Senate Democrats push for nationwide marijuana legalization

The cannabis industry has created around 70,000 jobs in 2020, according to Leafly. That’s double the number that were created in the previous year. Senate Democrats are now pushing to legalize marijuana in the U.S. Frank Holland joins Shep Smith to report. For access to live and exclusive video from CNBC subscribe to CNBC PRO: https://cnb.cx/2NGeIvi

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and two other Democratic senators said Monday that they will push to pass this year sweeping legislation that would end the federal prohibition on marijuana, which has been legalized to some degree by many states.

That reform also would provide so-called restorative justice for people who have been convicted of pot-related crimes, the senators said in a joint statement.

“The War on Drugs has been a war on people — particularly people of color,” said a statement issued by Schumer, of New York, and Sens. Cory Booker, of New Jersey, and Ron Wyden, of Oregon.

“Ending the federal marijuana prohibition is necessary to right the wrongs of this failed war and end decades of harm inflicted on communities of color across the country,” they said.

“But that alone is not enough. As states continue to legalize marijuana, we must also enact measures that will lift up people who were unfairly targeted in the War on Drugs.”

The senators said they will release “a unified discussion draft on comprehensive reform” early this year and that passing the legislation will be a priority for the Senate.

The trio also said that in addition to ending the federal pot ban and ensuring restorative justice, the legislation would “protect public health and implement responsible taxes and regulations.”

Schumer co-sponsored marijuana decriminalization legislation several years ago.

The statement comes as public support for legal marijuana has grown. A Gallup poll in November showed that 68% of Americans, a record high, favored marijuana legalization.

Every initiative that involved the decriminalization or legalization of marijuana on the ballot in 2020 passed.

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50 Comments

  1. Art Rock on April 12, 2021 at 5:38 pm

    Can you imagine the number of people who would start their own businesses if this become legal across the board? WE NEED THIS NOW for economic reasons!



  2. Magic 80just on April 12, 2021 at 5:38 pm

    Nobody gets violent when they smoke weed
    Come on.



  3. MAKING CANNABIS LEGAL AGAIN on April 12, 2021 at 5:38 pm

    Did it get approved I know the house passed it but what now has to be approved or done they need to stop stalling



  4. RegularassDave on April 12, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    MCOA MJNA!



  5. Lincoln Continental on April 12, 2021 at 5:42 pm

    Passsss of the Bbbbill lol pass the blunt just say it lmao 😂



  6. Mariam zzz on April 12, 2021 at 5:43 pm

    ALCOHOL and cigarette are legal and harmful. But marijuana is ILEGAL and MOT harmful ! . LEGALIZE MARIJUANA



  7. Micah Hardman on April 12, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    Puff puff give…..Smokey.
    Seriously though…its a natural remedy for just about anything. 👍



  8. Mariam zzz on April 12, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    ALCOHOL AND CIGARETTE/TOBACCO IS LEGAL. SO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA ASWELL!!! LEGALIZE MARIJUANA LEGLIZE MARIJUANA LEGALIZE MARIJUANA!!!! 👍👍✔️✔️✔️✔️😊😊😊😊



  9. Devon Bercier on April 12, 2021 at 5:46 pm

    This should have been happened!



  10. Wilmer Mendez on April 12, 2021 at 5:50 pm

    Please let this be true and demand employers to not test against it any more. As long as you don’t do it on the job. Let us do it on your own time and we’ll be fine. Smoking weed shouldn’t define anyone on getting a good job



  11. Pasta Panda on April 12, 2021 at 5:51 pm

    They’ll never do it lol. Too many boomers in office



  12. Philip Dressler on April 12, 2021 at 5:52 pm

    And new generation Republicans who got evicted for liking marijuana legalization



  13. PuffingRaccoon420떨피는언니TV on April 12, 2021 at 5:54 pm

    Cannabis has been scientifically proven to be less harmful than alcohol and less addictive than nicotine. It’s time to get with the program!



  14. havel twink on April 12, 2021 at 5:55 pm

    Make it legal



  15. emre dicks on April 12, 2021 at 5:56 pm

    Looking for some topshelf weed check @topshelf_exotics on Telegram. They 💯 legit



  16. Joe Beierle on April 12, 2021 at 5:57 pm

    Why dont they start by allowing the majority of existing companies to remove marijuana testing on the drug test panel. Even if marijuana is legalized, people still need to be able to work.



  17. Jimmy Wadsworth on April 12, 2021 at 5:57 pm

    You got to wait for all the Nancy Reagan just say no advocates to die off



  18. plasma on April 12, 2021 at 5:57 pm

    Why is it illegal in the first place? I mean weed doesn’t make you violent it depends on the person’s personality alcohol causes violence more than pot and doesn’t tobacco cause litterly cancer the systems broken



  19. Judy Corso on April 12, 2021 at 5:59 pm

    And stoner Ag commissioner DEMONRAT will run and FLIP FLORIDA TO MATCH HER GULF!!!



  20. skullbrick on April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm

    shephardshmidthere



  21. The Viking Gardener on April 12, 2021 at 6:00 pm

    Nobody is going to get high on cannabis and get violent anyone whom believe that is highly uneducated on the subject.



