![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-29.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The leader of the U.S. Senate and colleagues will be releasing a discussion draft of a long-awaited bill to federally legalize cannabis on Wednesday, Marijuana Moment has learned.<\/p>\n
Two sources who were briefed on the plans said that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) will hold a press conference Wednesday to unveil a preliminary version of what\u2019s being titled the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.<\/p>\n
Details of the proposal\u2019s provisions are not yet available, but the purpose of the draft being released is to spark conversation to inform what will be a formal introduction of the bill at a later date. Advocates have been anxiously anticipating the legislation, which Schumer has repeatedly said was coming \u201csoon\u201d<\/a> after he, Wyden and Booker first pledged in February that it would be ready \u201cin the early part of this year.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Since then, the majority leader has been making the case for reform everywhere from the Senate floor on 4\/20<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0a cannabis rally in New York City<\/a>.<\/p>\n Beyond ending prohibition, Schumer said the proposal he and his colleagues are working on will \u201censure restorative justice, public health and implement responsible taxes and regulations,\u201d similar to what New York lawmakers sought to accomplish in a legalization bill that\u00a0the governor signed into law<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n The three senators formally started their efforts on the legalization bill by holding a meeting earlier this year with representatives from a variety of advocacy groups to gain feedback on the best approach to the reform<\/a>.<\/p>\n Schumer made a point in March to say that it will specifically seek to restrict the ability of large alcohol and tobacco companies to overtake the industry. Instead,\u00a0it will prioritize small businesses<\/a>, particularly those owned by people from communities most impacted by prohibition, and focus on \u201cjustice, justice, justice\u2014as well as freedom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He also urged voters to reach out to their congressional representatives and tell them that \u201cthis is long overdue.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a House bill to federally legalize marijuana<\/a> and promote social equity in the industry was reintroduced in May.<\/p>\n The legislation, sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), was filed with a number of changes compared to the version that was\u00a0approved by the chamber last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act passed the House but did not advance in the Senate under GOP control. But this time around, advocates are optimistic that the policy change could be enacted now that Democrats run both chambers and the White House, and as more states are moving to enact legalization.<\/p>\n President Joe Biden, however, is an outlier within the Democratic Party, maintaining an opposition to adult-use legalization<\/a> despite the widespread and increasingly bipartisan public popularity of the reform. It remains to be seen whether the president\u2014who campaigned on more modest pledges to decriminalize cannabis possession, expunge prior records and respect state legalization laws\u2014would stand in the way of a comprehensive policy change by threatening to veto the bill that\u2019s ultimately produced.<\/p>\n Wyden, who under the chamber\u2019s new Democratic majority assumed the top spot on the Senate Finance Committee\u2014where the new legislation is likely to be referred once formally introduced\u2014recently said his goal will be to \u201cend the prohibition and come up with sensible tax and regulatory oversight at the federal level.\u201d<\/p>\n He said in February that \u201cit\u2019s not enough in my view to just end cannabis prohibition,\u201d and \u201cI think we need to restore the lives of people who\u2019ve been hurt most by the failed war on drugs and especially black Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n To accomplish that, he said reform legislation should include provisions to provide expungements for those with prior cannabis convictions, community reinvestment programs, job training and reentry services and \u201caccess to capital.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m strategizing now on the next steps,\u201d he said at the time. \u201cWe need comprehensive reform, and you need legislation to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCertainly the fact that millions of Americans have voted for at least some of what I just described means that we\u2019re in a position to move at the federal level,\u201d he added. \u201cI do think that this kind of crazy quilt\u2014particularly as it relates to regulation and the financial aspects, particularly nationwide consideration\u2014you really need some kind of bedrock federal rules on, one, ending the prohibition; two, sensible tax policies; and three, sensible regulatory oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n All three senators\u2014Schumer, Wyden and Booker\u2014have in past years introduced marijuana legalization bills that never got hearings or votes.<\/p>\n Separately, a proposal to federally deschedule marijuana that does not include social equity components was\u00a0recently filed by a pair of Republican congressmen.<\/a><\/p>\n Congressional Lawmakers Advance Marijuana Protections For Medical Programs And Universities In New Spending Bills<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post Schumer To Unveil Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill On Wednesday<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The leader of the U.S. Senate and colleagues will be releasing a discussion draft of a long-awaited bill to federally legalize cannabis on Wednesday, Marijuana Moment has learned. Two sources who were briefed on the plans said that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron WydenContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":48816,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48815"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48815"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48817,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48815\/revisions\/48817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nMarijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,100 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills<\/a> in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters<\/a> pledging at least $25\/month get access to our interactive maps, charts and hearing calendar so they don\u2019t miss any developments.<\/strong>
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/MM_Bill_Tracker_V5_blank-28.jpg\"){kind=tracking}
<\/a>
\nLearn more about our marijuana bill tracker<\/a> and become a supporter on Patreon<\/a> to get access.
\n\u2014<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\n
\nRead More: Schumer To Unveil Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill On Wednesday<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"