Washington – While most Americans say marijuana should be legal for adults and the House has passed a bill to legalize it, a major cannabis reform is unlikely this year .
Why? Because Republicans and some Democratic senators don’t want to.
“Marijuana? I didn’t even think about marijuana. Jesus Christ, do you smoke? Senator Joe Mancin (DW.Va.) asked the HuffPost on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the House passed a bill that would legalize weeds the federal way, remove cannabis-related criminal records, and lay the foundation for the legal marijuana industry. . But this bill almost died when it got to the Senate.
Instead, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) and Senators Corey Booker (DN.J.) and Ron Weiden (D-Ore.) Tried to build consensus on the Senate version of cannabis reform.
The trio collaborated last year on a draft discussion that, like the House bill, would legalize their removal from the list of the banned drug, marijuana. Act of controlled substances, Which lists “marijuana” in the same category as heroin. The bill would also remove nonviolent federal criminal records and allow the marijuana business more access to financial services.
Sumer said he intends to submit a new version of the bill before the August holidays. Whether he gets the vote is an open question.
The problem for Sumer was mathematics. Democrats control 50 seats in the 100 -member Senate and will need 60 votes to pass the cannabis bill, meaning it will take at least 10 Republicans, and possibly more, because some Democrats don’t seem ready senator. Legalization of weeds.
“I’m not where a lot of people are in my group,” Sen told HuffPost. John Tester (D-Mont.). The senator, whose state supported marijuana legalization in 2020, expressed concern about cannabis legalization nationwide.
“Are we designed to prevent this from happening to young people?” What kind of law is this? Can anyone smoke? “There’s a lot of if and but,” Tester said.
Senator Diane Feinstein (California), another high-ranking Democrat, said she would review the bill but did not generally promote the legalization of marijuana.
Republicans are less enthusiastic about cannabis reform. “I don’t know what their bill looks like, but Republicans probably won’t support it,” Senator John Tunne (SD), a member of the Republican leadership group, told HuffPost. Senator John Cornyn (R. of Texas) said the harmful effects of marijuana on children and other vulnerable populations need further study.
The illegality of marijuana at the federal level is surprisingly inconsistent with popular opinion. A Poll this month We found that 69% of Americans support full legalization and this is a Find a standard survey. It has the legal support of grass It has grown in recent years Since most states have legalized the drug for treatment, cannabis has the green light in 18 states for recreational use.
Sumer should be willing to settle for fewer legalization alternatives, said Morgan Fox, political director of the National Marijuana Law Reform Organization.
“Hopefully the Senate leadership is open to further reforms now and before the current Congress ends,” Fox said.
A small reform on the table would prevent banking regulators from imposing penalties on banks that provide services to cannabis companies. Financial institutions are avoiding the state’s cannabis industries under federal law because of their illegality, forcing companies to act exclusively with money, making them easy targets for thieves.
The SAFE Banking Act, as the proposal is known, is currently attached to the House version of the bill aimed at boosting semiconductor chip manufacturing in the United States. The House and Senate are ready to correct the differences between their respective bills; It is not clear if the supply of the dish will be reduced.
Senator Pete Murray (D-Wash.) Said he supports a global cannabis reform, but added that access to banks is important for the cannabis industry.
“It’s very important to put safe action into banking, because now all those cash assets put them and their employees at risk on a daily basis,” Murray said.
Booker outlined marijuana law as a matter of social justice Racial inequality in marijuana-related arrests. But the New Jersey Democrat clearly saw the prospect of passing a major marijuana bill in the Senate this year.
“I’ll do everything to move forward, but I just want to be realistic that a lot of competitors are the priority right now, so I’m not sure at that time,” Booker said Tuesday. Crisis, including the war in Ukraine.
However, he said, the arguments most discussed by his colleagues are based on restoring justice and economic opportunity for states and communities that legalize marijuana.
As for Mancin, HuffPost told the senator on Tuesday that we don’t actually smoke marijuana and asked if he supports such legalization.
“I’m in medicine,” he said. “I’m completely committed to medical marijuana. I’ve never heard of anyone overdose on medical marijuana. And I have people left and right on opioid overdoses and all.”
Most states have legalized medical marijuana use, but drug use remains a federal offense. At the federal level, the legalization of adult marijuana is allowed to legalize it, which Mancini has not said he supports.
HuffPost also asked Mancin if he had ever tried marijuana.
Source: Huffpost
