It seems that marijuana activists have recruited some new teammates. In congress, the conservative wing is gradually voicing their opinions for ending the Federal war on marijuana in the United States. In fact, some of the most well known Republican members of congress are speaking out on this controversial issue.

A new law was introduced into congress last week. This bill is called the “Respect State Marijuana Laws Act”, which would provide the states to determine the severity of charges pertaining to pot charges. Therefore, each state would legislate accordingly under the Controlled Substances Act.

This new law would protect medical marijuana users under state legislation. To be sure, this would cover the bracket of medical marijuana users and recreational pot users. In addition, it would protect businesses that sell, distribute and process marijuana.

According to a Pew research poll last week, 60% of Americans believe that states should be responsible for creating legislation for marijuana charges. Moreover, Pew showed that 57% of Republicans in the House and Senate also agree to this ruling. Perhaps, this is what has triggered the Conservative party to step up and take a stance on this issue?

Furthermore, the Republican representative Rohrabacher has said that this bipartisan bill would establish the Federal government to respect states to claim their own marijuana laws. What this will do is refrain the Fed from criminalizing marijuana and offer the states a chance to dictate their own laws for marijuana regulation.

Decriminalization of marijuana also accounts for many of the drug possession charges around the United States each year. In many polls worldwide, Americans are showing support for the bipartisan approach to marijuana decriminalization and state regulation. This will also change the attitude of fearing Federal criminal persecution for marijuana charges. As it stands now, carrying or distributing marijuana is a Federal crime.

According to Steve Fox, the national political director of the MPP (Marijuana Policy Project), praised the bipartisan effort for less Federal regulations on marijuana policy issues. He has said, “marijuana prohibition is on its last legs”. This means that the public favors the decision to move marijuana legalization and regulation from the Feds to the states. Fox has also gone on to claim that this is a very Republican centered issue, since it removes control from the Feds and into the power of the states.

Furthermore, new legislation will provide the United States with a brand new opportunity. This could potentially open up new jobs across the country as well as remove a lot of the convicts behind bar for illegal marijuana use, possession and distribution. Overall, this will be a major transitional move in congress, once bipartisan legislation comes into play for this drug issue.