It didn’t take long after the historic marijuana legalization victory in Washington D.C. before people turned their attention to Congress because Congress has a say in how things moved forward. Would Congress trample on the will of the voters and attempt to block marijuana legalization from being implemented in D.C., much like they had done with medical marijuana for so many years? Eyes were especially on Republican members of Congress, who historically have led the charge against marijuana reform. It appears that there is little interest on that side of the aisle in Congress to meddle with the recently approved law. Per the Washington Post:
“To be honest, that’s pretty far down my list of priorities,” said Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who was maneuvering late last week to force a vote on U.S.-Iran nuclear talks.
“I haven’t given it one thought,” said Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who CNN reported Friday was mapping out a presidential run.
“Focused on other things,” added Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who will lead Senate oversight of the country’s military campaigns in Iraq and Syria when Republicans regain control of the chamber in January for the first time in seven years.
One Republican member of Congress is even going as far as to urge fellow GOP members to embrace marijuana reform. From a separate article from the Washington Post:
The Republican congressman who represents the land of Reagan, however, wants marijuana legalized. After winning reelection in a landslide last week despite that well-publicized position, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher returned to Capitol Hill on Thursday with a message for his party.
“To my fellow Republicans,” said Rohrabacher, a former Reagan press secretary and speech writer, “Wake up! . . . The American people are shifting on this issue.”
Marijuana reform is here to stay, in Washington D.C. and beyond. Marijuana is mainstream, and is more popular than just about anything and everything in America, including most members of Congress. The 2014 Election saw marijuana reform get more votes than just about any high profile candidate, which is something that supporters have pointed out numerous times since Election Day 2014. Politicians like to cling to failed policies, but not as much as they like staying in office. It wasn’t that long ago that supporting marijuana reform was a political liability. Now days, it can boost your approval rating if you declare that you are on the right side of history.
