Biden’s pick for AG could be more open to cannabis

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Merrick Garland might be able to help cannabis progress at the federal level

President-elect Joe Biden has already let it be known that his choice for the ultra-important position of Attorney General is a gentleman by the name of Merrick Garland. Judge Garland is currently the chief judge of the US Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, and is seen as a man who will be more sympathetic, or at least less hostile, to the cannabis industry in general and decriminalization in particular, than the previous AGs appointed by the outgoing president.

Garland will still have to be approved by Congress, but he was former President Barack Obama’s choice for a Supreme Court seat back in 2016. That move was blocked by a Republican-controlled US Senate. That scene has changed in Congress now and the incoming administration should have a much easier time getting things done. There is a balance of power in the Senate and Mitch McConnell, who calls himself the “grim reaper of legislation,” will be seated with the rest of the Senators, no longer in a controlling position.

That body of legislators has been dramatically improved with an eye to the legalization of marijuana at the federal level, with the election of two new Democratic Senators from the state of Georgia, which changes the balance of power in the US Senate to 50-50. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be presiding over the Senate now and be in a position to cast the tie breaking vote should a tie occur.

Morgan Fox of the National Cannabis Industry Association said recently, “Merrick Garland’s position on cannabis is somewhat of an unknown, though in the past he has given fair consideration to the science involved in cannabis policy.” A new Attorney General who actually believes in science will be a giant step forward for the cannabis industry and for America in general.