President Joe Biden last week signed into law what Marijuana Moment describes as "the first piece of standalone federal cannabis reform legislation" ever enacted in the United States. That is probably the most impressive thing you can say about the new law, which aims to make it somewhat easier for scientists to study a drug that is still prohibited for all other purposes under federal law.
The legislation, which received broad bipartisan support in the House and Senate, suggests how far the national conversation about cannabis has progressed since California became the first state to approve its medical use in 1996. At the same time, the bill's modest scope shows how much distance remains between federal law and the marijuana policies that three-quarters of the states have adopted.
