Senator Cory Booker has revealed that he and his Senate colleagues are in talks with the White House regarding cannabis legalization. Now that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and Booker have released a discussion draft of a federal marijuana legalization bill, they are working to bring President Joe Biden on board. President Biden has said that while he supports modest cannabis reform, including medical marijuana and expunging low-level cannabis offenses from people records, he opposes broad reform. The trio released the 163-page federal cannabis bill last month, asking the public for input so they could improve it before formally introducing it for legislation. Dubbed the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity ACT (“CAOA”), the legislation would deschedule cannabis at the federal level, expunge prior marijuana-related convictions and allow states to continue maintaining their own cannabis policies, among other things. When asked how he planned on soliciting Biden’s and Vice President Kamala Harris’s support during a Q&A session on Twitter, Booker said they will start conversations with the White House now that a discussion draft of their bill is out.
CannabisNewsWire, 08/03/2021 16:20:00