If weed fails in the Senate, and no one hears, does it make any noise? On July 21, 2022, the three most ambitious U.S. senators ever to pay attention to cannabis sheepishly launched federal cannabis legislation into the future, with the introduction of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.
The landmark announcement drew surprisingly little fanfare. Senators Schumer, Wyden, and Booker seemed resigned. The cannabis cognoscenti immediately denied the infeasibility of the timing and the impossibility of getting to 60 votes in a bitterly divided U.S. Senate.
Then, the seas started to change in Washington. After months of gridlock, Congress passed, and the President signed, four major laws – including Democratic shibboleths like gun control, prescription drug reform, and environmental policy. Instantly, the priority level for cannabis reform rocketed toward the top.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s poignant words ring true, “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”