Democratic senators move to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level

[ad_1]

For the first time in history, some Senate Democrats moved on Wednesday to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, proposing to remove cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, one of the leaders of that effort, promised to use his “leverage” to make decriminalization a priority in the Senate.

“This is massive,” Schumer told reporters. “We are finally taking steps in the Senate to right the wrongs of the failed war on drugs.”

While Schumer acknowledged that Democrats have not yet unanimously supported the decriminalization bill he unveiled, he said the announcement represented an important step in the fight against injustice, especially among communities of color.

“The war on drugs was really a war on people, especially people of color,” Schumer said. “The waste of human resources due to historical excessive criminalization has been one of the major historical mistakes over the past decades and we are going to change it.”

The bill, Schumer said, was proposed with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and Senator Cory Booker, DN.J. It also aims to write off criminal records and create banking systems that give small businesses and minorities a seat at the table.

Wyden called the bill, “common sense for cannabis.”

Booker, who has long advocated for decriminalization, said the bill was urgently needed.

“Lives are being destroyed every single day, and the hypocrisy of this is that, right here in the Capitol now, the people running for Congress, the people running for the Senate, the people running for president of the United States, who readily admit they used marijuana, but we have kids in this country. People across this country, our warriors, black and white, low-income people, now bear the stigma of having a criminal conviction for doing things that half of the other four presidents have admitted to,” he said.

To date, 18 states have legalized recreational use of marijuana and 37 states, along with the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands, now allow medical use of the drug.

“The Cannabis Management and Opportunity Act will ensure that Americans—particularly black and brown Americans—no longer have to fear arrest or prohibition from public housing or federal financial assistance for higher education for cannabis use in states where it is legal,” the draft discussion read. “State-compliant cannabis companies will finally be treated like other businesses and allowed access to essential financial services, such as bank accounts and loans. Medical research will no longer be stifled.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer flanked by Senators Patty Murray, Dick Durbin and Debbie Stabeno as he speaks to reporters after the Senate’s weekly policy lunch for Democrats at the Capitol, July 13, 2021.

But a number of Republicans, led by Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, oppose legalization.

“I have no plans to support the legalization of marijuana,” McConnell said in 2018 when he announced his support for cannabis legalization, noting that they are “completely separate plants.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks to reporters after the weekly Senate luncheon at the Capitol, July 13, 2021.

Federal legislation would allow states to craft their own cannabis laws, just as states do with alcohol. This will end confusion in some states that have legalized the product in various forms, but where marijuana consumers can face potential civil and criminal penalties.

A new federal selective tax will also be created through legislation similar to alcohol and tobacco.

Cannabis will be taxed at 10% in the first year after the legislation becomes law. This rate “will rise annually to 15 percent, 20 percent and 25 percent in the following years. From the fifth year onwards, the ounce rate will be taxed in the case of the cannabis flower, or per capita. Milligrams of the THC rate in the case of any cannabis extract ‘, according to the discussion draft.

If the legislation is approved, it will have an immediate impact on the lives of many, and some will be released into prison for nonviolent crimes.

The bill would automatically write off federal nonviolent marijuana offenses and allow an individual who is currently serving a sentence in federal prison for nonviolent marijuana offenses to petition the court to appeal the ruling.

In this undated file photo, marijuana plants grow in Denver.

It would also reinvest the new federal tax revenue in the minority communities hardest hit by the “war on drugs” of the 1980s and ensure that no previous marijuana-related offenses were used to deny someone federal public assistance.

The proposed legislation would stimulate states and localities with federal assistance to write off criminal records for cannabis crime in exchange for funding under two new Small Business Administration programs designed to help hard-hit communities.

“The Cannabis Opportunity Program will provide funding to eligible states and localities to provide loans to assist small businesses in the cannabis industry owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals. The Equitable Licensing Program will provide funding to eligible states and localities to implement cannabis licensing programs that reduce barriers to individuals adversely affected by the War on Drugs,” As stated in the draft for the two new SBA programs.

Research into the effects of marijuana will also be improved, according to the sponsors.

“The researchers stated that cannabis produced for research is not comparable to cannabis used in adult use and nationwide drug markets, and that (DEA) previous failures to expand production of federally approved cannabis further limited productivity from their research,” the draft states.

Last year the House passed legislation to remove marijuana from its list of controlled substances and the legislation was reintroduced in May.

.

[ad_2]