After Democrats placed ‘too much material’ about racial ‘equity’ in the House-passed proposal designed to legalize weed, Bill Maher has claimed that Republicans could easily’steal’ the subject by turning it into a freedom issue.
The 66-year-old comic, who has enraged both liberals and conservatives on his long-running HBO show Real Time, claimed Friday night that marijuana legalization benefits Republicans and is “something we need to do.”
‘The topic will be stolen by Republicans.’ When asked why President Joe Biden hadn’t pushed for federal marijuana legalization yet, Maher replied former Attorney General Eric Holder, “I suppose eventually.” ‘It may be one of those freedom concerns,’ she says.
He also mentioned how Republicans were opposed to the marijuana legislation passed by the House in April due to its racial fairness provision.
‘Now I see the motivation to want to, like, if you’re going to have new legal marijuana enterprises, they should definitely go to the folks who suffered the most during the drug war,’ Maher added. ‘Of course, Republicans think this is a deal-breaker.’
Maher alleged that although Republicans may support legalizing pot, they aren’t going to endorse legislation riddled with racial undertones.
‘What do you want, half a loaf? If they said okay, no equity, is it better to have the law passed or changed or is it better to hold out for equity?,’ he questioned.
‘It’s better to have the law changed,’ Holder answered. ‘Deal with the societal reality that we have and, you know, and try to make it as equitable as you possibly can, but I wouldn’t want to stop the movement that I think makes sense for the sake of equity.’
Maher also joked the GOP could get on board with the federal legalization of marijuana because some Republicans are directly tied to the business, such as former House Speaker John Boehner who is currently on the board of the cannabis company Acreage Holdings.
‘I mean, someone like John Boehner works for a marijuana company now,’ Maher argued. ‘And, of course, Republicans smoke lots of pot too.’
Holder replied: ‘Not enough. They need to mellow out just a little more.’
Boehner joined the Acreage Holdings board in 2018 and later became the chair of the National Cannabis Roundtable, a pro-marijuana lobbying group.
Similarly, a 2021 Quinnipiac University poll revealed that 62 percent of Republicans surveyed supported legalization of marijuana. Seventy-eight percent of participants who identified as Democrats also supported the measure.
Regardless, only three GOP lawmakers – Florida Reps. Matt Gaetz, Brian Mast and Tom McClintock, of California – voted in favor of April’s bill to legalize marijuana nationwide.
On April 1, the House passed a measure to legalize marijuana at the federal level by a vote of 220-204, primarily along party lines, sending the bill to the Senate.
It was the second time the House of Representatives, headed by Democrats, passed a measure to decriminalize marijuana, the first being in December 2020.
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (H.R. 3617) decriminalizes cannabis possession, distribution, and production, and removes it from the Controlled Substances Act’s Schedule I list.
Republicans, on the other hand, claimed the plan was half-baked and failed to address the ‘obvious repercussions’ of marijuana legalization.
While the Senate has not yet voted on H.R. 3617, The Hill reported last month that momentum is growing in the Senate for another piece of cannabis legislation.
The newspaper argued that bipartisan lawmakers are pushing to have key marijuana banking legislation tucked into the proposed SAFE Banking Act, which intends to strengthen the country’s supply chains and manufacturing.
The SAFE Banking Act would allow cannabis businesses to access banking services if the marijuana component is incorporated in the law.
‘Right now, this is a cash-only operation.’ Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) told The Hill on May 4 that it is “hazardous for the staff.” ‘It’s risky for the patrons, but it’s fixable.’
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) remarked, “We have nine Republican co-sponsors formally on it, and close to 50 Democrats.” ‘I’m certain that if we had a vote, some other Republicans would vote for it.’ So, if we want to, we can approve the SAFE Banking Act as a stand-alone bill.’
Others have argued that the law is a necessary step toward altering the present system, which they say fosters criminality and “prevents effective tracking of billions of dollars” in marijuana sales.
However, it is expected that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) would vote against including’marijuana banking’ in the bill.