April 20th came and went but before it went, the United States Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, referred to the date as an ‘unofficial American holiday.’

This is because 4/20 is a day that marijuana enthusiasts around the world celebrate the recreational drug.

Schumer has been making a vocal case to support marijuana legalization and the top Democrat wants to “end the federal prohibition on marijuana.”

“Today is what you might call a very unofficial American holiday: 4/20,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Tuesday. “It’s as appropriate a time as any to take a hard look at our laws that have over-criminalized the use of marijuana and put it on par with heroin, LSD and other narcotics that bear little or no resemblance in their effects either on individuals or on society more broadly.”

Discussing the disproportionate effect that drug laws have had on people of color over the past decades, Schumer is calling for the need for a “comprehensive reform effort.”

Young men and women “have been arrested and jailed for even carrying a small amount of marijuana — a charge that often came with exorbitant penalties and a serious criminal record, from which they might never recover,” Schumer said. “It makes no sense and it’s time for a change.”

Schumer said he is planning to create legislation that would “end the federal prohibition on marijuana” and “ensure restorative justice.”

A recent Gallup poll from this past November revealed that 68% of Americans are now in favor of legalization.

“Hopefully the next time this unofficial holiday of 4/20 rolls around, our country will have made progress in addressing the massive over-criminalization of marijuana in a meaningful and comprehensive way,” Schumer said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that Biden “supports leaving decisions regarding legalization for recreational use up to the states.”

The president backs “decriminalizing marijuana use and automatically expunging any prior criminal records,” and “legalizing medical marijuana,” Psaki further said.


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