Senate CJS Bill Delivers Wins on Kratom, Illegal Marijuana Grows and DEA Funding
The Senate's 2027 spending bill keeps kratom on DEA's radar, targets foreign-run marijuana grows and boosts DEA by $123 million.
The Senate CJS bill for fiscal year 2027 delivers a string of wins for drug prevention advocates. It keeps kratom on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s radar, targets foreign-run marijuana grows, defends drug-free school zones and gives DEA more money to hire agents.
Senate appropriators released the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) bill and its explanatory statement on Nov. 12.
Senate CJS Bill Keeps Kratom on DEA’s Radar
The bill directs DEA to brief Congress within 60 days of enactment on “the health and safety impacts of kratom products.” DEA must lay out patterns of use, adverse events, and every enforcement or regulatory step it has taken.
That puts DEA on the record about kratom’s harms, and it opens the door to a renewed push for scheduling. The statement notes that federal health officials already referred a kratom byproduct to DEA in 2025 for possible scheduling.
Get stories like this every Friday
The week's drug policy news in one email, every claim sourced. Join tens of thousands of readers.
The timing matters. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner recently ruled kratom compounds the cause of death of a 22-year-old who died on a Southwest flight. Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley has pressed the administration to finalize its 7-OH ban.
Marijuana Grows Tied to Organized Crime
The bill orders a Justice Department report, due within 90 days, “assessing the proliferation of illegal marijuana growing operations associated with foreign nationals.” The FBI, DEA and the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys will coordinate it.
The report must examine any ties to Chinese transnational criminal organizations or the Chinese government. That is a direct rebuke of the “harmless plant” image. Lawmakers have already heard testimony about Chinese criminal networks growing marijuana illegally across the country.
The Medical Marijuana Shield Has Limits
Appropriators also made clear that the longstanding rider protecting state medical marijuana programs is not a blank check. They welcomed the Justice Department’s clarification that the rider does not stop federal prosecutors from enforcing the drug-free school zone law.
They urged the department to ensure that “areas with young children, including schools and playgrounds, remain drug-free.”
More Money for DEA and Drug Courts
DEA gets $2.70 billion for salaries and expenses, $123.26 million more than the 2026 enacted level. The committee said it “strongly supports” DEA’s push to reverse “the significant decline in special agent employment levels.”
Appropriators also told DEA to build a “comprehensive fentanyl tracking system” that logs where drugs are seized, what they contain, where they likely came from and how they entered the country. DEA must also report on xylazine and brief Congress on medetomidine, a sedative now turning up in the illicit supply.
Treatment-focused justice programs keep their funding too. The bill includes $89 million for drug courts, $34 million for veterans treatment courts and $185 million for the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Use Program.
The full Senate Appropriations Committee still has to vote on the bill, and the final version must be reconciled with the House’s. But the Senate CJS bill sets a clear marker: kratom deserves scrutiny, illegal grows are organized crime, and schools stay drug-free.
Get The Drug Report every Friday
One free email every Friday: the week's drug policy news, sourced and explained. Read by tens of thousands of people who write, enforce and cover the policy. Unsubscribe anytime.