David Downs
\nPublished on February 25, 2025<\/p>\n
“There are about 34 million regular cannabis users in America. It\u2019s high time elected officials heard from them.”<\/strong><\/p>\n The fog of the inauguration has cleared, and prospects for weed law reform look dim in Washington D.C. under the second Trump Administration. <\/p>\n But don\u2019t get bummed\u2014experts say voters have the power to dictate their fate at the level where it most impacts them: their city and state.<\/p>\n According to veterans of the country\u2019s weed wars for decades, no executive order, DEA ruling, or Congressional bill is on tap to deliver the legalization that 70% of US voters want. But a series of state battles are brewing, where regular folks can defend and advance their freedoms.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one is coming to save us. There\u2019s no hero here,\u201d said cannabis investor Emily Paxhia, co-founder at Poseidon Investment Management. Paxhia is a veteran of the major reform group Marijuana Policy Project. \u201cEvery victory has been at the state level, and I think there\u2019s still hope.\u201d<\/p>\n Before we dive into the weed reform battles brewing in California, Ohio, Montana, Nebraska, and Texas, let\u2019s run down prospects in the three branches of government: a distracted Executive; a hostile Legislative; and a wild card Judicial.<\/p>\n Many experts don\u2019t see legal weed as a priority at a Republican White House. <\/p>\n During the election, the famously straight-edge candidate said he supported Florida legalization Amendment 3, rescheduling, and a State\u2019s Rights approach to pot policy. Since then\u2014silence. Some take the President at his word, including the major lobbying group the US Cannabis Council.<\/p>\n \u201cPresident Trump has clearly stated his position on cannabis reform. He supports rescheduling, banking access, and state-level legalization,\u201d the USCC wrote to Leafly. \u201cWe have every expectation that he will follow through on his commitments, and we look forward to working with his administration to move our nation forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Conversely, Paul Armentano\u2014Deputy Director of America\u2019s most notable reform group, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)\u2014doubts the President will lift a finger for potheads.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is really nothing in Trump\u2019s history that would lend one to believe that this is an issue that he wishes to prioritize.\u201d<\/p>\n Paxhia said industry and experts have briefed the President, and he understands legal cannabis is about taxation and regulation, not underage use.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been very receptive, but the biggest question is where the priority lies for his new presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n A dead end at HHS and DEA<\/strong><\/p>\n President Biden\u2019s bungling of rescheduling showed how the White House can\u2019t just snap its fingers and take marijuana off the Controlled Substances Act. It requires the Drug Enforcement Administration or an act of Congress. The folks at both of those places are no friend to grass.<\/p>\n President Trump nominated pro-pot Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary, but then RFK. Jr. promptly demurred to the DEA.<\/p>\n Moreover, President Trump then nominated a longtime drug warrior to run the DEA\u2014Terry Cole. That\u2019s bad news for those hoping the DEA would give rescheduling marijuana a fair hearing.<\/p>\n Armentano said from years of experience that rescheduling is a catch-22: \u201cThere is no way you\u2019re ever going to get a level playing field in that process.\u201d<\/p>\n So legalizing administratively looks like a dead-end. What about Congress?<\/p>\n Congress: Dim and dimmer<\/strong><\/p>\n Congressional Republicans promise to do less on weed law reform than the do-nothing Democrats that preceded them.<\/p>\n For example, former Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer never brought even a modest pot banking bill to the Senate floor. The first Republican pot bill this session would retain prohibition-era taxes on any cannabis business deemed legal.<\/p>\n Congress rewards seniority, and the shot-callers in both houses are veterans of prohibition, said Armentano.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court: Joker\u2019s wild<\/strong><\/p>\n One bright spot might turn out to be the judicial branch. The highest court in the land now envisions a less powerful federal government. That vision could net a win for state weed programs.<\/p>\n The Supreme Court has taken a more federalist turn after several Trump appointments. Specifically, the new conservative majority could narrow the reach of 1970\u2019s Controlled Substances Act, and thus protect state-legal cannabis systems. <\/p>\n In particular, a pending case questions the application of the US Constitution\u2019s inter-state Commerce Clause to quash intra-state weed commerce. