Sen. Schumer Reaching Across The Aisle To Legalize It

Will Democrats and Republicans work together to legalize it? Some experts are starting to get excited.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on Tuesday that he and colleagues are in the process of reaching out to Republican senators to “see what they want” included in a bill to federally legalize marijuana he’s planning to introduce later this month.

The leader was pressed during a briefing with reporters about the fact that he’s been discussing plans to file legalization legislation for more than a year. The new comments come less than a week after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a separate legalization bill from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).

“We hope to [file the bill] towards the end of April,” Schumer said, adding that he, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) “are talking about it and, in fact, we’re trying to reach out” to other lawmakers about the forthcoming bill.

“I’ve reached out already to a few Republicans to see what they want,” he said.