The Democratic Party’s majority in the House generally is viewed as favorable to the passage of federal legislation liberalizing the use of marijuana, at least for medicinal purposes. In October, Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) published a “Blueprint to Legalize Marijuana”. The goal of the Blueprint is to remove federal regulation of marijuana by 2019. Importantly, Representative Blumenauer has obtained bipartisan support for his effort. Earlier this year Representative David Joyce (D-OH) introduced legislation to eliminate enforcement of current federal laws in jurisdictions that legalize marijuana for medical or recreational purposes. In addition to a change in party control, Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX), a significant opponent of marijuana liberalization and who otherwise would have been former chair of the House Rules Committee, lost his seat.

 

The Democrats’ success also resulted in loss of some Republican supporters of legalized marijuana. Probably the most significant loss was Representative Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), who had sponsored amendments to the budget that prevented the federal government from prosecuting criminally most cases involving the possession, distribution or use of marijuana. Representative Carlos Curbelo (R-FL), who had fought for legislation permitting marijuana businesses to claim their costs as legitimate business deductions on their federal income taxes, also was defeated.

 

In the Senate, Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA), a staunch opponent of legalizing marijuana, will be leaving that key position. In his place, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) will assume the chairmanship of the Judiciary Committee. Senator Graham has been, and is expected to remain, a supporter of a number of measures to reform this country’s laws concerning marijuana.

 

The end of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ tenure may be the start of a shift in the Executive Branch’s position. Both before and during his time in office, Attorney General Sessions was a vocal opponent of any measure to end classification of marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, or even to investigate whether that was the appropriate classification. His possible successors include Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey, and current Florida Attorney General, Pam Bondi. Neither is viewed as favoring marijuana legalization. However, it seems unlikely either will be any more hostile to marijuana legalization efforts than Mr. Sessions.

 

President Trump is reported to favor legislation that will permit the issue of marijuana use to be decided on a state-by-state basis, similar to the bill introduced by Representative Joyce (discussed above).

 

With no substantial change in the balance of power in the Florida House and Senate, it seems unlikely the Legislature will be the source of any further liberalization for the next two years.

 

The situation in Florida’s executive branch is slightly more positive.

 

Nikki Fried’s election as Agriculture Commissioner is a step forward for the proponents of marijuana legalization in this state. Prior to her election, Ms. Fried was a lobbyist for marijuana industry interests in Florida. It is not clear how much influence Ms. Fried will have on Florida’s development of its medical marijuana regulatory scheme.

 

The new Governor, Ron DeSantis, is not expected to be as resistant to legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes as his predecessor, Rick Scott.

 

Ashley Moody, Florida’s incoming Attorney General, is a supporter of Pam Bondi’s positions; including her resistance to increasing the availability of medical marijuana.

 

In Michigan, voters approved the use of recreational marijuana- the first Midwestern state to do so. Voters in Utah and Missouri approved medical marijuana initiatives. This brings the total number of states that have legalized some form of marijuana use to 33. Ten of these states, plus the District of Columbia, permit marijuana to be used recreationally.

 

To summarize, for the next two years in Florida it appears that use of marijuana will remain limited to medical purposes. Ironically, the best hope of further liberalization is at the federal level. There a change in control of the House and personnel in the Executive Branch offers the best chance for loosening the federal position on possessing and using marijuana.