Chuck Schumer Says He Wants To Legalize Marijuana. His Bill Suggests Otherwise.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.) reportedly has been working for months to generate bipartisan support in his chamber for repealing the federal ban on marijuana. If so, there is little evidence of that effort in the draft legislation that he unveiled today, which is larded with new taxes, regulations, and spending programs that seem designed to alienate Republicans who might be inclined to support a cleaner bill on federalist grounds.

Schumer is presenting the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, which is also backed by Sens. Cory Booker (D–N.J.) and Ron Wyden (D–Ore.), as a "discussion draft," inviting comments that presumably will shape the legislation as it is officially introduced. But the starting point for this discussion is not promising if the goal is to actually end the federal war on weed.