Thor Benson / Cannabis News Box Contributor

On the cannabis user’s favorite holiday, 420, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced legislation to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level. His bill would remove cannabis from the list of controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act, which would essentially mean states would be free to regulate cannabis as they please without federal interference.

Not only would Schumer’s bill decriminalize cannabis, but it would making funding available to women and minorities who want to start cannabis businesses. Unfortunately, these two groups have been largely left out of the industry in many states. Furthermore, it would increase the amount of research being done on using cannabis and its possible benefits or risks.

“Schumer’s bill has a real chance of passing should Democrats win a majority in the House and Senate come November, but it also could pass in another variation if Republicans look to adopt a strategy based on capturing single-issue youth voters,” Jason Spatafora, a cannabis industry investor and owner of marijuanastocks.com, told Cannabis News Box.

Legalization and decriminalization are becoming increasingly bipartisan ideas in Congress, with mostly Democrats supporting the ideas but also more and more Republicans. Spatafora said that since more Democrats favor legalization than Republicans, the Democrats should campaign on legalization to get young voters to the polls and to win elections.

“Strategically it makes sense to campaign on the cannabis descheduling issue if it’s tied to a solution for opioid addiction and creating new industry in states where long-standing industries are dying like coal in Kentucky or West Virginia,” he said. Spatafora believes cannabis jobs could replace jobs being lost to dying industries in America.

Many have said that Attorney General Jeff Sessions trying to crack down on legalization has actually backfired—causing legalization efforts to be increased and sped up. Spatafora believes Sessions isn’t actually going to bother cracking down on cannabis and is just sending messages by claiming he will.

“Sessions threatening legalization is in my opinion saber rattling for the conservative base and meant to ease the mind of the Pharma lobbyists that look at cannabis as a direct threat to their trillion dollar industry,” he said. “The fact remains that the DOJ has much bigger issues than cannabis enforcement and budget constraints put the opioid crisis way above cannabis.”

Whether Schumer’s bill will get a vote remains to be seen, but it is interesting to note Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is currently pushing for hemp to be legalized, so he might be open to allowing a vote.