[Vision2020] House of Representatives to vote on marijuana legalization bill

[Tom Hansen]

What can I say but . . .

“Don’t Bogart That Join”
http://www.tomandrodna.com/MoscowCares/Songs/Dont_Bogart_That_Joint.mp3

Being grounded at home during the Corona Virus suddenly sounds like fun.

Courtesy of USA Today at:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2020/12/04/legal-weed-house-vote-marijuana-legalization-bill/3791933001/

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House of Representatives to vote on marijuana legalization bill

WASHINGTON – The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is set to vote on marijuana legalization at the federal level Friday, the first time either chamber of Congress has voted on the matter.

The bill is likely to pass the chamber, but the Republican-controlled Senate is unlikely to take up the legislation in the last two weeks Congress is in session this year.

The measure, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., would remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances and expunge some marijuana-related criminal records. It would still be up to states to pass their own regulations on the sale of marijuana.

Nadler told USA TODAY in September the vote on the bill would be a "historic vote" as the federal government put an end to its "40-year, very misguided crusade" against marijuana.

He highlighted provisions in the MORE Act that fund community programs to benefit people previously convicted of marijuana-related offenses. He said the provisions were about "making people whole from harms suffered directly as a result of the marijuana ban," which he said disproportionately affected racial minorities.

Advocates see the vote as a part of a move toward "justice."

"With this vote, Congress is recognizing the disproportionate impact enforcement has had on our communities and calling for the unjust status quo to be disrupted," said Maritza Perez, director of the office of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, a group advocating for the decriminalization of drugs.

An ACLU report analyzing marijuana-related arrests from 2010 to 2018 found that Black people were 3.64 times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession.

The bill's likely passage comes as more states have legalized marijuana and public opinions on the topic have shifted.

Four more states passed marijuana legalization measures in the November elections, bringing the total number of states with legal marijuana use for adults to 15. Medical marijuana is legal in thirty-six states. 3

A planned vote on the legislation was shelved in October following a backlash from moderate Democrats, who had expressed concern about the effort to pass the marijuana legalization bill before the election, amid the impasse on COVID-19 stimulus negotiations.

Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., a moderate Democrat who faced a close reelection race this year, voiced a similar concern Tuesday, as Congress remains deadlocked over a stimulus bill, writing on Twitter that while marijuana decriminalization was important, House Democrats' focus should be on "nothing else" besides COVID-19 relief.

Republicans have also criticized Democrats for moving on marijuana legalization despite other major concerns before Congress.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters Thursday Democrats were "focused on cats and cannabis instead of COVID."

And Senate Republicans quipped Democrats had decided to "'puff, puff, pass' on job-saving PPP and COVID relief."

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.moscowcares.com/

  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
“A stranger is just a friend you haven't met.” - Roy E. Stolworthy
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