Politics
Chuck Schumer Says Marijuana Reform Bills Are Being Merged As Congress Moves To Legalize

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says lawmakers are in the process of merging various marijuana bills, including his own legalization legislation, as the chamber works to enact reform this session.
In an interview on Wednesday night with former NBA player Al Harrington, who owns the cannabis company Viola Brands, Schumer talked about his support for ending federal cannabis prohibition, what he hopes reform to accomplish and the political state of play for marijuana in the early days of the 117th Congress.
Notably, he said “our billâthe bill that I put inânow we’re putting it together with some other bills.”
Watch Schumer talk about marijuana reform efforts below:Â
The legislation that the now-majority leader filed last Congress and the one before that, the Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act, would federally deschedule marijuana, reinvest tax revenue into communities most impacted by the drug war and fund efforts to expunge prior cannabis records.
It’s not clear which other bills are being merged, but it stands to reason that the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act would be incorporated, given that advocates have strongly pushed for that proposal to be the vehicle for reform. It passed the House last year but did not advance in the Senate under Republican control.
In any case, Schumer emphasized that the goal of legalizing marijuana is largely equity-focused.
The Democratic majority’s plan will include expunging marijuana records, using some tax revenue from cannabis sales to reinvest in communities most impacted by the war on drugs and ensuring that large corporations don’t monopolize the market, the senator said.
I just sat down with Al Harrington @cheddahcheese7 to talk about working together to end the federal prohibition on marijuana and advance criminal justice reform.
Tune in: https://t.co/4QLPhWLilu pic.twitter.com/vpeyLT7QPd
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 28, 2021
Further, Schumer and Harrington said they both want to make it so the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t impose excess regulations on existing cannabis businesses when legalization is implemented.
The majority leader did say that he wants to allocate funds to develop a cannabis breathalyzer to detect impaired driving, saying that “just like you shouldn’t drive under the influence alcohol, you probably shouldn’t drive under the influence of too much marijuana.”
“I believe in freedom. Let people do what they want. And it became pretty apparent years ago that all these horror stories, you know, ‘legalize marijuana and crime will go up’âwell, states legalized, crime didn’t go up,” he said. “‘If you legalize marijuana, everyone will become a big druggie.’ That didn’t happen either.”
Schumer also called out the “havoc created in the minority community and the unfairness” caused by enforcement of cannabis criminalization.
“A young man caught with a little marijuana in his pocket, gets arrested, has a criminal record the rest of his lifeâcan’t get a good start, can’t get things done,” he added. “I decided we should decriminalize it. The time has come.”
Schumer made similar comments in an interview with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Monday.
Prior to the election, which saw Democrats reclaim the Senate majority and Schumer reinstalled as the top leader, he pledged that if he ascended to the chamber’s top position he would put his cannabis legislation on the floor.
âIâm a big fighter for racial justice, and the marijuana laws have been one of the biggest examples of racial injustice, and so to change them makes sense,â he said at the time. âAnd that fits in with all of the movement now to bring equality in the policing, in economics and in everything else. Our bill is, in a certain sense, at the nexus of racial justice, individual freedom and statesâ rights.â
The senator has become a strong ally for comprehensive cannabis reform. In 2019, for example, he sided with reform advocates who argued that passing a bill to protect banks that service the marijuana industry was not enough.
Now with Democrats in control, advocates and lawmakers are preparing for a deluge in marijuana reform proposals that could see floor action and make their way to President Bidenâs desk.
Although the president does not support full legalization and only backs relatively modest cannabis reforms, advocates are hopeful that he would not veto or seek to undermine any broad marijuana legislation that congressional leaders decide to prioritize.
Already in 2021, two congressional marijuana bills have been filed: one to move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act and another to prevent the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from denying veterans benefits solely because they use medical marijuana in compliance with state law.
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Photo courtesy of Senate Democrats.
Politics
Disagreements Threaten Virginia Marijuana Legalization Deal As Deadline Approaches

Conference committee members are divided over a proposed delay in regulatory decisions until next session, but have reportedly settled on delaying legalization of cannabis possession in any case.
By Ned Oliver, Virginia Mercury
With a Saturday deadline approaching, state lawmakers in the House and Senate are still working to resolve differences over landmark legislation that would legalize recreational marijuana in Virginia.
As of Thursday evening, it was unclear whether the two chambers would be able to reach an agreement on the bill, which Gov. Ralph Northam (D) has made a priority in his final year in office.
At least one lawmaker privately doubted the legislation would pass. Others, however, remained optimistic even as they acknowledged negotiations had grown tense, suggesting a vote was possible as early as Friday.
