacists. It is co-sponsored by 26 House Republicans. The legislation comes after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued guidance warning pharmacists that they could be in violation of federal civil rights laws if they do not fill such prescriptions. “Pharmacists should not be forced to surrender their First Amendment rights of religious freedom because of radical policies from the Biden Administration,” said Congressman Aderholt. “It’s unfortunate that we need conscience protections like these, but it’s the only way to keep the overbearing Biden Administration from forcing private citizens to violate strongly held convictions.” “Your first amendment rights don’t go away when you put on a white coat,” said Rep. Carter. “This legislation will ensure that pharmacists are able to make the medical decisions that are best for the health of the mother, the life of the child, and the integrity of their practice without threats from non-medically trained bureaucrats. Medical decisions should be made between doctors, pharmacists, and patients – not the federal government.” “I will not stand by and let the Biden administration use an extremist and unlawful agenda of taxpayer-funded abortions through birth to persecute pharmacists who have religious, moral, or conscience objections to the intentional killing of unborn children through abortion,” stated Rep. Harshbarger. “As a licensed pharmacist for more than 30 years, I have always followed the precept of first doing no harm. I will always stand up for the lives of unborn children and will always defend health practitioners who believe the same. Pharmacists and other health professionals should never be punished for their moral beliefs in protecting life, or be threatened or forced to facilitate abortions against such beliefs. I call on the Biden administration to immediately withdraw this outrageous assault on pharmacists’ conscience rights, and to stop treating the Constitution like its own political chew-toy!” “Conscience protections prevent discrimination and ensure Americans in the healthcare sector are not forced to violate their beliefs,” said Rep. Moore. “As the Biden Administration takes steps to undermine the conscience rights of pharmacists, I am proud to join Congressman Buddy Carter and Congresswoman Diana Harshbarger in introducing the Pharmacist Conscience Protection Act which would ensure pharmacists can refuse to provide abortion drugs without repercussion. Pharmacists, along with other medical and healthcare workers, should never be coerced into participating in abortions, and this bill is an important step in supporting medical professionals who have deep convictions about practicing life-affirming medicine.” The text reads in part, “In General.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Federal Government, and any person or entity that receives Federal grants, contracts, or financial assistance, including any State or local government, may not penalize, treat adversely, retaliate against, or otherwise discriminate against a specified health care provider, or take any action that has such effect, on the basis that the specified health care provider does not or declines to store or fill a prescription, or make a referral, for a drug that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration to cause an abortion or that the specified health care provider in good faith believes may be used to cause an abortion.” Other co-sponsors are Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Tracey Mann (R-KS), Doug Lamborn (R-CO), David McKinley (R-WV), Ken Buck (R-CO), Lance Gooden (R-TX), Jake Ellzey (R-TX), Kat Cammack (R-FL), Mary Miller (R-IL), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Bill Posey (R-FL), Greg Steube (R-FL), Troy Balderson (R-OH), Brian Babin (R-TX), Dan Webster (R-FL), Jeff Duncan (R-SC), Randy Weber (R-TX), Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), Brad Wenstrup (R-OH), Don Bacon (R-NE), Robert E. Latta (R-OH), and Andrew Clyde (R-GA). Aderholt is in his thirteenth term representing Alabama’s Fourth Congressional District. To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
