On April 20, 2016, NORML, the oldest non-profit public-interest legalization organization, released its 2016 Congressional Scorecard, assigning members of Congress letter grades ‘A’ through ‘F’ based upon their marijuana-related voting records and comments in 2015.

Grades Defined

NORML created the following grading scale for assigning letter grades:

• ‘A’ - member made public declaration of his/her backing of legalization and regulation.
• ‘B’ - member made public declaration of his/her backing of states enacting states’ rights to pursue legalization without involving the federal government.
• ‘C’ - member backs decriminalization and legalization of medical marijuana.
• ‘D’ - member has not voiced support for reforming marijuana laws.
•  ‘F’ - member has voiced heavy opposition to reforming marijuana laws.

Votes Reviewed

When grading members of the United States House, NORML weighed the following votes:

• the 2015 McClintock-Polis Amendment, defeated by the House, which would have prohibited the Department of Justice from interfering with adult use marijuana laws in legalized states;
• the 2015 Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment, passed by the House, prohibits the DOJ from interfering with medical marijuana programs in legalized states;
• and the 2015 Blumenauer Amendment, defeated by the House, which would have permitted physicians with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to recommend medicinal cannabis to veterans in legalized states.

When grading members of the United States Senate, NORML weighed the following votes:

• the 2015 Daines/Merkley Amendment, passed by the Senate but later defeated by the House, which would have permitted physicians with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to recommend medicinal cannabis to veterans in legalized states;
• the 2015 Mikulski Amendment, passed by the Senate, prohibits the DOJ from interfering with medical marijuana programs in legalized states;
• and the 2015 Merkley Amendment, passed by the Senate but later defeated by the House, which would have prohibited the U.S. Treasury Department from using federal funds to punish banks and financial institutions that provide services to state-legal marijuana-related businesses.

Results

Among the 535 members of the 114th Congress, here are some key findings from NORML’s 2016 Congressional Scorecard:

• ‘C’ or higher - 312 members, with 258 Representatives and 54 Senators.
  • ‘A’ - 19 members, with 17 Representatives and two Senators.
• ‘B’ - 221 members, 193 Representatives and 28 Senators
• ‘C’ - 72 members, with 48 Representatives and 24 Senators
• ‘D’ - 170 members, with 150 Representatives and 20 Senators
• ‘F’ - 37 members, with 20 Representatives and 17 Senators

In regards to party affiliation, 208 Democrats earned a ‘C’ or higher and 102 Republicans earned a ‘C’ or higher.