When Colorado voters passed Amendment 64 legalizing marijuana Nov. 6, 2014, it sent shockwave through the country heading all the way to Drug Enforcement Agency [DEA]. After battling to clarify Atty. General Jeff Sessions stand on states legalizing marijuana, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants to correct the federal drug register, removing marijuana once and for all from the banned substances list. When the federal Controlled Substance Act went into law May 1, 1971, marijuana was scheduled by the federal government the same as heroin or other controlled substances. Recognizing the national trend toward legalizing marijuana, Schumer hopes to pass legislation to remove marijuana from the DEA’s scheduled list of banned substances, enabling legal marijuana businesses in states approving recreational weed to use the federal banking system to conduct legal marijuana transactions.
In states with recreational weed, including Colorado, Washington State, Oregon, Alaska, Nevada, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont and District of Columbia, marijuana businesses are forced into cash-and-carry because federal banking laws prohibit transactions under today’s federal drug laws. Schumer wants to change all that with new legislation, removing marijuana from the DEA’s banned substances list. “My thinking, as well as the general population’s views, on the issue has evolved,” said Schumer, putting his name on truly historic legislation. Schumer’s usually associated with slamming Trump and the GOP, not bipartisan legislation bound to etch his name into the annals of U.S. history. If Chuck’s legislation gets through both house of Congress to Trump’s desk, he’ll become a hero on both sides of the aisle. Schumer’s rationale, while valid, seems disingenuous.
Telling backers his legislation to remove weed from the federal drug register will help women and minorities getting into the cannabis business, Schumer offers up a feeble reason behind the ironclad logic to legalization. Whether or not marijuana legalization is good for society, it enables states with medical or recreational use laws to generate sizable amounts of tax revenue for individual states. Telling backers that his bill would let individual states decide whether or not to legalize weed, the Schumer doesn’t see the fundamental inconsistency. If marijuana is removed from the DEA’s federal drug register as a banned substance, no state would be able to stop weed businesses. Legalization bills in individual states today create an exception to federal drug laws to enable marijuana-related businesses to bypass its illegality under current federal drug laws.
If Congress approves and Trump signs Schumer’s bill, it would make weed fair game in any state, regardless of any objections. No state can arbitrarily ban sales of legal substances without running afoul with federal trade practices. Schumer’s New York State has been slow to the table, legalizing weed only for medical purposes with doctors’ prescriptions. While it’s true the weed business represent a real opportunity to profit from a new vice, the real rationale for legalization involves lucrative tax revenue to states. California only recently passed Prop 64 Nov. 8, 2016, legalizing weed for recreational purposes. California’s State Treasurer John Chiang hopes to generate over $ 1 billion in tax revenue once legalization, that began, Jan. 1, 2017, kicks into full gear. Whether the new recreational use laws is good for the state or its residents is anyone’s guess, in terms of actual benefits.
Gallup’s Jan. 4, 2018 poll showed that 64% of U.S. voters back recreational marijuana use. With pot smoking Baby Boomers becoming politically active senior citizens, it’s know wonder that there’s support for recreational weed use. No one other than weed-industry zealots believe there’s much redeeming about recreational weed use, other than similar benefits from the alcoholic beverage industry. With recreational weed acceptance, there’s no need to re-litigate old arguments about the pros-and-cons of alcohol v. marijuana. Neither have much redeeming value, other than anesthetizing its users. Whether that’s beneficial to users is anyone’s guess. Adding a new revenue stream of vice taxes to individual states cannot be disputed, whether or not marijuana use benefits society. Schumer’s bill, if nothing else, clears the way for marijuana business to use the federal banking system.
Schumer’s legislation is long overdue, removing marijuana from the DEA’s federal drug registry. Schumer’s bill, if signed into law by Trump, would level the playing field for marijuana-related businesses, making state’s rights irrelevant. Once weed is no longer a banned substance, the Federal Trade Commission prohibits any state from arbitrarily banning the sales, warehousing and distribution of any legal product. Showing growing support to Schumer’s legislation, 68-year-old Baby Boomer former House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said the bill would help veterans and reduce the nation’s opioid crisis. How that exactly works is anyone’s guess. But getting a conservative like Boehner to back his legislation, Schumer’s well on his way on getting his baby through Congress to Trump’s desk. States looking for more tax revenue should find Schumer’s bill most appealing.
