Efforts to legalize cannabis at the state and federal levels continue. Seventeen states and Washington, D.C. have legalized recreational use of the drug, and even more allow medical usage. Last week, the House of Representatives passed legislation allowing banks to conduct business with cannabis firms in states where the drug has been legalized. The bill now goes to the Senate for approval.
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Efforts to legalize cannabis at the state level
Marijuana Business Daily published a list of states that may or may not legalize cannabis this year. The website sees Connecticut, Delaware and Rhode Island as being possible to likely for recreational legalization. It thinks Minnesota and Pennsylvania probably won't legalize the drug.
Marijuana Business Daily thinks Alabama is possible to likely to legalize medical marijuana, while North Carolina might legalize it. The website believes Kansas, South Carolina and Nebraska probably won't legalize medical marijuana.
Federal efforts to support marijuana
At the federal level, Senate leaders are drafting legislation to legalize cannabis. However, even though Democrats control the chamber, there might not be enough votes to pass the bill. Sixty senators must vote in favor of legalizing marijuana for the bill to pass the Senate. That would be enough to overcome any potential filibuster.
According to Marijuana Moment, advocates are pushing Senate leadership to aim for budget reconciliation with the bill. That would mean only a simple majority of 51 senators would have to vote in favor of the bill for it to pass.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is leading the legislation push. During a press conference, he didn't rule out the possibility of using budget reconciliation to legalize cannabis. He said Americans would find out "in a few weeks" whether the marijuana bill will be included in the budget reconciliation.
Potential problems with the plan to legalize cannabis
A spokesperson for the Marijuana Justice Coalition told Marijuana Moment that "a must-pass bill is the only vehicle that can ensure we pass a marijuana justice bill in the Senate." A spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy Project told the website that it's clear "Leader Schumer is taking seriously his commitment to see legalization happen at the federal level and address the ongoing harm from prohibition."
Marijuana Moment added that some rules could prevent a bill to legalize cannabis from making it into the budget reconciliation process. For example, the Byrd rule determines whether a bill is an "extraneous matter" that's not part of the budget process. Several criteria are used to make that determination, like whether the bill would add to the deficit for more than 10 years.
