John Oliver Explains Why It’s Time to Update Federal Marijuana Laws

Despite increasing acceptance, the federal government still classifies weed as a Schedule 1 drug.


Despite the fact that recreational marijuana has been legalized in eight states—with 44 states also allowing some form of medical marijuana use—federal law continues to classify weed as an illegal Schedule 1 drug. On Sunday, John Oliver took on the issue of clashing marijuana laws, explaining why the Trump administration is likely to make it even harder to fix such outdated laws.

“If you have marijuana right now, even if you are acting completely legally according to your state, you may still be in serious jeopardy,” Oliver said. “And that’s not your weed-induced paranoia talking.”

The Last Week Tonight host also pointed to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ history of opposing marijuana use to show why current legislative attempts to finally reclassify the drug may be doomed.

Fact:

Mother Jones was founded as a nonprofit in 1976 because we knew corporations and billionaires wouldn't fund the type of hard-hitting journalism we set out to do.

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

Fact:

Today, reader support makes up about two-thirds of our budget, allows us to dig deep on stories that matter, and lets us keep our reporting free for everyone. If you value what you get from Mother Jones, please join us with a tax-deductible donation today so we can keep on doing the type of journalism 2024 demands.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate