Senate Democrats on Wednesday reintroduced sweeping legislation to legalize cannabis at the federal level, a major policy shift with broad public support but unlikely to take effect this year ahead of the November election and in a divided government.
The bill, which amounts to a Democratic wish list for federal cannabis policy, would end the federal ban on marijuana by removing it from a list of controlled substances. The government currently classifies the drug as one of the most dangerous and addictive substances.
The legislation would create a new framework for regulating cannabis and taxing the emerging cannabis industry, expunge certain federal marijuana-related crimes from criminal records, expand research on the health effects of marijuana, and provide federal funding to support communities and individuals who are affected by the war on drugs.
The measure, first introduced in 2022, was sponsored by Senators Chuck Schumer of New York, the majority leader; Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon and Cory Booker of New Jersey. Fifteen other Senate Democrats have signed on as co-sponsors.
“Over the decades, the lives of millions of Americans, mostly Americans of color, have been disrupted and destroyed by our country’s failed war on drugs,” Mr. Schumer, the first majority leader to call for federal legalization, said in the Senate on Wednesday . “Instead of the war on drugs, our bill would lay the foundation for something completely different: a fair, responsible and common-sense approach to regulating cannabis.”
He reintroduced the measure a day after the Justice Department recommended easing restrictions on cannabis and downgrading it to a lower classification on the list of controlled substances. That move didn’t go as far as some advocates and many Democrats had called for, but it was a significant shift that reflected the Biden administration’s efforts to liberalize marijuana policy.
“Reclassifying cannabis is a necessary and long overdue step, but it is far from the end of the story,” Schumer said. “It’s time for Congress to wake up to the times and do their part by passing the cannabis reform that most Americans have long demanded. It’s past time for Congress to catch up with public opinion and science.”
But despite support from leading Democrats, the bill is highly unlikely to pass Congress this election year. Republicans, many of whom have opposed federal legalization of cannabis, control the House of Representatives and none have signed the bill. Congress has also struggled to carry out even the most basic functions of government despite deep divisions within the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. And there are only a few bills left to pass, so advocates don’t have many opportunities to incorporate them into a larger legislative package.
Kevin Sabet, who served as a drug policy adviser during the Obama, Bush and Clinton administrations, warned of the dangers of legalization and argued that such a bill would “commercialize” the marijuana industry and create “Big Tobacco 2.0.”
“Let’s not commercialize marijuana in the name of social justice,” said Mr. Sabet, now president of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, an anti-legalization advocacy group. While he supported certain elements of the bill, such as expunging criminal records and eliminating criminal penalties for marijuana use, he said legalization is ultimately about “supersizing a commercial industry.”
“And we really need to think long and hard after our terrible experience with Big Tobacco in our country,” he said, “about whether this is going to be good for us or not.”
Still, the legislation reflects growing support among Democrats and across the country in both Republican- and Democratic-leaning states for legalizing access to marijuana, in addition to the issue’s potential political value ahead of an expected election rematch between President Biden and former President Donald J . Trump card.
Legalization in some form is widespread across the country, according to a Pew Research Center survey in January. 88 percent of Americans believe marijuana should be legal for medical or recreational use. 24 states have legalized small amounts of marijuana for adult recreational use, and 38 states have approved it for medical purposes. And where marijuana legalization has been on state ballots, it has won handily, often outperforming candidates of both parties.
Proponents of legalization have emphasized the political potency of the issue to persuade elected officials.
“If anyone were to look at the political tea leaves, they would see that it is a losing proposition for a politician to obstruct cannabis policy reform,” said Morgan Fox, policy director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. an interest group. “This is really a rallying point for people who care about cannabis policy reform.”
At least one Democrat, Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, a leading cannabis advocate in Congress, has called on the Biden administration to embrace full legalization and make it a more important part of Mr. Biden’s re-election campaign. He argued that the issue could help the president win over young people whose support for him has waned but who could be crucial to victory in November.
The Biden administration’s move to downgrade cannabis on the controlled substances list also reflects the president’s evolution on the issue. Mr. Biden has pardoned thousands of people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses in an effort to address racial disparities in the justice system. And Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, has stressed that Mr. Biden “has made it very, very clear that he does not believe that anyone should be in prison or prosecuted simply because they use marijuana or owns.”
Mr. Trump’s record on legalization is more mixed. In 2018, his administration gave prosecutors the freedom to aggressively enforce federal marijuana restrictions in states that had relaxed bans on the drug. Mr. Trump later appeared to break with his administration, saying he would likely support a bill that would leave legalization to the states and pardoning several nonviolent drug offenders.
“This has not been an issue that has really come up in conversations, at rallies, or at media appearances, etc.,” Mr. Fox said. “It’s kind of an unknown how a future Trump administration would approach cannabis.”
Congress is considering additional incremental bills that would ease restrictions on marijuana – such as allowing legal cannabis companies access to financial services – some of which have bipartisan support. But given Republican opposition, most are not expected to move during this Congress.
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2024-05-01 22:59:17
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