Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, has pushed back consideration of his long awaited marijuana legalization bill, saying that it will get to the floor before the August recess but not later this month as originally planned.
The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act is being worked on by Schumer, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker and Oregon Senator Ron Wyden.
The bill will remove marijuana from the Federal Controlled Substance Act, leaving it to the states to decide the drug’s legality. It also plans to address past convictions, implement taxes and regulation, among other issues.
Schumer has been promising action on the legalization of marijuana since last year when on April 20, the unofficial holiday of cannabis, he stated on the Senate floor, “Hopefully the next time this unofficial holiday 4/20 rolls around, our country will have made progress in addressing the massive over-criminalization of marijuana in a meaningful and comprehensive way.”
Progress has certainly been made on the issue of legalization since then, just not in the Senate. New York, Virginia, New Mexico and Connecticut joined the ranks of states where marijuana is legal by state law and in May of last year, the House of Representatives passed their own marijuana legalization bill, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, but the Senate never put it up for a vote. The House passed the bill again this year on April 1 with the hope that the Senate would act on it this time.
Booker does not think the House bill could pass the Senate, according to Rollcall, and believes the bill he is helping craft with Schumer and Wyden is a better bet.
Either bill faces an uphill climb. Democrats hold 50 seats in the Senate but will require 60 votes to break a likely Republican filibuster, and it is not clear if Schumer has gotten the entirety of his party on board, much less ten additional Republicans.
Both Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Jon Tester of Montana indicated as recently as last year that they oppose legalization. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Mark Kelly of Arizona have all indicated that they are undecided on the issue of federal legalization.
Schumer will likely have to convince them along with 10 Republicans to vote for his bill. He may be able to find support with libertarian leaning Republicans like Rand Paul of Kentucky and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, but that may require the removal of the restorative justice and racial equity aspects of the bill. Restorative justice in any marijuana reform bill is an important issue for Booker, who pledged earlier this year to prevent the passage of a marijuana banking bill if the Senate does not address restorative justice issues such as allowing those with past marijuana convictions to open marijuana dispensaries.
Beyond that, President Biden may also present an obstacle, as he stated during the campaign that he supported decriminalization of cannabis but not full legalization. However, with Joe Biden’s plummeting poll numbers, particularly among young voters, vetoing a marijuana legalization bill will likely sink his party’s chances in the November midterm election.