The U.S. House of Representatives will vote next week on whether to stop listing cannabis as a controlled substance.
Oregon鈥檚 $1 billion recreational marijuana market faces all kinds of problems because the drug remains illegal under federal law. For example, businesses must deal mostly in cash because banks and credit card companies often don鈥檛 want risk to falling afoul of the federal government.
Democratic Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer said the House passed the last session, but the bill died in the Senate.
鈥淭his time, we have Senate leadership who support legalization efforts,鈥� Blumenauer said.
Oregon鈥檚 senior U.S. senator, Ron Wyden, called the vote a solid step on the road to overhauling outdated and unjust federal cannabis policy.
鈥淚鈥檓 all in to advance that work in the Senate with the cannabis legalization bill. I鈥檓 proud to lead along with Sens. (Chuck) Schumer (of New York) and (Cory) Booker (of New Jersey),鈥� Wyden said.
The , a major advocacy group that backs alternatives to drug criminalization, welcomed the vote.
鈥淔or over half a century, marijuana prohibition has stood as the cornerstone of the cruel and inhumane drug war that has robbed millions of people of their freedom and their livelihoods,鈥� Director Maritza Perez said in a statement. 鈥淭he weight of which has disproportionately fallen on the backs of Black, Latinx, Indigenous and low-income communities 鈥� who remain its number one target.鈥�
Most states in the country allow cannabis sales in some form. Marijuana industry stocks increased notably on news of the pending House vote.
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