Schumer pushes Senate on pot laws as states leap ahead
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is pushing the Senate toward lifting the federal prohibition on marijuana with legislation that would represent the biggest overhaul of federal drug policy in decades.
The bill that Schumer is drafting with Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden of Oregon and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker is still being written. Though they avoided the term legalization when announcing their plan, it is expected to remove marijuana from the list of controlled substances and tax and regulate it on the federal level while leaving states able to enforce their own laws regarding the drug.
Their proposal goes beyond decriminalization, which President Joe Biden voiced support for during his campaign, and may be a stretch for some Senate Democrats. But it taps into building public sentiment for legalization and moves by states to change marijuana laws, including Schumer’s home state.
New York became the 16th state to legalize pot for recreational use. The Assembly and Senate passed a bill that would allow personal cultivation as well as taxing and regulating commercial sales, and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the legislation Wednesday. Several other states also are moving toward legalization.
In Washington, the House passed a major decriminalization bill in December for the first time but it was kept off the Senate floor by thenMajority Leader Mitch McConnell. Prospects for revamping marijuana laws have vastly improved with Schumer now in charge of the Senate’s agenda, but getting the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster remains a major challenge. In addition to winning over Biden on legalization, Schumer has yet to line up all 50 senators who caucus with Democrats — some of whom have long been skeptical of legalization — let alone at least 10 Republicans.
The politics of marijuana have been shifting in both parties as voters in both red states and blue have voted to legalize it. Seven Senate Republicans led by Steve Daines, a conservative from Montana, have signed on so far to Oregon Democrat
Jeff Merkley’s SAFE Banking Act, more modest legislation allowing marijuana businesses to have easier access to the banking system and capital markets. Others back bills giving cannabis businesses access to insurance products and still more back additional medical research.
Schumer, who has been strategizing with advocates of legalization, wants to go much further with the bill he, Booker and Wyden are are working on, and his biggest ally is a marked shift in public opinion.
Gallup found in November a record 68% of adults backing legalization, up 20 points from 2012, when Colorado and Washington became the first two states to fully legalize the drug. And a 2019 Pew poll found 91% say it should be legal at least for medical use. Republican voters are split nearly 50-50 on recreational marijuana,
Gallup found, while Democrats, independents and younger voters strongly favor legalization.
Marijuana stocks have been soaring in recent months on the prospect of rapidly expanding markets as more states move to loosen restrictions.
U.S. sales of legal cannabis and its derivatives like CBD are expected to exceed $26 billion this year, up from $22 billion last year, according to Euromonitor International, a market research company.
Representative Earl Blumenauer, an Oregon Democrat as well as the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, expressed optimism that change is coming.
“The table is set for full legalization,” he said in a statement. “We have a strong base of support in the House and in the Senate we no longer have the Mitch McConnell roadblock. It’s not a forgone conclusion, but it’s the strongest position we’ve ever been in.”
For Schumer, the issue could help him fend off a potential progressive primary challenge next year, when he will be seeking a fifth term. It’s not the only time he has gotten out ahead of Biden — he’s also pushed the president to support Senator Elizabeth Warren’s proposal for an executive order canceling as much as $50,000 of student debt per person, something Biden so far has resisted.