In a Milestone, Schumer Will Propose Federal Decriminalization of Marijuana

[SaysWho?]

I feel like Schumer used to be much harder on drug laws.

 

In a Milestone, Schumer Will Propose Federal Decriminalization of Marijuana - The New York Times

WWW.NYTIMES.COM

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Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, will offer draft legislation to remove marijuana from the list of controlled substances and begin regulating and taxing it.

 

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The draft bill, called the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and begin regulating and taxing it, placing federal rules on a burgeoning industry that has faced years of uncertainty. Though states would still be allowed to set their own marijuana laws, businesses and individuals in states that have legalized its use would be free for the first time to sell and consume it without the risk of federal punishment.

 

The proposal would also try to make recompense to communities of color and the poor for damage from years of restrictive federal drug policy. It calls for immediately expunging nonviolent marijuana-related arrests and convictions from federal records and would earmark new tax revenue for restorative justice programs intended to lift up communities affected by “the failed federal prohibition of cannabis.”

 

The bill aims to “finally turn the page on this dark chapter in American history and begin righting these wrongs,” said Senator Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, who wrote the bill with Mr. Schumer and Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon and the chairman of the Finance Committee.

 

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They are expected to propose empowering the Food and Drug Administration and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau at the Treasury Department to begin regulating the production, distribution and sale of marijuana, removing the Drug Enforcement Administration from its current oversight role. Among other implications, the changes would allow marijuana companies already operating in states where it is legal to gain full access to the United States banking system.

 

The legislation would gradually institute a federal excise tax like the one on alcohol and tobacco sales, eventually as high as 25 percent for big businesses, allowing the federal government to benefit from sales that came close to $20 billion in 2020. The revenue would then be funneled back to communities most affected by federal drug policy and to fund expanded medical research into cannabis that is currently limited by its status as a controlled substance.

 

One provision, for instance, would establish a cannabis justice office at the Justice Department to help fund job training, legal aid and help with re-entry after incarceration. Another program would promote loans to small cannabis businesses owned by members of racially or economically marginalized groups to try to ensure that communities that suffered disproportionately under the war on drugs are not left out of the gold rush that has accompanied legalization.

 

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The legislation faces an uphill battle in the Senate, where Republicans are opposed, and it is unlikely to become law in the near future. President Biden has not endorsed it, and some moderate Democrats are likely to balk at the implications of decriminalizing a drug that has been policed and stigmatized for so long.

 

Pretty funny that "moderates" are totally out of the mainstream.

 

 

[Jason]

 

[b_m_b_m_b_m]

2 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

[Keyser_Soze]

5 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

 

Your title was too cryptic.

[SaysWho?]

8 minutes ago, Jason said:

 

 

2 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Your title was too cryptic.

 

This time, I got nothing unless "I scrolled halfway down the first page and not the whole way," is acceptable.  

[CitizenVectron]

After the Democrats pass this, I can't wait until the NYT has an article like "Marijuana legalized after Republicans and Democrats hold vote."