  22. MAKING CANNABIS LEGAL AGAIN on April 12, 2021 at 6:03 pm

    I think the delaying of the program of fully legalizing cannabis is discrimination to the people we should not have to wait we have been waiting for this for over 50 years to change and the main reason it was even illegal was because of racism against the African American and I think that’s wrong stop the hate fully legalize it stop discriminating a organic plant 🪴 that 100% healthy



  23. NFK FIBERBOBS on April 12, 2021 at 6:05 pm

    That police chief is a fing lier. Nobody ever gets violent on weed 420 Mary Jane 😒



  24. Simon Mitchell on April 12, 2021 at 6:06 pm

    And the United Kingdom look so stupid compared to the rest of the world



  25. Mr Nice Guy on April 12, 2021 at 6:08 pm

    Every pothead I just heard you say that knows you are lying about that violence what makes you a weed expert you have never smoked a joint



  26. michael burns on April 12, 2021 at 6:09 pm

    If you were Corvain Cooper



  27. Marek O'Pole on April 12, 2021 at 6:10 pm

    biden maybe smoking weed already, he keeps falling from the air force one stairs all the time



  28. George Mcdonald on April 12, 2021 at 6:11 pm

    Weed and what else weed alone don’t do that history proves that



  29. John Allen on April 12, 2021 at 6:11 pm

    Uh, excuse me, but that police chief "in one major city" got it wrong when he said more than half of the 911 calls with violence are related to marijuana. I think he meant to say more than half (or more) involve alcohol. When a bunch of people get to drinking there’s almost always a fight of some kind. When a bunch of people get together to smoke cannabis there’s almost always munchies of some kind.



  30. Joe Beierle on April 12, 2021 at 6:12 pm

    People are going to do stupid and sometimes hateful things with or without drugs in their system.



  31. Albert Von Schultz on April 12, 2021 at 6:12 pm

    All I can say is that chief of police don’t know his ass from a hole in the ground unless he’s referring to drug dealers having violence fighting over territory. Marijuana does not cause violence



  32. John Curtis on April 12, 2021 at 6:12 pm

    Think of all the tax dollars cha ching



  33. Philip Dressler on April 12, 2021 at 6:13 pm

    Remember they want us out of the political game because we get high man



  34. tim kahn on April 12, 2021 at 6:14 pm

    the last prohibition had bootleggers . what do we call weed sellers im thinking bag leggers .



  35. The Trippy Life Of Julian on April 12, 2021 at 6:15 pm

    I just want to own a gun and have my medical mj card it’s not fair at all that because I have severe pain I can’t own my firearms that’s ridiculous



  36. Ender on April 12, 2021 at 6:17 pm

    Most crimes reported must also have alcohol tobacco and other drugs in cohesion.

    When people consume cannabis they BECOME BETTER , INTELLIGENT, LOVING AND "MIND THEIR OWN BUSINESS".

    You cannot say the same for other man made drugs. Especially alcohol which disturbs everyone’s life and destroys family and society.

    Man made drugs are all narcissistic in nature. Cannabis destroys human narcissism in an individual and also throughout every layer of the echelon. Thereby giving humans freedom, abundance and safety.

    Man made drugs are temporary and they fail. Cannabis is permanent cure and is always victorious!!



  37. Steve on April 12, 2021 at 6:20 pm

    Uk nah we are still keeping it illegal here lol



  38. M17 on April 12, 2021 at 6:21 pm

    The police chief who said half of the 911 calls related to violence involve marijuana is LYING or trying to make connections that does not exist. Anybody who know anything about weed knows that can’t be true at all. We all know how alcohol is connected to violence, why nobody talking about criminalizing it??



  39. J Fowler on April 12, 2021 at 6:23 pm

    You own your body. You have the right to decide, as an adult, what you choose to consume.
    🖕🏻🖕🏻Anyone who says otherwise.



  40. Yo Mm on April 12, 2021 at 6:24 pm

    Bout time



  41. RE AIO on April 12, 2021 at 6:24 pm

    The male power thoracically x-ray because verse morphologically choke but a permissible plane. zippy, loving flood



  42. poor gamer guy on April 12, 2021 at 6:24 pm

    Unless texas top people say yes..till then it’s a no..but go out without a mask and get the covid.#texasneedstolegalize



  43. Kyle Nope on April 12, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    Get it done. The US should be exporting its bubonic chronic to the world!



  44. Juced Customs on April 12, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    How many 911 calls that are alcohol related end in death. Ever overdosed on a joint?



  45. AR H on April 12, 2021 at 6:28 pm

    Also this will be the end of Racist Nixon Law in America for good♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡



  46. michael burns on April 12, 2021 at 6:29 pm

    It is only successful as a business so long as it is more cost effective to buy safe, quality herb than to just do it yourself privately. Cannabis is not the new scapegoat for prostitution, rave parties, or people who use vaping to intensify their crack cocaine abuse binge. You should not need a proctologist or a box of fat hot needles from toking a jay. Can’t we all just get a bong?🍍. Adam Ruins Everything- College Humor



  47. tim kahn on April 12, 2021 at 6:30 pm

    with over 10,000 years of human testing and not one death proven . the honest question is why its a crime at all. anywhere on earth?



  48. Jerh1985 on April 12, 2021 at 6:32 pm

    Good god I hate the Democrats but if they get marijuana legal great at least they would be doing something right.
    Republican’s are almost 100% wrong all the time Democrats don’t hold your breath be we might do a few times right in a whole generation.



  49. geno007able on April 12, 2021 at 6:33 pm

    why not give the actual statics fack checked, the cops have a big incentive to keep it illegal, they did not note how many were alcohol related.



  50. Lucas Farringer on April 12, 2021 at 6:37 pm

    But tobacco and alcohol is safe and perfectly fine? Legalize weed already