A key U.S. senator is conceding that the votes may not be there to pass a wide-ranging legalization bill he\u2019s sponsoring\u2014but like his colleagues, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) says he remains hopeful that Congress will enact \u201csome key reforms\u201d on cannabis this session.<\/p>\n
This has become a consistent talking point since Wyden filed the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA)<\/a> last month, alongside Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ).<\/p>\n All three of the prime sponsors have acknowledged in recent weeks that getting the comprehensive legalization bill through the Senate with the required 60 votes is an ambitious, if not impossible, goal.<\/p>\n Wyden hasn\u2019t been quite as vocal as Schumer and Booker about plans to pursue alternative, incremental legislation. But in a statement to The American Prospect that was published<\/a> on Thursday, the senator tempered expectations about the prospects of CAOA.<\/p>\n \u201cA 50-50 [Democratic] majority in the Senate will make passing our bill a difficult feat, but I hope we can at minimum pass some key reforms this Congress,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a winning issue that is overwhelmingly backed by the American people, especially young voters, who understand how ridiculous and unfair it is for folks to be locked away for something that most states have legalized and almost everyone thinks should be legal.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that the legalization bill \u201cempowers states to set their own laws and it fixes the myriad of issues caused by current prohibition, like banking and research,\u201d which enjoy significant bipartisan support. But CAOA \u201cgoes even further by setting up a federal regulatory system to protect public health and safety, all while prioritizing restorative and economic justice to help undo decades of harm.\u201d<\/p>\n (The article where the comments appear is titled \u201cDemocrats in Danger of Missing the Marijuana Moment<\/strong>\u201d (emphasis added). But fear not: this was simple coincidence. Nobody, regardless of party, is in danger of missing the cannabis news site Marijuana Moment\u2014especially if they sign up<\/a> for our daily newsletter.)<\/p>\n In any case, in an ideal world for the senators, they would be able to secure the votes and do what the House has done twice at this point: pass legislation to end federal prohibition. But even getting all 50 Democrats on board with the bold reform is in doubt, to say nothing of the concerted opposition it would likely face from the GOP side of the aisle.<\/p>\n The sponsors recognize that political reality, which is why Schumer has been in talks with bipartisan and bicameral offices about introducing what would effectively be a marijuana omnibus of modest reforms.<\/p>\n The so-called \u201cSAFE Banking Plus\u201d bill, which is still being finalized, is expected to contain provisions to safeguard banks that work with state-legal cannabis businesses, provide pathways for marijuana expungements<\/a>, promote research into the plant, among other potential proposals. Advocates have also been talking with lawmakers and staff about building on the banking component by incorporating several equity-centric amendments<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prior to the introduction of CAOA, the Senate trio repeatedly emphasized that they didn\u2019t want to see the standalone Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act pass before comprehensive legalization legislation centered in equity enacted.<\/p>\n A majority of Americans support ending federal marijuana prohibition, but the Senate just isn\u2019t there yet. Now the conversation is about finding common ground<\/a> and identifying components of CAOA and other cannabis reform bills that could be merged into a passable package<\/a>. It\u2019s not clear what that final package will look like, but Booker said recently that he expects it to be filed sometime between November and January.<\/p>\n The senator also reiterated this month that he feels the standalone SAFE Banking Act \u201crequires changes\u201d<\/a> if it\u2019s going to advance before cannabis is federally legalized.<\/p>\n Booker initially signaled that he was coming around to marijuana banking reform (contingent on equity provisions) at a\u00a0Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing<\/a>\u00a0last month that he convened as chairman.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the bicameral sponsors of the SAFE Banking Act, Reps. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), laid out\u00a0next steps for the cannabis banking reform<\/a>\u00a0last month at a briefing organized by the U.S. Cannabis Council (USCC).<\/p>\n Also at that briefing, Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) said that he recently spoke with Booker about the pathway for marijuana reform this session, and they had a \u201cgreat conversation\u201d about finding areas of compromise.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the senator is fully aware of the consequences of this failed policy of prohibition in terms of what it does with the SAFE Banking Act and the threat that is made to the very communities he wants to support,\u201d the congressman said in response to a question from Marijuana Moment. \u201cI think he\u2019s trying to be able to thread the needle.\u201d<\/p>\n Perlmutter also said in a recent interview that he feels the introduction of CAOA alone in the Senate means that\u00a0lawmakers have overcome a legislative \u201churdle\u201d<\/a>\u00a0that\u2019s kept SAFE Banking from advancing in the chamber.<\/p>\n For the time being, however, Senate Democrats are touting<\/a> one piece of incremental marijuana reform legislation that passed the chamber back in April<\/a>. The bipartisan bill is meant to streamline the process for scientists who want to access cannabis for research purposes.<\/p>\n That specific legislation hasn\u2019t been enacted into law. But there are hopes that a slightly revised version that was introduced<\/a>\u00a0last month could reach the president\u2019s desk in due time. It already\u00a0cleared the House just days after its filing<\/a>, and sources say the Senate is expected to act shortly.<\/p>\n If it makes it through the chamber and gets to Biden, it would mark the first piece of standalone marijuana reform legislation to ever become law.<\/p>\n Advocates Question New South Dakota Poll Showing Marijuana Legalization Measure Trailing Despite Success Of 2020 Ballot Initiative<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n Photo courtesy of Chris Wallis \/\/ Side Pocket Images.<\/em><\/p>\n The post Senator Hopes To Pass \u2018Some Key Reforms\u2019 On Marijuana This Year, But Says Full Legalization Is A \u2018Difficult Feat\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A key U.S. senator is conceding that the votes may not be there to pass a wide-ranging legalization bill he\u2019s sponsoring\u2014but like his colleagues, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) says he remains hopeful that Congress will enact \u201csome key reforms\u201d on cannabis this session. This has become aContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"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\/56844"}],"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=56844"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56845,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56844\/revisions\/56845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: Senator Hopes To Pass \u2018Some Key Reforms\u2019 On Marijuana This Year, But Says Full Legalization Is A \u2018Difficult Feat\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"