US Senator Urges Congress To 'Stop Dicking Around' And Legalize Marijuana

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) says Congress needs to stop stalling and legalize marijuana, pointing to his cosponsorship of a newly filed federal bill. "I've always been very pro-weed," he said in a Tuesday press release. "In a very libertarian slant: I'm not going to judge anyone for using it to knock the edge off of life. I think your path to wellness should be without judgement or punishment—legal, safe, and regulated." Fetterman said he supported both President Biden and President Trump as each advanced marijuana rescheduling, and backed Biden's mass cannabis pardons. "But it is time for Congress to stop dicking around and make weed legal," he said. "This bill is a good step forward." Last week Fetterman joined Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Ron Wyden in filing the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), which would remove marijuana entirely from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), a process known as descheduling. The bill's introduction came a day after testimony wrapped in a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) hearing on a separate Biden-era proposal, now advancing under Trump, to move marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III. The legislation would let people seek reduction or expungement of past marijuana sentences and regain housing, employment and civil rights lost to those records. It would also impose a federal marijuana tax, directing part of the revenue toward a new DOJ Cannabis Justice Office that would fund job training, reentry services and legal aid for communities affected by prohibition. In May, Fetterman credited Trump for loosening marijuana and psychedelics policy in an interview with Reason, describing himself as very libertarian on the issue and saying he has supported legalization for a long time even when it was politically unpopular. He said he hopes liberalization continues. Fetterman, who championed cannabis reform as Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor, has criticized state Republicans for blocking legalization while neighboring states like Ohio move forward. Last year his campaign launched a petition supporting federal legalization, and he has previously faulted Biden for excluding military-level marijuana offenses from his mass pardon.