It’s ‘About Damn Time’ The Federal Government Catches Up To Voters On Marijuana Legalization, Congresswoman Says
Members of Congress joined cannabis reform advocates at a Capitol Hill press conference to deliver a pointed message to the federal government: the American public moved on marijuana legalization long ago, and Washington has been embarrassingly slow to catch up. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, didn't mince words in her assessment of the pace of federal reform.
"It's about damn time," Omar said, speaking to a crowd of advocates, lobbyists, and fellow lawmakers. "Millions of people across this country have already made their position clear. They want cannabis legalized. They want the failed War on Drugs to end. And they want their federal government to stop treating a plant like it's more dangerous than alcohol or opioids."
The Pressure Behind the Press Conference
The event came as the Trump administration was engaged in an incremental cannabis rescheduling process—moving marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act to Schedule III. While the proposed rescheduling would ease certain restrictions on cannabis research and reduce tax burdens on licensed businesses, advocates argue it falls far short of the descheduling or legalization that majorities of Americans consistently support in polling.
Rep. Omar and her colleagues used the press conference to push back on the framing that rescheduling represents meaningful progress. From their perspective, moving cannabis from one controlled substances category to another is administrative tinkering while the fundamental injustice—the federal criminalization of a substance that states, cities, and voters have overwhelmingly chosen to legalize—remains intact.
"Rescheduling doesn't expunge a single record," said one lawmaker at the event. "It doesn't get a single person out of a federal prison cell. It doesn't open a single bank account for a cannabis business that's been locked out of the financial system. We're not going to pretend this is the victory that the American people are waiting for."
Where Public Opinion Stands
The lawmakers' confidence in invoking public opinion isn't misplaced. National polls have consistently shown supermajority support for cannabis legalization for several years. According to surveys by Gallup, Pew Research, and other organizations, upward of 70% of American adults support legalizing marijuana for adult use—a figure that crosses partisan lines, with majority support among Republicans, Independents, and Democrats alike.
State-level voting records reinforce the polling data. As of 2025, 24 states plus Washington D.C. have enacted adult-use cannabis legalization, and every time the question has appeared on a state ballot in recent cycles, it has passed—often by comfortable margins, including in traditionally conservative states like Montana, South Dakota (in a second vote after an initial legalization was struck down on procedural grounds), and Missouri.
Minnesota's own legalization journey reflects this public appetite for reform. The state legislature passed the adult-use bill in 2023, and polls conducted before and since have shown consistent majority support among Minnesota voters across the political spectrum.
Minnesota's Rep. Omar and the Congressional Cannabis Caucus
Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents Minnesota's 5th Congressional District covering Minneapolis and surrounding communities, has been among the most vocal federal advocates for cannabis legalization. As co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, she works alongside colleagues from both parties to advance federal reform legislation and highlight the human cost of continued federal cannabis prohibition.
Minnesota's perspective on the federal cannabis question is shaped by the state's recent experience building a legal adult-use market from scratch. Having navigated the complex regulatory process of standing up a new industry—while simultaneously managing the tension between state law, federal law, banking regulations, and tribal sovereignty—Minnesota lawmakers have direct, practical experience with the problems that federal prohibition creates even in states where cannabis is legal.
For Minnesota cannabis businesses, the banking issue remains one of the most concrete manifestations of federal prohibition's costs. Because cannabis remains federally illegal, most traditional banks and credit card processors refuse to work with cannabis retailers, cultivators, and manufacturers. Many Minnesota dispensaries operate on cash-only or limited electronic payment systems, creating security risks and administrative burdens that legal businesses in other industries don't face.
What Full Federal Legalization Would Mean
The advocates and lawmakers at the press conference weren't just making symbolic arguments. Full federal legalization or descheduling would have concrete, immediate effects on the cannabis industry and on individuals currently affected by federal cannabis law.
Banking access would open up almost immediately. Cannabis businesses operating legally under state law could access checking accounts, business loans, credit card processing, and other standard financial services that the cash-heavy nature of the current industry makes dangerous and inefficient.
Federal tax burdens on cannabis businesses would change dramatically. Section 280E of the federal tax code currently prohibits cannabis businesses from deducting normal business expenses—payroll, rent, marketing—because they are trafficking in a federally illegal substance. This creates effective tax rates that can reach 70% or more for some cannabis operators, making it extremely difficult to run a financially sustainable business. Legalization or descheduling to Schedule III would eliminate or reduce the 280E burden.
Interstate commerce in cannabis could eventually become legal, allowing cultivators and manufacturers to ship products across state lines—a change that would fundamentally reshape the industry's supply chain and competitive dynamics.
And crucially, federal legalization would end the prosecution of individuals for cannabis under federal law. While most cannabis enforcement occurs at the state level, federal charges still apply to individuals on federal property, those involved in interstate transport, and others caught in the gap between state permissiveness and federal prohibition.
Minnesota's Stake in the Federal Fight
For Minnesotans who have built or invested in the state's cannabis industry, the federal debate is not an abstraction. Every Minnesota dispensary owner who can't open a business bank account, every cannabis cultivator paying inflated effective tax rates under 280E, and every Minnesotan with a federal cannabis conviction on their record has a direct stake in the outcome of Washington's slow movement toward reform.
Rep. Omar's "about damn time" comment may have been a political applause line, but it captures genuine frustration with a federal policy that has fallen dramatically behind state-level reform. As Minnesota's cannabis market continues to mature and generate significant tax revenue, consumer activity, and job creation, the mismatch between state law and federal prohibition creates real costs that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are increasingly motivated to address.
The MN Cannabis Hub will continue to track federal cannabis legislation and report on how changes in Washington could affect Minnesota dispensaries, consumers, and the state's growing cannabis industry.