According to POLITICO, Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, intends to move on cannabis legislation with or without the President.
Schumer has had cannabis on his agenda since 2018 when he first introduced a bill to legalize marijuana. The action was part of the plan for the 2020 Vote Democrat election. Now that he has the majority voice in the Senate, Schumer is preparing new federal reform for marijuana. His direct partners in the reform are Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey).
On the heels of his home state legalizing recreational weed for adults after several failed attempts, Schumer is feeling empowered. “I want to make my arguments to him, as many other advocates will,” Schumer told POLITICO this week. “But at some point we’re going to move forward, period.“
Support from President Biden has been distant, at best, despite Democratic support for legalization. Schumer has said this hesitance will not stop the political machine from changing federal policy. The Verge has stated Biden supports decriminalization. But there’s a major difference between legalizing weed and decriminalizing it.
Legalization has come to over a dozen states, including New Jersey, New York, and California. Weed is even legal in the Capitol. But weed remains illegal on the federal level. Other states have legalized cannabis, decriminalized its use, or both. According to POLITICO, almost half of the population resides in the states where marijuana is legal.
Schumer points out how the worst fears about legalization have not seen fruit. “The legalization of states worked out remarkably well,“ Schumer said. “They were a great success. The parade of horribles never came about, and people got more freedom.“
In December 2020, the House voted 228 to 164 to pass the MORE Act (Marijuana, Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement) to legalize weed throughout the country.
The following comes from the POLITICO interview, which you can read in its entirety here.
Schumer: In 2018, I was the first member of the Democratic leadership to come out in support of ending the federal prohibition. I’m sure you ask, “Well what changed?” Well, my thinking evolved. When a few of the early states — Oregon and Colorado — wanted to legalize, all the opponents talked about the parade of horribles: Crime would go up. Drug use would go up. Everything bad would happen.
POLITICO: What role does President Biden play in this?
Well, he said he’d like to see more information on the issue. I respect that. I certainly will have an ongoing conversation with him, and tell him how my views evolved. And hope that his will too.
Does [the bill] remove marijuana completely from the Controlled Substances Act?
Oh, you’ll have to wait. I don’t want to get into the details of our bill. You’ll have to wait and see.
You said that the timeline on this bill is soon. Does that mean that we’re going to see it in the next two weeks?
I’ll stick to what I said: soon.
Schumer hopes to see the President’s public stance change.
