Presented today, a new congressional bill aims to get government and cannabis on the same side of the law by ending a decades-long federal ban on the plant.
Introduced by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, the ‘Marijuana Justice Act of 2017‘ seeks to end federal prohibition of cannabis and address the impacts that such prohibition continues to have on both government and individuals. In an announcement on Facebook Live, Booker said he believes the federal government “should get out of the illegal marijuana business,” and hopes to allow law enforcement to focus their time and spending on more serious matters.
“You see what’s happening around this country right now. Eights states and the District of Columbia have moved to legalize marijuana. And these states are seeing decreases in violent crime in their states,” Booker commented. “They’re seeing increases in revenue to their states. They’re seeing their police forces being able to focus on serious crime. They’re seeing positive things come out of that experience.”
In order to lift the federal ban on cannabis, Booker’s bill seeks to remove it from the group of drugs included in the U.S. Controlled Substances Act, where it is currently listed as a Schedule I drug alongside heroin and LSD. As the longtime drug-reform nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance explained in a release, the bill additionally seeks to:
- Cut federal funding for state law enforcement and prison construction if a state disproportionately arrests and/or incarcerates low-income individuals and/or people of color for marijuana offenses
- Allow entities to sue states that disproportionately arrest and/or incarcerate low-income individuals and/or people of color for marijuana offenses
- Prevent deportations of individuals for marijuana offenses
- Provide for a process of expungement for marijuana offenses at the federal level
- Provide for a process of re-sentencing for marijuana offenses at the federal level
- Create a “Community Reinvestment Fund” of $500 million to invest in communities most impacted by the war on drugs, for programs such as job training, reentry, community centers, and more. Part of the funding will come from the aforementioned cuts to state law enforcement and prison construction.
“These marijuana arrests are targeting poor and minority communities, [and] targeting our veterans. We see the injustice of it all,” Booker continued. “I have seen young teenagers getting arrested, saddled with criminal convictions for the rest of their lives.”
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) kneels near four-year-old Morgan Hintz, who suffers from a rare form of epilepsy, during a news conference on medical marijuana, on Capitol Hill, March 10, 2015 in Washington, DC. Her mother has been advocating the use of cannbidiol for her treatment.
Booker also noted that a felony marijuana conviction means “[having] to deal with about 40,000 collateral consequences” down the line for most people. “They can’t get business licenses, Pell Grants, public housing, food stamps.”
In a statement, the Drug Policy Alliance praised the bill’s attempts to address the harms that cannabis prohibition has caused, and to create a path forward for U.S. treatment of the drug.
“The question is no longer ‘should we legalize marijuana?’; it is ‘how do we legalize marijuana?’ We must do so in a way that recognizes that the people who suffered most under prohibition are the same people who should benefit most under legalization,” said Queen Adesuyi, policy associate for Drug Policy Alliance. “From disparate marijuana-related arrests and incarceration rates to deportations and justifications for police brutality – the war on drugs has had disparate harm on low-income communities and communities of color. It’s time to rectify that.”
John Malanca, co-founder of United Patients Group, believes the bill’s proposed changes to federal treatment of cannabis would be a step in the right direction, but one that’s taken far too long. “We work with thousands of patients across the country who use medical cannabis to address serious conditions and alleviate needless suffering. Even though a grassroots movement has led to medical access in 29 states, federal recognition is key, and Sen. Booker’s legislation is long overdue,” he commented by email.
He also pointed out that federal cannabis legalization would allow universities and other medical research groups to conduct needed cannabis research “without fear,” or perhaps the bushels of red tape they currently face.
According to Malanca, that will effectively mean “opening the floodgates of investment for entrepreneurs to innovate and bring to the market safer, more effective treatment options, [that] rigorous and standardized testing can be conducted at the federal level, and that marketers of cannabis products will have to validate their claims.” He added, “For patients and their families, that can only be good news.”
In the past several months, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has indicated repeatedly that he hopes to lead the Justice Department toward stricter treatment of marijuana and other drug crimes. In April, Sessions announced the department would be re-evaluating its stance on cannabis, and instructed federal prosecutors to seek the most severe penalties possible for drug offenders in May.
Late last month, however, a Congressional committee “rebuked” one of Sessions’ strongest gestures toward a cannabis-crackdown to date. As MassRoots reported, Sessions asked his former colleagues in the Senate earlier this year to forgo federal protections on states’ management and implementation of marijuana laws, as enacted under President Obama in 2014.
Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee rejected Sessions’ request to drop the provision protecting states from federal interference over marijuana laws, adding a rider to this effect to legislation funding the Justice Department’s 2018 budget through a voice vote.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who sponsored the amendment, commented before the vote, “It is more humane to regulate medical marijuana than to criminalize it, [and] I don’t want [the Justice Department] spending money pursuing medical marijuana patients who are following state law … We have more important things for [it] to do than tracking down doctors or others, epileptics, who are using medical marijuana legally in their state.”
According to a Quinnipiac University poll conducted in April, 94% of Americans support allowing the use of medical marijuana, and 60% favor full marijuana legalization.
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