--- title: "New Senate Bill Would Legalize Marijuana Nationwide" description: "The future of drug policy? A new bill in the Senate would mark a tectonic state in the United States' drug law by legalizing marijuana nationwide." date: "2019-02-09" modified: "2019-02-11" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/senate-legalize-marijuana-nationwide" categories: - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "cannabis" - "marijuana" - "politics" - "the digest" --- # New Senate Bill Would Legalize Marijuana Nationwide ![The future of drug policy? A new bill in the Senate would mark a tectonic state in the United States' drug law by legalizing marijuana nationwide.]() *\Image: Pixabay\* ## Weed Law A [new bill]() in the Senate Friday would mark a tectonic state in the United States' drug law by legalizing marijuana nationwide. "The federal prohibition of marijuana is wrong, plain and simple," said Ron Wyden, an Oregon Senator who introduced the bill, in [a statement](). "Too many lives have been wasted, and too many economic opportunities have been missed." ## Blaze It The new bill, called S.420 — get it? — would give the Drug Enforcement Administration 60 days to strike cannabis from its list of controlled substances. It would also institute a tax on the substance and set up a mechanism for retail permits and special labeling, like tobacco and alcohol, [according to *The Verge*](). That would be a huge shift, because individual states have pursued cannabis legalization and decriminalization piecemeal in recent decades, but the federal government still considers it a "Schedule I" substance — along heavy duty drugs like methylenedioxymethamphetamine and heroin. ## Research Opportunities Legalizing marijuana would likely decrease unnecessary strain on the legal system and create new economic opportunities, according to many experts — and could be a major opportunity for research into [possible medicinal uses](). "The American people have elected the most pro-cannabis Congress in American history and significant pieces of legislation are being introduced," said Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer, who introduced the bill in the House of Representatives alongside Wyden. "The House is doing its work and with the help of Senator Wyden’s leadership in the Senate, we will break through." *Editor’s note Feb. 11, 2019 at 9:47 AM ET: This article has been updated to correct an error. Methylenedioxymethamphetamine is a Schedule I drug, but methamphetamine is Schedule II.* **READ MORE:** [Senator introduces a bill to legalize marijuana and it’s called S.420]() \[*The Verge*\] ***More on cannabis:** [Canada Legalized Weed, and It Could Be a Huge Opportunity for Science]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()