The federal government should move out of the way on cannabis policy

When it comes to marijuana policy, it’s time for the federal government to move out of the way.

Eighteen states, home to over 40 percent of the U.S. population, have legalized the possession and use of marijuana by those over the age of 21. Just shy of 40 states regulate the production and dispensing of cannabis for medical purposes.

Federal law, which denies that cannabis possesses any therapeutic use whatsoever and defines the possession of any amount of cannabis as a criminal offense, is woefully out of sync with these state policies. Each year, this chasm between state and federal law grows wider.

In 2020, voters in five states approved ballot measures legalizing adult-use marijuana production and sales. Last year, four additional states — Connecticut, New Mexico, New York and Virginia —passed similar laws legislatively. And this November, several more states, including Maryland and Ohio, are poised to also vote on legalization measures.

Slowly but surely, some members of Congress are finally beginning to take notice.

On April 1, members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act, which removes cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act. It also provides for the expungement or resentencing of those with nonviolent federal marijuana convictions, promotes diverse participation in the state-regulated cannabis industry, and helps repair the racially and economically disparate harms caused by America’s past prohibition policies. According to a just-released Congressional Budget Office analysis, passage of the MORE Act would increase revenues by over $8 billion in 10 years and significantly reduce federal prison costs.

By repealing the federal prohibition of marijuana, the MORE Act eliminates the existing state-federal conflict. In addition, it provides state governments with the explicit authority to establish their own cannabis laws, free from the threat of undue federal interference.

This House vote was historic; it marked only the second time in 50+ years that a chamber of Congress has ever voted to reconsider the prohibition of marijuana under federal law. But lawmakers’ action was not without precedent.

Nearly a century ago, the federal government made a similar decision when it repealed the federal prohibition of alcohol. Much like today, politicians recognized that prohibition was a politically unpopular policy that was running afoul of a growing number of state laws.

Their solution? Respect the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and empower states — not the federal government — to be the primary arbiters of alcohol policy.

This path made sense in 1933. It makes equal sense today.

Unfortunately, partisanship has blinded many Republicans, who traditionally tout the merits of limited government and a deference to states’ rights, and kept them from joining in the effort to repeal federal cannabis prohibition. Of the 220 members who voted for the passage of the MORE Act, only three were GOP members.

This partisanship at the federal level is inconsistent with voter sentiments. Among the public, strong majorities of Democrats (78 percent), Republicans (62 percent) and Independents (67 percent) all support ending marijuana prohibition.

Similar percentages of Americans oppose the federal government’s interference in states that have already decided to legalize marijuana for either medical or adult-use purposes.

It is time for federal lawmakers in both chambers — and those on the right side of the aisle in particular — to stand up on behalf of their constituents, many of whom now reside in jurisdictions that have legalized marijuana for recreational or medical purposes. At a time of record public support for legalization and when the majority of states regulate marijuana use, it makes no sense from a political, fiscal or cultural perspective for federal politicians to try to put this genie back in the bottle or to continue to place their collective heads in the sand.

As former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously opined, “A state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory.” Our nation’s federalist principles demand that Congress respect voters’ decisions on cannabis, and repeal the failed policy of federal prohibition.

Paul Armentano is the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and he is the co-author of the book “Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink?” (Chelsea Green, 2013).