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Pew finds consistent support for legal cannabis. (But support has shifted somewhat.)
New data from Pew show that a consistent majority of Americans support ending cannabis prohibition, with only 1 in 10 wanting to keep it illegal.
That broad finding – 1 in 10 – is unchanged from Pew’s findings in 2022, but there are some minor shifts. For example, in 2022, 59% felt that cannabis should be legal for both medical and adult use, but that fell to 57% this year. Meanwhile, support for medical use only rose from 30% to 32%.
This new output also has some more granular insights that weren’t included in 2022. When it comes to outcomes of legalization, 52% said it is “good for local economies.” However, on other outcomes, like drug use and public safety, responses were more mixed.
Overall, Republican support remains low, at 42%, which is down from 45% in 2022. However, both in 2022 and now, a majority of Republicans aged 18-49 support legalization, which suggests that the party is on track to thaw in its opposition with each passing year.
Romney leads anti-rescheduling letter to DEA
U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, along with Sens. Jim Risch and Pete Ricketts, wrote to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram to detail their “concerns” about HHS’ recommendation to move cannabis from Schedule I to III. In particular, the lawmakers focused on “U.S. treaty obligations.”
“As members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, we write to underscore the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) duty under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to ensure compliance with the United States’ treaty obligations under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (Single Convention),” they wrote in the letter. “Any effort to reschedule marijuana must be based on proven facts and scientific evidence—not the favored policy of a particular administration—and account for our treaty obligations.”
And you can catch up on Cannabis Wire’s coverage of the rescheduling effort here.
Lee and Blumenauer are at it again.
Reps. Earl Blumenauer and Barbara Lee, the co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, have had an active month when it comes to pushing Congress and the Biden administration on cannabis issues: together, they wrote a letter pushing President Joe Biden on cannabis clemency; with Rep. Andy Harris, Blumenauer pushed the Department of Health and Human Services for updates on the cannabis research bill that Biden signed into law in 2022; solo, Blumenauer pushed HHS on cannabis reform more broadly.
And now, Blumenauer and Lee have written to Attorney General Merrick Garland to call for guidance on cannabis enforcement priorities from the Department of Justice. One year ago this month, in response to a question from Sen. Cory Booker, Garland said that such guidance was in the works.
“We write to share our frustration that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has not reissued overdue protections against federal interference in state-legal marijuana markets. We urge you to correct this oversight and reissue a memo making clear DOJ’s limited resources will not be spent prosecuting those acting in accordance with state or Tribal law. The Cole and Wilkinson Memoranda provided this clear federal guidance until they were rescinded on January 4, 2018 by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions,” the lawmakers wrote.
