Politics
Democratic Lawmaker And GOP Trump Advisor Urge Bipartisan Cooperation To Federally Legalize Marijuana
A Democratic lawmaker who leads efforts to reform marijuana laws on Capitol Hill and a GOP operative who has long advised President Donald Trump both say there is increased possibility for bipartisan cooperation on cannabis reform following this week’s midterm elections.
“I will continue fighting for commonsense cannabis policy reform,” Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), a co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, told Marijuana Moment. “Whether it is access to banking services and regular tax treatment for cannabis businesses, veteran use of cannabis for medicinal purposes through the Veterans Administration or pushing the federal government to reform its outdated scheduling of marijuana as a dangerous drug, there is much work to be done.”
Democrats regained majority control of the Senate and House of Representatives in Tuesday’s elections, a development that advocates say bolsters the chances for broad federal marijuana reform.
“I look forward to meeting our new allies in this fight during the 120th Congress and working across the aisle to bring our drug policies into the 21st century,” the congresswoman said.
Meanwhile, Roger Stone a Republican political operative who has served as a senior campaign aide to three Republican presidents, including Trump, told Marijuana Moment that he would advise the president to sign marijuana legislation that the Democratic Congress sends him.
While Stone criticized Democrats who he said in the past “talked endlessly about criminal justice reform” but “never did anything about it when they had both houses of Congress,” he is looking forward to seeing if they will now “decriminalize marijuana at a minimum and deschedule at a maximum.”
“I would urge President Trump to sign such legislation,” he said.
The winner of one of the country’s most high-profile Senate races is already talking about partnering with Trump on marijuana reform.
Sen.-elect James Talarico (D-TX) said on Wednesday that “I agree with the president on the need to legalize marijuana and reform this broken criminal justice system.”
Prior to the election, the Democrat had said of the president that “he’s for legalizing marijuana, and so am I.”
“I hope we can do that together and expunge the records of people who have been locked up for a crime that doesn’t hurt anybody,” Talarico said.
Stone, for his part, wrote in an op-ed for Marijuana Moment last year that Trump should take the incremental step of rescheduling cannabis on the way to fully legalizing it under federal law.
His administration has since moved forward with the process of transferring marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to Schedule III.
“Rescheduling cannabis is not the end game, but it is the critical next step,” Stone wrote at the time. “The move would do more than signal a new direction—it would unlock immediate, measurable relief for patients, entrepreneurs and state programs.”
The House under Democratic control has previously passed bills to federally legalize marijuana on two occasions, most recently in 2022.
Trump endorsed a state-level marijuana legalization initiative that appeared on Florida’s ballot in 2024.
