Why is it so hard to legalize medical/recreational cannabis?

Like in Australia, there is always a bit of news here and there about cannabis being a viable medical option in the near future. 

However, the little jabs of news (which most are highly low-priority) have been here for years and such little progress is seen through the public's eyes atleast.


There are a number of reasons why legalizing medical and recreational cannabis is proving to be difficult. The first reason is that support for cannabis legalization depends heavily on party preference [2]. While the majority of Democrats and Independents favor legalization, only 53% of Republicans do [2]. Since Republicans control the Senate and the Oval Office, there is no pressing need to push for reform, even though the American public is firmly in favor of cannabis reform [2]. 

The second reason is that the U.S. federal government has been largely unwavering on its view of marijuana, holding firm on its Schedule I classification [1]. In plain English, this means it's illegal, prone to abuse, and has no recognized medical benefits [1]. As long as this federal classification exists, there remains a pretty firm ceiling on marijuana's potential within the United States [1].

A third reason is that legalization would create a money problem for the federal government [3]. As a Schedule I drug, businesses that deal in cannabis are disallowed from taking normal corporate income tax deductions, per Section 280E of the tax code [3]. With only cost of goods sold able to be deducted from revenue, most profitable weed companies pay a very high effective tax rate [3]. If
One of the main reasons that medical marijuana is still not widely legal is the fact that it is classified as a Schedule 1 substance, meaning that it has no medical use and is considered dangerous [4]. This makes it very difficult to pass policy regarding its use in medical situations, as states that allow medical marijuana are defying federal law [4]. Another factor that makes it difficult to legalize medical marijuana is the lack of clear evidence on how long-term marijuana usage affects the body [5]. Without this data, legislators are hesitant to approve it for medical use and risk outweighing the reward [5]. The process of legalizing medical marijuana is also made more difficult by the extra hurdles and complexities associated with implementing marijuana policy [5]. States that have legalized recreational marijuana use have experienced consequences such as increased marijuana-related traffic accidents and youth consumption, which are somewhat anecdotal and hard to draw conclusions from given the limited timeframe of implementation [5]. These factors, in addition to the fact that with many counties and cities leaning toward opting out of a statewide adult-use marijuana program, some legislators have an incentive to not support a bill [5].