A Democratic senator from New Jersey proposed legislation (PDF) Tuesday that would remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances. The proposal, if adopted, would also financially punish states that fail to decriminalize marijuana if they have racial disparities in their arrest and incarceration rates connected to marijuana.
So far, eight states have legalized recreational marijuana, but pot remains illegal under federal law—meaning that President Donald Trump’s administration could crack down on those states if it chose to.
“For decades, the failed War on Drugs has locked up millions of nonviolent drug offenders—especially for marijuana-related offenses—at an incredible cost of lost human potential, torn apart families and communities, and taxpayer dollars,” Sen. Cory Booker said in a Facebook post.
The legislation tries to push the rest of the US to adopt pro-marijuana laws. Booker’s legislation would penalize states that don’t have pro-marijuana laws. The measure would withhold criminal justice federal funding to anti-marijuana states if data shows a racially disproportionate prison and arrest rate for marijuana. An American Civil Liberties Union study in 2013 found that African-Americans are four times more likely to be charged with marijuana crimes compared to whites—even though the rate of usage is similar between the two groups.
The legislation also creates a $500 million annual “Community Reinvestment Fund” grant program to “reinvest in communities most affected by the War on Drugs.”
The marijuana lobby hailed the bill, which would also provide an avenue for federal marijuana convicts to get their records expunged. Despite the proposal’s zero chance of being passed, the measure highlights that marijuana has come a long way. A few years ago, not a single state had legalized pot for recreational purposes. Now eight states have done so. And 29 states and the District of Columbia have pro-medical marijuana laws on the books.
Erik Altieri, the Executive Director of NORML, said:Not only is it imperative we end our failed experiment of marijuana prohibition, we must also ensure justice for those who suffered most under these draconian policies… We applaud Senator Booker for introducing this robust legislation that would not only remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, but provide a path forward for the individuals and communities that were most disproportionately targeted by our nation’s failed war on marijuana consumers.
Plenty of bills have been floated to legalize marijuana at the federal level. But the pro-pot group, Marijuana Majority, described Booker’s measure as “the single most far-reaching marijuana bill that’s ever been filed in either chamber of Congress.” Other groups, however, including Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said lawmakers should focus on “implementing solutions” to the opioid epidemic, not legalizing pot.
credit:420intel.com