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is an avenue that doesn\u2019t get enough attention,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The real action: Back in the States<\/strong><\/p>\n Cannabis fans can score real wins defending the weed rights they\u2019ve already won and advancing new ones at the state level this year.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an opportunity to hold your elected representatives accountable for real change. Take a look:<\/p>\n Protecting Montana<\/strong><\/p>\n For example: Montanans must rally to protect legalization there. It\u2019s under threat by a new bill to charge each recreational smoker $200 and make them register with the state. Another bill caps THC at 15% across the board\u2014a giveaway to street dealers and the illicit market.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are really after us this time,\u201d David Liberman, general manager at Lionheart Cannabis. Montana\u2019s 100,000 or so cannabis consumers can get engaged here.<\/p>\n Tax equality for Californians<\/strong><\/p>\n Californians can meet their representative in Sacramento by attending Lobby Day on March 24 to stop another tax hike. Cali weed smokers pay 124 times the taxes on a joint compared to a glass of wine, and 60 times more taxes than beer drinkers. Taxes will rise even further in July if voters stay silent.<\/p>\n Defending Ohio, Nebraska, and South Dakota<\/strong><\/p>\n Ohio, Nebraska, and South Dakota have legalized adult-use, or medical cannabis, but politicians didn\u2019t get the memo. Supporters in each state will have to defend their voter-approved measures against Republican efforts to undo the people\u2019s will.<\/p>\n Pennsylvania\u2019s push<\/strong><\/p>\n Furthermore, Pennsylvania\u2019s Governor Josh Shapiro wants to enact majority-supported adult-use legalization there, but he\u2019ll need voters to lean on their representatives.<\/p>\n \u201cLegalizing adult-use cannabis will make Pennsylvania more competitive, bring in more money to help our communities, and create real opportunity for small businesses all across our Commonwealth,\u201d he wrote Feb. 24.<\/p>\n Freedom to grow in Washington state<\/strong><\/p>\n Talk about a bellwether: one of the nation\u2019s oldest adult-use cannabis states\u2014Washington\u2014will still lock you up for growing a single weed plant. Will voters speak up to help pass House Bill 1449? Weigh in here.<\/p>\n Find your voice<\/strong><\/p>\n With 41 medical states, and super-majority US support for legalization\u2014no voter should fear raising the cannabis issue with their state representative, or state senator, said Armentano. There are about 34 million regular cannabis users in America. It\u2019s high time elected officials heard from them.<\/p>\n For example, weed voters defeated an Ohio legalization attack in 2023 with 7,500 emails to legislators.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have seen when a lot of cannabis consumers push this issue, politicians will respond,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Even better, defeating many state freedoms often requires politicians to just skip or abstain from a committee vote. And politicians love to do nothing.<\/p>\n \u201cTypically it\u2019s easier to defeat legislation than it is to pass legislation,\u201d Armentano said. \u201cWe have that home-field advantage in a lot of these instances.\u201d<\/p>\n So don\u2019t pout, doom scroll, or hold your breath for some savior. Lend your voice to stir up change that\u2019ll percolate up from the states. Indeed, that\u2019s how lasting change happens.<\/p>\n Post originally appeared on Leafly.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" David Downs Published on February 25, 2025 “There are about 34 million regular cannabis users in America. It\u2019s high time elected officials heard from them.” The fog of the inauguration has cleared, and prospects for weed law reform look dim in Washington D.C. under the second Trump Administration. But don\u2019t get bummed\u2014experts say voters have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":252,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thefreeworldremedy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/eagle-weed.jpg?fit=740%2C423&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefreeworldremedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefreeworldremedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefreeworldremedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefreeworldremedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefreeworldremedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thefreeworldremedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253,"href":"https:\/\/thefreeworldremedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions\/253"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefreeworldremedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thefreeworldremedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefreeworldremedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thefreeworldremedy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}