4/20: Will the Senate Decriminalize Recreational Marijuana Nationwide?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
In April 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged to “move forward” on loosening federal restrictions on marijuana. Will the Senate legalize weed nationwide in 2022?
According to a March CBS News/YouGov poll, 66% of Americans — including in states where it is still criminalized — want recreational marijuana legalized both in their state and under federal law. While the House of Representatives passed a bill to decriminalize marijuana on April 1, House marijuana bills are nothing new; the real roadblock to decriminalization is the Senate, where a 50-50 party split and the filibuster make legislation impossible without at least 10 Republican votes.
Support for marijuana legalization in Congress falls sharply on partisan lines; only 3 House Republicans joined over 200 Democrats on the April 1 bill. On April 5, Schumer said he and his colleagues were reaching out to Senate Republicans “to see what they want” in a marijuana bill. However, several prominent Republicans like Sen. Marco Rubio have reasserted their opposition to legalization.
Coverage of marijuana issues was widespread across the spectrum, but only some outlets like Vice (Left bias) published more than one article on the topic. Several articles focused on New Jersey’s marijuana legalization law, which goes into effect Thursday. While most coverage across the spectrum focused on the popularity of legalization, some coverage from the right tied marijuana to drug cartels.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Center
Why Do GOP Lawmakers Still Oppose Legalizing Weed?Today is 4/20, the holiday for stoners and weed enthusiasts around the world. Legalizing marijuana is no longer a fringe issue championed mainly by those partaking in the day’s festivities either. Over the past two decades, we’ve seen a remarkable rise in support for legalization. Polls over the past year from Civiqs, Quinnipiac and Gallup show that roughly 7 in 10 American adults think the use of cannabis should be legal, double the share who thought so 20 years ago.
In fact, a majority of registered voters in all 50 states now favor making cannabis legal, according...
From the Right
Congress Should Not Legalize Marijuana, Marco Rubio Says, Because Black-Market Weed Is 'Laced With Fentanyl'When Sen. Marco Rubio (R–Fla.) was seeking the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, a local paper noted that he had "a long history speaking out against marijuana legalization." Given that history and the fact that Rubio's position is rejected by two-thirds of Americans, you might think he would be prepared to defend marijuana prohibition with cogent arguments.
If so, you would be wrong. In a recent interview with a Pensacola TV station, Rubio worried that legalization would encourage teenagers to use cannabis, which would be a "gateway" to other drugs, and warned that black-market marijuana is "laced...
From the Left
Weed Laws in These States Will Totally Harsh Your 4/20 VibeHere we are at another 4/20, and Congress still hasn’t legalized marijuana nationwide. Last July, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and Sen. Cory Booker, unveiled the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA). It was supposed to be introduced on the Senate floor this month, but the bill was not formally filed.
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