According to five sources familiar with the talks, the primary point of contention is language sought by the Senate that would delay decisions about how the new market is regulated until next year. Members of the chamber said during hearings last month they felt the legislation was too expansive and complex to complete work on during the 45-day session.
Lawmakers in the House have resisted, arguing the delay is unnecessary, citing in-depth studies conducted by legislative analysts and Northamâs administration. House lawmakers have also expressed discomfort about voting to legalize the drug without finalizing plans for a legal marketplace, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations.
If a bill does emerge from the conference negotiations, itâs likely to disappoint civil rights advocates who have been pushing for an immediate end to criminal penalties related to the drug.
Both the House and Senate passed legalization bills that wouldnât allow sales of recreational marijuana to begin until January 1, 2024âtime both sides agree they need to set up a new cannabis authority to regulate the industry.
But they have differed over whether criminal penalties related to the drug should stay in place until legal sales begin. The House advanced legislation that wouldnât end prohibition until 2024 while the Senate proposed legalizing possession of an ounce or less of marijuana beginning July 1 of this year.
The House, whose members worried that repealing criminal penalties before legal sales are permitted would encourage the black market, appear to have won the debate, with Senate negotiators agreeing to maintain existing criminal penalties until 2024, according to the sources.
The approach stands in contrast to a legalization bill signed by New Jerseyâs governor on Monday, which immediately ended criminal penalties for possession of up to six ounces even though retail sales arenât expected to begin until 2022 at the earliest.
Advocates had called the Senateâs position the minimum the legislature could do to address criminal penalties before the retail marketplace opens. Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Richmond, who proposed it, said it didnât make sense to continue prosecuting people for something lawmakers had voted to legalize.
âWe canât risk more people being caught in the system for acting in ways that will soon be legal,â wrote a coalition of 25 advocacy organizations led by the ACLU of Virginia and the reform group Marijuana Justice.
Lawmakers skeptical of repealing criminal penalties before there are legal avenues to buy the drug have said they view the decriminalization legislation they passed last year, which reduced penalties for simple possession to a $25 civil fine, an adequate interim step.
Chelsea Higgs Wise, director of Marijuana Justice, countered that the approach unnecessarily allows the disproportionate enforcement of marijuana laws against Black Virginians to continue for three years. She said court data obtained by advocates shows that even with reduced fines, Black people are four times more likely than White people to face citations despite using the drug at the same rate.
âThe commonwealthâs âdecriminalizationâ enforcement maintains Virginiaâs racial disparities and goes against Governor Northamâs stated commitment to social equity, racial equity, and economic equity for marijuana legislation,â she wrote in a statement.
The two chambers are continuing to debate another focus for advocacy groups: how to treat people under 21 caught with the drug. As drafted, the Senateâs version would dramatically increase penalties for underage users caught with the drug, increasing the civil penalty for possession from $25 to $250 for people ages 18 to 20. Minors would face a $200 civil penalty for a first offense.
Valerie Slater, the director of RISE for Youth, which advocates for reforming the stateâs juvenile justice system, said she favors the Houseâs approach, which would also increase penalties for underage possession, but only on subsequent offenses.
But she pointed to New Jerseyâs new law as a better alternative, which calls for a written warning for a first offense, a call to parents for a second offense and referral to community services for a third offense. Members of the stateâs Black Legislative Caucus opposed fines, worrying âpolice would continue to stop and fine minority youth more frequently than White people under 21,â according to The Star-Ledger.
âAt no point should this be a crime for kids,â she said. âCan we just take New Jerseyâs language and drop it into ours? It would be ideal.â
This story was first published by the Virginia Mercury.
Politics
Kansas Governor’s Medical Marijuana Bill Introduced As Lawmakers Take Up Separate Legalization Proposal

A bill championed by the governor of Kansas to legalize medical marijuana and use the resulting revenue to expand healthcare was officially introduced on Wednesday. The move comes as lawmakers held back-to-back hearings on separate reform legislation this week.
Gov. Laura Kelly (D) has pushed for legalizing medical cannabis and using that revenue to support Medicaid expansion, and now Rep. Brandon Woodard (D) has filed a measure to do just that. He introduced it in the House Federal & State Affairs Committee, where members heard testimony on the separate legalization bill on Wednesday and Thursday.
“By combining broadly popular, commonsense medical marijuana policy that will generate significant revenue with Medicaid expansion, all logical opposition to expansion is eliminated,” Kelly said at a press briefing on Wednesday. “This bill just makes sense.”
