A third of Americans now live in a state where adult-use marijuana is now legal, but don’t expect federal-level legalization anytime soon. While states continue to enact cannabis reform—including four states this past Election Day—efforts to remove federal prohibitions are likely to fail in the Senate, where opposition is still strong from older, more conservative members—even from states that have legalized. That’s why the latest move by the Democratic-led House to pass legislation to remove federal marijuana laws, expected this week, will likely be stopped in the Senate. This could change, however, as the next Senate will include 30 members who represent states where marijuana is legal—eight more than are in the chamber now, including six Republicans.
Meanwhile, anti-marijuana legalization groups have filed lawsuits in three states to overturn voter-approved pot legalization. The lawsuits in Mississippi, Montana and South Dakota seek to invalidate the results due to legal technicalities in the three states, in which voters overwhelmingly approved legalization ballot measures.
And finally, new guidelines concerning pediatric post-surgery opioid use have sparked debate about how to strike the right balance between the risks and dangers of prescription painkillers and frightening both parents and doctors from using them when required. Some say the guidelines weigh too heavily on risk factors—noting that evidence of increasing opioid use in children is very weak—and therefore may discourage use for legitimate pain management. The guidelines recommend non-opioid medications as first line postoperative drugs, including the use of regional anesthesia; if opioids are prescribed, then careful supervision is essential.