Legalizing Marijuana Would Be Rare Bipartisan Win for Congress, So What’s the Holdup?

Congress has a rare opportunity this year to pass a bipartisan piece of legislation that could increase federal tax revenues, promote the creation of small businesses, create jobs and enact criminal justice reform—all with broad public support from Americans across the political spectrum.

But despite the potential to be a slam-dunk with voters in a critical election year, comprehensive proposals to legalize marijuana on the federal level have yet to gain significant traction in Congress‘ current term.

Eighteen states have already legalized the recreational use of marijuana, a number of them through voter-initiated referendums, while many more allow medicinal cannabis, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Only three states have no state cannabis program. About 145 million people now live in states that have legalized marijuana, according to the U.S. census.

In a Gallup poll released in November, 68 percent of U.S. adults said they back the legalization of marijuana for recreational use.

Recreational marijuana legalization also has vocal supporters on both sides of the aisle in Congress, but conversations with several of the lawmakers leading the effort indicate it’s unclear whether a vote will come in 2022. [Read more at Newsweek]