Cannabis: a legal overview

As of November 2020, Cannabis has been legalized for recreational use in 14 states and the District of Columbia. Medical use of cannabis is permitted in all of those states and another 20.

In addition, numerous states have decriminalized cannabis, typically reducing possession of small quantities to a misdemeanor.

Cannabis remains illegal under federal law, creating a legal gray area that complicates the operations of cannabis businesses operating legally under the various state laws.

There has been no significant effort in Congress or the executive branch to legalize cannabis.

The Obama administration offered informal guidance to banks to ease their concerns about offering services to cannabis businesses in states where such activities were legal. The Trump administration rescinded that guidance, but little changed in practical terms.

Congress, however, has shown some interest in reducing the conflict between existing federal policies and the trend toward legalization at the state level.

Bills in both houses address the issue in different ways:

• The Secure and Fair Enforcement Banking Act (SAFE Banking Act) would constrain federal authority to penalize banks offering services to legally operating cannabis businesses and protect bank employees from liability in such cases (S. 1200, H.R.1595). The House passed its version of the bill; no action has been taken in the Senate.
• The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act would decriminalize cannabis at the federal level, allowing legalization activities at the state level to continue without legal ambiguity (H.R. 3884, S. 2227). 
• The Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act would eliminate regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act for certain marijuana-related activities that comply with state or tribal law. (S. 1028, H.R. 2093).

Failing action in the closing days of the 116th Congress, the bills will have to be reintroduced in the 117th Congress, which begins Jan. 3, 2021.

Fourteen states and the District of Columbia now have legalized small amounts of marijuana for adult recreational use. Another 20 have legalized medical cannabis.

Most recently, in November 2020, voters in several states approved ballot measures legalizing recreational sales: Arizona, Montana, and New Jersey. South Dakota voters approved both recreational and medical programs. Mississippi voters approved medical cannabis.