E Pluribus Unum.
For those who know Latin, I’ll say no more.
For those who don’t know Latin but live in the United States, there’s still a good chance you know the meaning: “out of many, one.”
That’s because it’s a traditional motto of the U.S., appearing on our nation’s Great Seal, various gold and silver coins throughout our history and on many of our coins and dollar bills still in circulation today. And without banking reform, those in the cannabis industry know money all too well.
“E Pluribus Unum” is even depicted on the Apotheosis of George Washington ascending into the heavens 180 feet up in the eye of the U.S. Capitol building’s rotunda. Approved for our Great Seal by Congress in 1782, the meaning of the phrase originates from the concept that out of the union of the original 13 colonies emerged a new single nation.
In short, it was a clear message that settlers of the New World were no longer going to put up with tyrannical rule from some crown on the other side of the ocean. “We the people,” in our Constitution, were ready to govern ourselves.
Nearly 250 years later, our expanded union is not one without federal cannabis legalization. And we the people are often unheard.
The South Dakota Legislature’s Medical Marijuana Subcommittee voted in favor of banning home cultivation Sept. 1, nearly 10 months after the state’s voters approved language in Initiative Measure 26 to allow registered patients to grow at home by a 70% majority in the November election, as Senior Digital Editor Melissa Schiller reported this week. The voter-approved measure also called for a medical cannabis program to be implemented in eight months, but the state government has ignored its people on that front too.
But not all lawmakers have forgotten who they work for—or so we hope.
When U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., unveiled a preliminary draft to end cannabis prohibition at the federal level in July, they called upon industry stakeholders to help fine-tune the legislation—the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA)
With a Sept. 1 deadline to offer feedback, the Senate trio was inundated with recommendations this week.
Steven Hawkins, CEO of the U.S. Cannabis Council, issued a statement Wednesday suggesting the Food and Drug Administration should not be the primary regulatory agency of legalization; calling for a transition period prior to interstate commerce; and recommending lower taxes, among other items. In all, the USCC released a 41-page report with its feedback.
Other legalization advocacy groups also weighed in.
In a 12-page letter, Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) said, “While we are enthusiastic about the goals of [CAOA] … Our two major areas of concern are: the possible upending of state licensing and regulatory systems—driving sales underground—and the impact on medical cannabis access, including for those under the age of 21.”
MPP also stated concerns about the FDA acting as the lead regulatory body, high taxes and the like. Specifically, the CAOA draft bill calls for a federal cannabis sales tax that starts at 10% and then increases to 25% by the fifth year of enactment.
The tax plan was also one of many concerns the National Cannabis Industry Association highlighted in a 31-page letter to the senators.
And NORML’s 21-page feedback called for reducing taxes, expanding criminal expungement, repealing outdated drug-testing policies, leveling the playing field so small businesses can compete and steering clear from disrupting existing legal consumer access.
Many other reformists and state politicians provided input. Prohibitionist groups did too.
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), co-founded by Kevin Sabet, a former three-time adviser to the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, sent a letter to the Senate leadership that said full legalization of today’s high-potency cannabis will only further the harms caused by the drug war.
But a supermajority of Americans agrees the drug war has no victors and prohibition should end. Out of many voices and states that support legalization, we deserve one nation on cannabis reform.
And while it’s a breath of fresh air to have a U.S. Senate trio seek feedback from “we the people” on such an important piece of federal legislation, our hope should be that they listen. If not, voices will only get louder.
-Tony Lange, Associate Editor
