Federal cannabis legalization is unlikely to happen any time soon, according to analysts from Piper Sandler and Beacon Policy Advisors LLC.
Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act is poised to end up on the House floor this weekbut various marijuana industry experts are doubtful the measure will be approved in the Senate and become law.
“We believe passage again in the House is likely, but we continue to believe it is unlikely to pass the Senate in its current form,” Michael S. Laverya senior research analyst at Piper Sandlerwrote in a note to clients, reported Yahoo Finance. “It still requires 60 votes in the Senate, a level of support we do not believe it has.”
The MORE Act seeks to remove cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances and promote social equity in the industry. The bill would repeal the long-standing federal prohibition of marijuana by removing it from the Controlled Substances Actending the state/federal conflict over cannabis policies and providing state governments with greater authority to regulate marijuana-related activities, including retail sales.
While the House already approved the legislation in the closing weeks of the last Congress in 2020, the measure was never taken up by the then GOP-controlled Senate. It is expected to pass the House Rules Committee on Wednesday, and get a floor vote this week.
If it reaches Senatewhich Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) pledged to push for, the bill will need 60 votes. This means that if every Democrat supports it, it would still need at least 10 GOP senators in order to become law.
Piper Sandler analyst Lavery doubts this scenario.
“Even among Democrats,” Lavery noted, “Sens. Tester and Shaheen have spoken out against cannabis legalization, suggesting to us that the rally in cannabis stocks [on Friday] is premature.”
To Read The Rest Of This Article By Nina Zdinjak on Benzinga
Published: March 29, 2022
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