Senators Booker, Warren, Sanders And Others Urge Biden To Use His Power And Act On Cannabis Legalization

A group of six U.S. senators are pushing the Biden administration to finally use its power and remove cannabis from the list of Schedule 1 substances under federal law . Sen. Elizabeth Warren  (D-MA), Bernie Sanders  (I-VT), Cory Booker  (D-NJ), Ron Wyden  (D-ORE), Kirsten Gillibrand  (D-NY), and Edward J.Markey  (D-MA) sent the urging letter  on Wednesday, asking the administration to “use its existing authority to (i) deschedule cannabis and (ii) issue pardons to all individuals convicted of nonviolent cannabis-related offenses.” In the letter that was addressed to President Biden, Attorney General Merrick Garland, and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra , the politicians also wrote,” “The Administration’s failure to coordinate a timely review of its cannabis policy is harming thousands of Americans, slowing research, and depriving Americans of their ability to use marijuana for medical or other purposes. We ask that the Biden Administration act quickly to rectify this decade long injustice harming individuals, especially Black and Brown communities.” Previous Efforts  Previously senators already sent one letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) in October, and they obtained the response in April, which they described as “extraordinarily disappointing,” In the response, DOJ used HHS’s reasoning that “cannabis has not been proven in scientific studies to be a safe and effective treatment for any disease or condition” to explain its lack of progress in this matter.  “But this assertion ignores the ability of the DOJ ... Full story available on Benzinga.com