Watch the governor discuss the medical cannabis and Medicare expansion bill, starting around 6:16 in the video below:Â
“In the face of the worst public health crisis our country has seen in a century, I’m even more committed to delivering healthcare and jobs and support for our hospitals through Medicaid expansion,” she said. “I urge the legislature to take Representative Woodard’s proposal seriously and to also consider the implications if they should fail to pass expansion yet again.”
Under Woodard’s bill, a draft version of which was shared with Marijuana Moment, there would be 21 medical conditions that qualify patients for cannabisâincluding cancer, multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic or intractable painâand regulators would be able to add additional conditions later.
This morning in House Federal & State Affairs, I introduced @GovLauraKelly's bill that would legalize medical marijuana and finally pass Medicaid expansion. #ksleg
— Brandon Woodard (@Woodard4Kansas) February 24, 2021
The secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment would be responsible for developing regulations for the program by July 1, 2023. That includes setting a standard for a 90-day supply of cannabis that a registered patient could possess. It would then be tasked with issuing patient and caregiver registrations and identification cards.
The director of Alcoholic Beverage Control would have its own role in the program, issuing licenses for marijuana “cultivators, laboratories, processors, distributors and retail dispensaries.”
“For too long, the Kansas Legislature has ducked the topic of legalizing medical cannabis. An overwhelming, bipartisan majority of Kansans support medical marijuana, as well as Medicaid expansion,” Woodard told Marijuana Moment. “It’s time to expand healthcare coverage to more than 100,000 Kansans, while giving Kansans the opportunity to use a legal, compassionate therapy to treat a variety of conditions.”
“Whether Kansas chooses the path of legalization of medical, recreational, or something in between, I’m glad that the conversation is finally happening and the people of Kansas are watching,” he said.
While the representative’s bill would make it so Kansas would join the vast majority of states that have legal medical marijuana markets, it is restrictive as far as advocates are concerned. It would, for example, prohibit smoking or vaping cannabis. And it sets a 35 percent THC limit for marijuana flower. Home cultivation by patients would not be allowed.
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Learn more about our marijuana bill tracker and become a supporter on Patreon to get access.
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The governor first announced a plan at the beginning of the month to enact medical marijuana legalization and use cannabis tax revenue to fund Medicaid expansion. And she said more recently that she wants voters to put pressure on their representatives to get the reform passed.
The Federal & State Affairs panel started debate this week on a separate medical marijuana legalization bill that’s been introduced this session, sponsored by the committee itself. Supporters and opponents of the reform testified on the proposal on Wednesday and Thursday, and advocates anticipate it will get a vote in the next 10 days before heading to the floor.
The first hearing consisted of those who favor the policy change, including a veteran, health care worker and former state lawmaker. The second involved testimony from neutral or opposing parties.
Former state Rep. Willie Dove (R) urged the committee not to “take this for granted.”
“We’re not talking about hippies from the 60s. You’re talking about individuals, law-abiding citizens, that really want to make something happened for their families,” he said. “And I would like to say that the revenue generated from this will be greatly appreciated in Kansas because it does help our bottom line.”
Like the Kelly bill, the committee-sponsored legislation lists 21 conditions that would qualify patients for the program, including chronic pain, HIV and post-traumatic stress disorder. Smoking and vaping products would be prohibited, however. It would also not provide for home growing.
âVeterans of all ages and ideologies are in favor of medical cannabis more than any other demographic,â George Hanna, codirector of Kansas NORML and a veteran, said. âEvery veteranâs organization, representing every generation and political perspective, has overwhelmingly come out in support of safe access. I personally have had several physicians, within the VA itself, privately support medical cannabis.â
The opposing testimony on Thursday touched on a variety of talking pointsâthat the scope of the qualifying conditions for medical marijuana is too large, legalization would increase youth access to cannabis, THC concentration levels are too high and ingestion by pregnant women or adolescents is dangerous.
But industry stakeholders with the Kansas Cannabis Business Association (KCBA) told Marijuana Moment that the testimony, particularly from law enforcement representatives, was notably “negligent and dispassionate, with most of their concerns rebutted by [Chairman John Barker (R)] on the spot.”
“Essentially the message was, ‘if 30 other states have found solutions to those problems, you can too,” KCBA’s Erin Montroy said.
A separate medical cannabis legalization bill was introduced by the Senate Commerce Commerce this month, though it has not seen action.
