Marijuana reform in Congress has gained substantial momentum in 2018 and June was no exception.
Beginning with the introduction of the bipartisan STATES Act from Senators Warren and Gardner, to the Joyce/Leahy medical marijuana amendment (formerly known as Rohrabacher-Blumenauer) passing at the committee level through non-controversial voice votes, it appears that many in Congress are finally joining their constituents in supporting marijuana reform.
This week Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act, further propelling federal marijuana reform into the political mainstream.
Just a few short years ago it would have been inconceivable to imagine a leader of one of two major parties introduce a bill to de-schedule and decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. Prior to 2015, there had only been one relatively narrow marijuana reform bill introduced in the Senate since states began legalizing medical marijuana in 1996. The 2015 introduction of the CARERS Act by Senator Booker showed that medical marijuana had entered the political mainstream – but the common refrain heard around the halls of Congress was that progress on broader marijuana legalization was still many years away.