Why Democratic Senator Joe Manchin is an issue for cannabis reform

Democrats will need all the intra-party support they can get this year if they expect to pass the sweeping marijuana reform bill promised by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. But it has become painfully apparent that the mission to legalize the paper nationwide could be thwarted in one way or another.

There is, of course, the continuing anger of the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, and his willingness to lean on the filibuster to prevent any Democratic legislation from getting through. He recently said he had one goal: to stop the Biden administration dead. No surprise there.

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Okay, there’s Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia. This guy is referred to as the “new Mitch McConnell” by his own party because he appears to be wholeheartedly committed to stifling progress and destroying the Democrats’ dreams.

“Joe Manchin is the new Mitch McConnell. Mitch McConnell said during the Obama presidency that he would do everything in his power to stop (then President Barack Obama), “New York MP Jamaal Bowman said in a interview with CNN’s John Berman. “He repeated this during the Biden presidency as well, saying he would do everything in his power to stop President Biden, and now Joe Manchin is doing everything in his power to stop democracy and our work for the people to stop the work that the people sent us here to do something. Sometimes it doesn’t bring us any closer to bipartisanism. He does the work of the Republican Party by being an obstructionist. “

RELATED: Mitch McConnell is Still the Capitol Hill Cannabis Grim Reaper

What Bowman is referring to is Manchin’s decision to oppose heavily supported democratic legislation to protect voting rights. In a recent comment, Manchin confirmed that he would not vote for the For the People Act, but reiterated his position not to eradicate or even weaken the filibuster. While this news doesn’t necessarily have to do with cannabis, Manchin’s stance with his own party could end up having dire consequences for the future of federal cannabis reform. Why? As mentioned earlier, Democrats need every vote they can get to achieve their goal – defy the filibuster, pass cannabis reform law, or do anything at all.

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Senator Manchin will likely rail against Schumer’s soon-to-be-introduced cannabis law. Some people still believe that cannabis is a gateway drug, which is what makes them so D-minus with the national cannabis advocacy group NORML. “I go to the treatment centers. I’m talking to the addicts. I always ask, ‘How did you start?’ Most of them told me they started using recreational marijuana, ”he said in a 2017 items for STAT. “The legalization of recreational marijuana is something I could neither accept nor support.”

But we don’t know exactly where Manchin stands on cannabis reform in 2020. Not even his own party is sure of the scope of his policies. “If you can find out what Joe Manchin is about, let me know because I can’t,” a Democratic senator said recently told the Hill asking for anonymity.

RELATED: Somebody should let the federal government know Americans want legal marijuana

However, we know Senator Manchin will not vote to end the filibuster. This means that Senate Democrats would have to get 60 votes to pass Schumer’s cannabis law. At the moment, it doesn’t look like the party has that kind of support from across the aisle. “We still have ten votes left,” said New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, whose name will appear alongside Schumers on the upcoming pot bill. said At an ACLU event earlier this year. “The good news is that there are bright red Republican states that have legalized marijuana. And that should give us an edge when we’re trying to cobble together the kind of majority we need. “

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Unfortunately, Booker’s optimism about pot reform seems a little naive. The inability to get the necessary votes could be the reason we haven’t put cannabis reform in place in the Senate. It’s been five months since Schumer and Booker announced a cannabis measure. They almost certainly see the challenges ahead, some of which will be created by their own party.

How will you overcome it? Do you even have a chance? A bettor wouldn’t bet his money on the Democrats changing cannabis laws this year – no prayer. However, he would put the farm on the hybrid political destructiveness of McConnell and Manchin.