A national move to legalize marijuana may be further down the road, Trela suggested, depending on “what else is going on in politics.”
“If we’re facing other issues that are bigger and more immediate, I think some of this legalization is going to be pushed more to the side,” she explained.
Other bills introduced in Congress thus far have called for the prohibition of tax deductions or credits for marijuana businesses to continue, regardless of whether it is rescheduled. No actions have been taken on those pieces of legislation.
Where do state legalization efforts stand?
More than three dozen states have legalized some form of medical marijuana already. Nearly half have legalized it for recreational use among adults. This has all happened since 2010, marking “a fairly amazing political achievement” for such a short period of time, according to Armentano, reflecting an increasingly positive opinion on cannabis.
Four states had marijuana-related legislation on the ballot in November. In addition to Florida, voters in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Nebraska had a marijuana-related question on the ballot. Only Nebraska saw the measures pass.
Meanwhile, some states that have already legalized marijuana are seeing efforts to roll back voter-approved laws or repeal them. That includes Ohio, where some have been trying to rewrite the recreational marijuana law voters approved two years ago.
Other states are making adjustments to aspects of the law, like lowering legal potency levels, Trela said. In some cases, like Virginia, lawmakers have been unable to pass a sales bill, so while possessing cannabis is legal, there is nowhere in the state to legally purchase it.
“We’re contending with a perception that many have that legalization is inevitable, but we still have a lot of work ahead of us,” Daly said.
by The Hill
