Senate Cannabis billSenate Democrats introduced a cannabis legalization bill. Senate Democrats introduced a cannabis legalization bill. Congress should pass it.The evidence is overwhelming against having a patchwork legal system where some states promote the sale of marijuana and others still criminalize it.
The Editorial BoardUSA
TODAYPublished 5:02 AM MDT Aug. 1, 2022 Updated 5:02 AM MDT Aug. 1, 2022
It's time to stop pretending the war on drugs ever worked. And a bill from a few Democratic members in the Senate is a step toward that.Sen. Cory Booker, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Ron Wyden, head of the Senate Finance Committee, reintroduced a revised bill to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and to remove it from the schedule of federal drug offenses. Congress should pass it for two reasons:?While attitudes about marijuana use once presented a challenge, this is no longer the case. Most Americans support the legalization of recreational and #$%$ Recreational marijuana is now legal in 19 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and medical cannabis is legal in 37 states.?No one should go to jail or be targeted by police for a nonviolent marijuana-related crime when its use is legal in most states ? a point made even more obvious when we look at how ineffective, costly and harsh the enforcement of drug laws are depending on the community.Our View: Attitudes on cannabis legalization have shifted, including oursAnother View: Legalizing marijuana? Stay wary of health risks and commercialization.It's time to end the patchwork legal system and reform federal law on marijuana.A new approach to marijuana lawsThe revised version of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act tackles legal and social reform. The House attempted its own bill to legalize cannabis at the federal level in the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which passed 220-204 along party lines in April but likely won't pass the Senate. The revised Senate legislation includes important decriminalization efforts, such as removing marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act, as well as removing it from the purview of the Drug Enforcement Administration to that of other agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration.Secretary-general of the U.N.: 5 steps to help us kick fossil fuel addiction and save the planetCritically, by decriminalizing the substance, the bill frees up access to the banking system, which marijuana-industry businesses have been barred from because of its criminalization under federal law. The bill is hardly perfect. It would impose a 25% tax on marijuana sales ? a tariff so steep it has the potential to boost the illegal market.