A senator is setting the stage for major cannabis reforms should Congress act soon
Federal cannabis reform negotiations appear to be intensifying during the last part of the year. With that in mind, one senator has introduced a bill to prepare the country for possible legalization. The idea is that Capitol Hill will have an extra tool to make the necessary steps on that path much easier to accomplish.
As previously announced by Senator John Hickenlooper, he introduced legislation that would seek to prepare the US for federal cannabis legalization. The introduction of this measure is intended to coincide with the first decade since Colorado (his home state) voters said yes to legalizing recreational marijuana.
The Preparing Regulators Effectively for a Post-Prohibition Adult-Use Regulated Environment (PREPARE) Act is intended to direct the Attorney General to create a commission to make recommendations on a regulatory system for marijuana. Hickenlooper expects the outcome to be similar to how alcohol is currently regulated.
“A decade after Colorado pioneered marijuana legalization, Americans overwhelmingly support the same at the federal level,” Hickenlooper said in a press release. “This bipartisan, bicameral framework, based on Colorado’s Amendment 64 Task Force, will replicate our success nationally.”
House Representatives Dave Joyce, Hakeem Jeffries and Brian Mast introduced a companion bill whose language was extremely similar in April. Joyce did not hold back her comments on the new version, saying she was delighted that the PREPARE Act had been introduced in the Senate, making it not just a bipartisan, but a bicameral measure.
The support of all colleagues means the legislation is one step closer to becoming law. Joyce says the bill gives lawmakers on both sides of the aisle enough answers to effectively engage in marijuana reform while remedying the harms caused by the war on drugs.