The 2020 election wrapped up on January 5th, 2021, with two Georgia Senate runoff elections.
It appears from election results the Democratic challengers will win each race, which will result in a 50-50 tie in the Senate. The Democrats will likely have control of the House, Presidency, and Senate with incoming Vice President Kamala Harris, the Senate's tiebreaker.
There will likely be some changes coming on the federal level regarding drug policy. However, there are still some obstacles for Democrats to push through everything they want regarding drug policy or almost every other piece of legislation. The Senate can filibuster legislation, which means 60 senators are needed to override objections to most legislation. There has been political talk of eliminating the filibuster if Democrats gained control of the federal government, but that likely won’t happen to this Senate rule that dates back to the early 19th Century.
What changes are coming to drug policy in the United States? Route 961 addresses two mainstream topics.
Marijuana Legalization
In December, the House passed the MORE (Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement) Act and sent the bill to the Senate. The bill would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, tax cannabis to fund social justice reform, fund grants to communities negatively affected by the war on drugs, and prohibit the denial of federal benefits and adverse impact to immigration laws from the possession of marijuana. States would be allowed to keep marijuana illegal.
Other federal legislation pieces were proposed, such as the STATES Act, in the last few years to legalize marijuana. The MORE Act made it through Congress and became historical legislation by becoming the first time Congress voted to legalize marijuana. Republicans have objected to the funding this bill provides to social justice groups and cannabis companies. Most polls and data show a majority of Americans favor marijuana reform. If Democrats take control of the Senate, and with incoming President Biden promising marijuana reform, expect this bill to get serious consideration as we advance.
Drug Decriminalization
There are no bills currently proposed to decriminalize all drugs on the federal level, but opinions have changed on the “War on Drugs.” There is growing support to treat drug addiction through public health policies rather than through the criminal justice system. Popular to mainstream belief, drug decriminalization doesn’t mean all drugs are legal. However, possession of small amounts of harder drugs like methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin no longer are prosecuted criminally but remain illegal to possess. Distributing and manufacturing hard drugs remain as crimes punishable with jail or prison.
Another growing sentiment is to research more drugs for medicinal and therapeutic purposes. Psilocybin mushrooms, MDMA (ecstasy), and even LSD have received support as potential therapeutic drugs to treat depression, PTSD, and various other mental health conditions. Psilocybin mushrooms have been decriminalized in some areas, and medicinal psilocybin was passed in an Oregon referendum this past November.
Analysis
There will probably be some changes to federal drug policy. As with any new President, the first 100 days of a new Presidency is usually very critical to move agendas, so we should know more about the fate of drug policies and many other legislation pieces during the first half of 2021. Many on the left believe the “War on Drugs” was a failure, and they want to try a different approach. It doesn’t appear there will be wholesale changes on the federal level. Even with the marijuana reform proposed in the MORE Act, states can keep marijuana illegal. It’s possible there will be proposals in the future to federally reschedule other drugs for medicinal purposes. However, as with most criminal justice topics, the pendulum swings from one side to the other as time progresses. It appears the pendulum has swung to loosening up the tighter drug control policies of the last 50 years.