Last November, South Dakota voters approved recreational and medical marijuana ballot initiatives. Chuck Schumer was so impressed by the victories that he gave a shout-out to the state at last Wednesday’s unveiling of the latest congressional plan to legalize pot. If one of the most conservative places in the country could legalize marijuana, the Senate majority leader intoned, fists clenched, the Senate should be able to as well.
Flanked by his Senate backers, including cannabis commonsense proselytizer Ron Wyden of Oregon and restorative justice proponent Cory Booker of New Jersey, Schumer laid out a few factoids: Marijuana arrests exceeded all arrests for violent crimes in 2019, and presidents and members of Congress have admitted to smoking marijuana, while ordinary citizens go to jail.
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