Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) introduced a proposal Friday to federally legalize marijuana and permit states to establish their own regulatory schemas for sellers of the drug.
S. 420 (yes, really), The Marijuana Revenue and Regulation Act, would remove marijuana from the federal schedule of controlled substances—it is currently schedule one, meaning it is prohibited and considered to have no medical use. Instead, the bill would introduce an excise tax on marijuana products, increasing annually until it reached 25 percent.
It would further gut Drug Enforcement Agency power over marijuana, by removing federal criminal penalties and asset forfeiture rules associated with marijuana offenses. Instead, federal law would defer to state-level rules for enforcement (the proposal does preserve enforcement against trafficking marijuana into states where it is illegal).
"The federal prohibition of marijuana is wrong, plain and simple," Wyden said. "Too many lives have been wasted, and too many economic opportunities have been missed. It's time Congress make the changes Oregonians and Americans across the country are demanding."
Marijuana legalization is a popular proposal—two thirds of Americans, including a majority of Republicans, support it.
Reflecting both this popularity and an increasing liberality on drug issues, many congressional Democrats have offered full-throated endorsements of legalization. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) offered his own legalization bill last April 20 (again, yes, really). That proposal also would have descheduled marijuana, and created federal funds to support minority- and woman-owned marijuana businesses.
The success of marijuana initiatives at the state level in 2018—one state legalized it, and two states created medical marijuana regimes—means that the drug is likely to be front and center in 2020 Democrats' campaigns. A number of candidates have already signaled their support for legalization. Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) introduced a legalization bill called the Marijuana Justice Act, of which Sens. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.), Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), and Bernie Sanders (D., Vt.) are all co-sponsors.