Earlier this month, I wrote about a bill including marijuana legalization that United States House of Representatives Democratic leadership had planned to bring to the House floor for a vote this month. The bill — the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act (HR 3884), I noted, appears to have no chance of being approved in the Republican majority US Senate or of receiving a signature from President Donald Trump. This is because the virtually “Democrats only” bill includes race-based provisions and marijuana business subsidies that are anathema to many Republicans, including those who favor legalization.
Tag: marijuana legalization
The United States House of Representatives appears set to have a floor vote this month on the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act (HR 3884). The bill would legalize marijuana at the national level, but, as I pointed out in a July article, the MORE Act’s “inclusion of race-based provisions and marijuana business subsidies make the bill seem incapable of gaining much Republican support.”
If you would like the United States government to legalize marijuana soon, I have some good news and some bad news for you.
There was much reason for hope that marijuana legalization would be approved in several state legislatures in 2019. In January of 2019, I suggested that such action could be taken that year in any of six states — Connecticut, Illinois, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. By year end, Illinois was the only new state to legalize, doing so via legislation approved by the state legislature and signed by the governor.
The governor of United States territory Guam also signed into law marijuana legalization legislation in 2019.
The advancement of marijuana legalization in the states was less last year than many legalization proponents had hoped. But, the momentum remains strong. Legalization is a wave that appears set to wash over the entire country.
New Pew Research Center poll results indicate Americans’ support for marijuana legalization continues to grow, with support reaching two-thirds among those questioned and maintaining majorities among Democrats, Republicans, and independents. This state of popular opinion, along with marijuana law liberalization continuing to move forward at state and local levels, are among the factors suggesting the time is ripe for legalization on the national level.
However, the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee is not moving forward with a clean bill to repeal marijuana prohibition that would garner widespread public support and have a good chance of both passing in the Republican-controlled Senate and receiving President Donald Trump’s signature. Instead, the committee is scheduled to consider on Wednesday legislation that, in addition to national legalization, contains marijuana business subsidies and race-based provisions that likely mean the bill will have zero chance of passing in the Senate or receiving Trump’s support.
During a United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee subcommittee hearing earlier this month that appeared to signal the beginning of a move in the House to approve countrywide marijuana legalization legislation, Republican House member, and longtime proponent of rolling back marijuana prohibition, Tom McClintock (R-CA) warned that Democratic members’ apparent focus on weaving race-based policies and new government meddling into legalization legislation could sink support from Republicans.
Now it looks like House Democrats are moving forward with that plan against which McClintock warned. On Tuesday, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee with jurisdiction over marijuana legalization, introduced legalization legislation that includes race-based provisions tied together with marijuana business subsidies that just about ensure the bill will have little support from Republican House members.
A United States House of Representatives subcommittee held a hearing on Wednesday at which countrywide marijuana legalization was considered. The hearing of the Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee appears designed to start off deliberative action in the House out of which the advancement of legalization legislation to the House floor will arise. However, the focus by Democratic majority House members on racial issues in the hearing titled “Marijuana Laws in America: Racial Justice and the Need for Reform” suggests the move toward legalization is off to a rocky start.
Last week, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law marijuana legalization in his state, making Illinois the 11th state to legalize and the second to do so via legislation approved by a state legislature and signed by a governor instead of through a voters-approved ballot measure. New Mexico may soon follow in adopting legislature and governor-approved marijuana legalization.
On Tuesday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law a marijuana legalization bill. Due to the enactment of this legislation, over 12 million more Americans now live in a state where marijuana legalization has been adopted. In total, well over 90 million Americans live in the 11 states that have legalized marijuana.
Results released this month of a new Gallup poll of marijuana legalization supporters in America indicate that 60 percent of them view legalizing marijuana being “a matter of freedom and personal choice” as a very important reason for supporting legalization, while an additional 29 percent see this as a somewhat important reason.