On November 8^th, the House Oversight Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties announced that on November 15^th it would be holding a hearing to confer Marijuana legalization. “Developments in State Cannabis Laws and Bipartisan Cannabis Reforms at the Federal Level,” is the hearing’s official title and a shared memo was available to the public on November 12^th to create talking points for the discussion.

A vast variety of facts revolving around Marijuana legalization was covered in the conversation. The conversation covered Biden’s announcement to pardon federal cannabis convictions back in October, the failed War on Drugs, the handling of veterans who seek aid with marijuana, and the likelihood of cannabis-related products as a building material (and the legal obstacles connected to this).

The conversation brought up how the country’s approach to legalization is disorganized due to the mixed levels of regulation. “The substance may be legal in one state and decriminalized in another, but because it is still prohibited at the federal level, users or possessors of the substance are subject to criminal penalty,” Snider said.

In the later part of the hearing, Armentano was asked about the hope that Congress can come together to make legalization a reality. “So Mr. Armentano, do you think Congress can catch up with where a majority of the states are now in terms of medical marijuana and decriminalization and legalization, as [Mayor Woodfin] said, Do you think Congress will actually be able to do it? I know this hearing is a promising sign, but what do you think are the chances of actually doing this, in this session of congress or the next?”

The majority of the nation has chosen to go down different paths with Marijuana and there is a rift between the states in terms of policy and where the federal government is. This hearing ultimately brought to light that the federal government needs to come to a way to align federal policy with state policy.