U.S. Senate Discusses Federally Legalizing Cannabis For The First Time

A major debate was heating up the U.S. Senate earlier this week.

On Tuesday, July 26, the Senate held a hearing that discussed federal cannabis legalization.

This is quite the milestone for weed in the United States; it’s the first time the upper chamber of Congress even considered discussing federal recreational cannabis legalization.

The Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism held the hearing, prompted by last week’s newly introduced bill, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA).

Although most of us would think the hearing would discuss CAOA, it was more of a heated debate on federal legalization.

The significance of this debate stems from it being the first ever federal legalization discussion in the U.S. Senate. Here’s what went down.

Five witnesses discussed their views on whether or not cannabis should be legalized on a federal level and what would happen if the laws adopted recreational use.

Out of the five witnesses, three were in favor of CAOA, and two were opposed.

Per MJBizDaily, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker presented three major points in favor of legalization;

• Cannabis prohibition has a history of disproportionately criminalizing minorities and underserved communities.
• Minority entrepreneurs have had a difficult time standing on their feet in the lucrative weed business.
• He concluded with a quote, “What frustrates me is the exclusion of communities that have been most persecuted by the prohibition of marijuana are not represented by the billion-dollar industry that continues to grow and have influence.”

All solid and valid points, right? At least, that’s what we thought. Those opposed to CAOA were not having it.

More specifically, Sen. Tom Cotton. He said that CAOA sounds less like an Opportunity Act and more of a “Reparations Act,” adding that legalizing weed would be “an enormous gift to the cartels and gangs.”

There is no word on what’s happening with CAOA, and the committee did not come to any conclusion. However, conversations like this are essential if the United States decides to move forward with decriminalizing cannabis, maybe even legalizing it someday.