Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) isn’t deterred by President Joe Biden’s opposition to marijuana legalization and says that he and his Senate colleagues will be talking to the White House now that they’ve released draft reform legislation. The senator on Friday took another round of questions on Twitter about the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), which he introduced this month alongside Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR). While many of the questions concerned Booker’s stance on marijuana banking issues—as they did when he solicited input earlier in the week—he responded to another post asking how he plans to get the president and vice president on board. That’s been a top question in the minds of advocates who worry that Biden’s opposition to broad reform means he might veto the bill even if Congress sent it to his desk. Minutes after the senators unveiled the bill, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked at her own daily briefing about the administration’s position on the legislation and said “nothing has changed” with respect to Biden’s position. But Booker in Friday tweeted that “now that a discussion draft of our legislation has been released we will start having conversations with the White House to get them behind our proposal.”
Kyle Jaeger, Marijuana Moment, 07/26/2021 11:16:00