Marijuana’s Major Moves this Week
In a case of rare, beneficial bipartisanship this week, several elements of the federal government have given smokers a reason to spark some optimism.
Bipartisanship in Washington, D.C. is rarely a good thing — but over the past week, it has helped give weed a big bump.
It was perfect timing for President Donald Trump, who announced on Friday, the 13th of April, that he would leave cannabis legalization efforts to individual states. This would allow state-wide marijuana industries to operate without fear of reprisal from federal authorities.
The move was especially surprising, given that the president’s attorney general, Jeff Sessions has been openly hostile toward pot for decades.
This move comes just months after Sessions rescinded the Cole Memorandum, which allowed states, in which cannabis had already been legalized, to continue operations without intrusion from the federal government.
Trump’s intentions were announced via Colorado congressman, Cory Gardner (R-CO), who said in a statement, “ I received a commitment from the President that the Department of Justice’s rescission of the Cole memo will not impact Colorado’s legal marijuana industry. Furthermore, President Trump has assured me that he will support a federalism-based legislative solution to fix this states’ rights issue once and for all.”
These moves have given some comfort to banks and investors, who may have been skeptical about investing in a product that is, still technically, illegal at a federal level.
Meanwhile, across the aisle, Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced, on Thursday, that he would soon be supporting legislation to decriminalize marijuana on a federal level, according to his exclusive interview with Vice News.
This is Schumer’s first major move to support the movement toward federal legalization while in the Senate. Although he has voiced support for various medical marijuana ventures in the past, this would be his first time backing legislation to remove the substance from its Schedule I Classification (a level shared by black-tar heroin).
Currently there is a piece of legislation in congress, proposed by Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ) and titled the “Marijuana Justice Act”, that would legalize weed nationwide.
Although the future of cannabis legalization is still uncertain in the United States, these recent moves give investors and consumers of the product a reason to air lightly on the side of cautious optimism.
The momentum for legalization has been gaining massive support in the last two decades, with support from the public doubling over that time span. According to recent polling data from Pew Research, 61% of Americans now support legalization at a federal level (that number was only around 30% in 2000).
Marijuana, in recent years, has become an issue that Americans, from across the political spectrum, can rally their support around. While the vast majority of Americans favor legalizing the substance, it is yet to be seen if those in power will represent their constituents.
