Marijuana Business Magazine - March 2018

CANNABUS¬NESS BY THE NUMBERS U .S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to rip up the Cole Memo – an Obama-era policy discourag- ing federal prosecutors from taking action against states that have legalized marijuana – stunned the can- nabis industry. But in the months since the announcement, several governors and Congress members – both Republicans and Democrats – have issued strong statements pledg- ing to defend their states’ legal cannabis programs against federal interference. Given the added uncertainty Sessions’ blockbuster decision has brought to the multibillion-dollar cannabis industry, many marijuana professionals believe the time has come to rewrite federal MJ laws – finally putting an end to the patchwork of state laws that govern most of the industry. Here’s a closer look at the cannabis-related bills before the current Congress: Marijuana Legislation on Capitol Hill Source: The Cannabist, GovTrack, Skopos Labs Number of marijuana-related bills before Congress Number of bills before Congress seek- ing to do one of the following: • End the federal ban on marijuana. • Reschedule marijuana so that it is no longer a Schedule 1 controlled substance. • Amend the Controlled Substances Act so that states with legalized cannabis would no longer be in violation of federal law. Number of co-sponsors for the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act, which would protect can- nabis businesses and consum- ers from federal prosecution provided they comply with state MJ laws. The measure has more co-sponsors than any of the 11 bills aiming to make significant changes to federal marijuana laws Average chance that any of the 11 bills seeking major marijuana reforms will be enacted. That’s according to Skopos Labs, which developed an artificial intelligence platform that forecasts the odds for passage of congressional legislation Number of co-sponsors for the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act who signed on after Sessions rescinded the Cole Memo 37 25 13 11 6 % 10 • Marijuana Business Magazine • March 2018