US Senate will study a bill to legalize marijuana

The United States Senate will study a bill, presented this Thursday, that can legalize the use of marijuana throughout the countryremoving barriers for states that want to relax their cannabis laws.

(You might be interested: Lower House of the US Congress approves decriminalizing marijuana)

The legislation was introduced by the leader of the Democrats in the Upper House, Chuck Schumer, and progressive senators Ron Wyden and Cory Booker, although there are members of their own party who are against it.

(You might be interested in: USA: Congress approves initiative to protect same-sex marriage)

The president of the United States, Democrat Joe Biden, has stated in the past that he opposes the legalization of cannabis.

The initiative has few signs of prospering in the Senate, due to the narrow majority
of the Democrats, who do not have all the support within their party, and to the filibustering rule that implies that almost any legislative project needs
a qualified majority of 60 votes to go ahead.

Bill May Eliminate Federal Cannabis-Related Criminal Records and it can give more resources to the Police to combat the illegal cultivation of drugs.

In addition, it can establish a system of aid for small entrepreneurs who want to dedicate themselves to the cannabis industry and who come from communities especially affected by the legal persecution of drugs.

“Cannabis legalization has proven to be a huge success at the state level, so it’s time for Congress to catch up,” Schumer said in a statement celebrating the bill’s introduction.

In parallel, there is already a bill on the legalization of marijuana that has been approved -twice- in the Lower House, although it has not received the approval of the
Senate yet.

Recreational marijuana use is now legal in 19 states and the District of Columbia.where the capital of the United States, Washington, is located.

Additionally, 37 of the 50 states allow medicinal use of the drug.

However, at the federal level, cannabis is still on the list of substances that must be controlled, so the Government can, in theory, order federal agencies to prosecute its use, although this does not happen in practice. .

INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE

More world news:

-Brazil: Lula da Silva makes his presidential candidacy official

-Russia and Ukraine, closer to resuming grain exports

-Peru: Prosecutor opens a fourth investigation against Pedro Castillo