The measure’s language largely reflects legislation that was introduced in the House last year. Patients would be eligible for medical cannabis with a doctorâs recommendation if they have a condition that significantly inhibits their ability to conduct daily activities or if the lack of treatment would pose serious physical or mental harm.
Registered patients would be allowed to grow and possess at least four ounces of marijuana. The bill would also establish a Kansas Medical Cannabis Agency to oversee the program.
Read the draft text of Woodard’s medical cannabis legalization bill that he’s carrying for the governor below:Â
Kansas medical cannabis leg… by Marijuana Moment
Missouri Bill Would Add MDMA, Psilocybin Mushrooms And LSD To Right-To-Try Law
Politics
Montana Lawmakers Weigh Bill To Limit Marijuana Businesses

The committee also considered legislation on employment protections for medical cannabis patients.
By Keila Szpaller, The Daily Montanan
Glenn Broughton grew his medical marijuana business from a small storage shed to an operation that employees nearly 30 people, and if heâs shut down, he said heâll go bankrupt.
âIâve never been so scared in my life of what is going to happen to me at a pen-stroke,â said Broughton, who operates in Missoula, Lolo and St. Regis.
The business owner testified Wednesday before the House Business and Labor Committee against House Bill 568. The bill would allow roughly 115 marijuana dispensaries in the stateâor not more than one per 10,000 people in a county, but 10 maximumâcompared to the 355 medical dispensaries that are currently open.
No members of the public spoke in favor of the legislation.
In November, voters passed an initiative that legalizes recreational marijuana by 57 percent, and the Montana Department of Revenue anticipates accepting license applications in October.
Sponsored by Rep. Lola Sheldon-Galloway, R-Great Falls, the bill would limit dispensaries to be no closer than 1,000 feet from a school, daycare, place of worship, park or playground. It also would limit dispensaries to one per 10,000 residents in a county or up to 10 dispensaries maximum in one county.
âThe people of Montana have asked us to have recreational marijuana in our state,â Sheldon-Galloway said. âMy bill is just asking for some sideboards.â
Opponents, though, argued the sideboards would âsquash the little guyâ and favor massive operations flush with cash over smaller homegrown businesses. They also said the prohibitions go too far to realistically implement.
Sam Belanger, who said he read Montanaâs marijuana legalization bill from cover to cover, told the committee he didnât think the location restriction of 1,000 feet as the crow fliesârather than 500 feet and on the same streetâwould work in cities and towns.
âIt eliminates almost all viable options for any dispensary in the state inside municipalities,â said Belanger, of Ronan.
Kate Cholewa, a cannabis advocate who has worked on related legislation in Montana, said the math simply doesnât pencil out. When medical users were âtethered,â or tied to a specific provider, she said a business with 200 customers could make a good living.
With proposed limits, providers would have six times those customers. She also wondered who would be deciding who gets the the small number of licenses that would be available if the bill is enacted.
âThis is just an invitation to problems and corruption,â Cholewa said.
Pepper Petersen, president of the Montana Cannabis Guild, said one of the reasons he helped draft Initiative-190, the legalization bill, is that recreational marijuana can generate tax revenue for the state.
âMost of that coal economy is gone. We need a replacement for that money,â Petersen said.
He estimated the revenue for state coffers could hit nearly $100 million a year for both recreational and medical marijuana. A study from the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana estimated a 20 percent tax on recreational marijuana could result in $43.4 million to $52.0 million a year from 2022 to 2026.
As part of her argument in favor of the bill, Rep. Sheldon-Galloway pointed to the relatively high use of marijuana among Great Falls middle and high school students compared to the state average. In Alaska, she said school suspensions for marijuana increased 141 percent after legalization.
Chuck Holman, though, said Montanans donât want more regulations, and Cascade County needs to deal with its own problems.
âThat county needs to address it themselves,â Holman said.
Wednesday, the committee heard a separate bill related to medical marijuana, House Bill 582.
Sponsor Rep. Robert Farris-Olsen, D-Helena, said he brought the bill forward because one of his constituents told him she lost her job because of her use of medical marijuana for a debilitating condition.
He said the bill wouldnât allow the use of medical marijuana on the job, but it would prevent an employer from barring a person from using medical marijuana off the job for a medical condition.
Several opponents argued the bill wouldnât make sense for industries where employees operate heavy equipment or must have a CDL, a commercial driverâs license. Jason Todhunter, with the Montana Logging Association, said logging is a highly hazardous industry, and some employers choose to conduct drug testing.
âThis would muddy the waters on what we could check for,â Todhunter said.
The committee did not take action on either bill on Wednesday.
This story was first published by The Daily Montanan.