A group of eight congressional Democrats have come together in support of a new petition calling for the end of federal cannabis prohibition.
"Nearly two-thirds of Americans support ending the prohibition of marijuana," the petition stated. "It's wasteful, it's destructive, and it's simply wrong."
The petition is being supported by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Mark Pocan (D-WI) and Jim McGovern (D-MA), most of whom have previously supported cannabis reform in some way.
The petition comes as these lawmakers are beginning to prepare their campaigns for re-election to Congress. While the petition is not clear on what exactly these Democrats would do to push federal cannabis legalization forward, it does give voters a pretty clear indication of which congressional lawmakers consider cannabis a key political issue.
The Democratic support for cannabis reform in Congress isn't particularity surprising, given that it is already a popular issue among their voter base.
In a tweet, Rep. Huffman said signing the petition will help push the House to continue to support cannabis legalization.
Wide-sweeping shifts in federal cannabis policy seem increasingly likely in the coming years. It is already a popular issue among voters from both sides of the political divide and the vast majority of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates support reform.
h/t Marijuana Moment