By Gabe Gutierrez and Conor Ferguson - NBC News
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and two other congressmen from his party are scheduled to present a draft bill to end federal marijuana prohibition on Wednesday.
Eighteen states have already legalized marijuana for recreational use.
"The Senate has to catch up with the American people
,
"
argued Schumer.
President Joe Biden supports the decriminalization of marijuana at the federal level and the reversal of convictions, as well as its reprogramming as a Schedule II drug so that it can be studied more easily, the White House press secretary told reporters, Jen Psaki, in April.
Biden supports leaving recreational marijuana legalization decisions to the states.
[Recreational marijuana use becomes easier in Mexico after court ruling: we explain what it means and what changes]
The Cannabis Management and Opportunities Act would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and federal convictions for non-violent marijuana offenses and establish a way to tax marijuana.
The Senate is divided into 50 seats for Republicans and another 50, including two independents, for Democrats, but the vice president-elect, Kamala Harris, will be able to break any possible tie in favor of her party.
There is still a long way to go before marijuana can be harvested and commercialized in Mexico
June 29, 202101: 40
So far, 18 states and Washington, DC have legalized recreational marijuana.
The last to join the list was Connecticut.
Thirty-seven states have legalized medical marijuana.
The draft bill summary, sponsored by Schumer, Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, notes that states could still decide their own marijuana laws.
The text compares the proposed regulations with those of alcohol, the sales of which can be freely regulated by each state.
Members of the Marijuana Justice organization hold a large joint-shaped balloon during a rally to urge Congress to pass legislation de-panning cannabis on October 8, 2019 in Washington DCMark Wilson / Getty Images
In 1969, only 12% of Americans supported legalization, according to Gallup polls.
Last year, the figure reached 68%.
[Marijuana promoters reiterate that THC does not improve athletic performance, so why is it banned?]
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, one of the court's most conservative members, wrote last month that federal laws against marijuana use or cultivation may not make sense.
