United States: Federal cannabis legalization bill back on the table

It's the continuation of a (very) long political soap opera. The bill to legalize cannabis throughout the United States - i.e. at federal level - is back before the House of Representatives. It will be presented to the 435 congressman and congresswoman next week.

This is the second attempt for the MORE law - Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement act. This text had already given the green light of the House of Representatives at the end of 2020. At the time, however, it failed to pass the second stage, as the Senate was controlled by a Republican party hostile to legalization.

This law provides for a «decriminalization» of cannabis at federal level. In other words, the plant will no longer appear on the list of «controlled substances», that is, what the U.S. government considers to be drugs. Currently, cannabis is on the list of category 1 drugs, Alongside LSD, ecstasy and heroin. Cocaine is in category 2.

With the MORE Act, cannabis will not be «legalized» at the federal level. It will be up to each state to decide whether or not to authorize its sale, as in the case of this is already the case in 19 American states. But this decriminalisation should make things easier for the sector, in particular «access to bank loans and capital« , notes the bill in its introduction.

Democrats have the majority in the House, not the Senate

Passage of the bill in the House should not be a problem. The Democrats have 222 seats, compared with 210 for the Republicans. But there's more to come. For the bill to become law, it must also receive the stamp of the Senate, and then that of President Biden.

At the time, the senators said no to the MORE law. The text was stuck in committee, and parliamentarians never voted in plenary session. But since then, the situation has changed. The upper house of Congress has gone from Republican red to Democratic blue.

Joe Biden's party now has a very narrow lead. Even though Republicans and Democrats both have 50 senators, the Vice-President of the United States votes in the event of a perfect tie. And that person is Kamala Harris. She has already in favor of legalizing cannabis at federal level.

Moreover, if the MORE Act fails, another could take up the torch. In the Senate, the Democratic Majority Leader has been preparing a text for several months. But President Biden is against it.