According to politicians speaking at a SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, “there’s a narrow window for federal cannabis legalization.”
The first cannabis session of the conference focused on why federal legalization has not seen any progress. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D), a long-time marijuana legislation advocate, said he was more optimistic than he had been eight months ago, per Green Market Report.
A Cannabis Legalization Panel
Blumenauer criticized Sens. Booker and Schumer "for not being able to bring a vote on measures passed by the House, saying that their desire for perfect legislation resulted in nothing getting accomplished." However, he believes senators are more willing to compromise this time around.
Republican Rep. Nancy Mace said she doesn’t have a lot of hope legalization will happen this year. But, if something happens "it would need to be done before June." After June, the focus will be on the presidential election, which could delay legalization for another two years, she added.
Blumenauer said he thought …