Rand Paul and Cory Booker to introduce bill legalizing medical marijuana (CARERS Act)

[tsai3904]

Sens. Rand Paul, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand will introduce on Tuesday a Senate bill that would legalize medical marijuana under federal law, another possible step towards relaxation of once strict policies toward the drug.

The Kentucky Republican and his New Jersey and New York Democratic colleagues will propose legislation that allows states that have passed medical marijuana laws to enact those programs without operating illegally under federal law. That bill would also allow veterans in states with medical marijuana programs to receive care from the government, according to guidance issued by their offices.
Story Continued Below

The legislation was lauded by marijuana legal reform advocates.

“Several marijuana policy reform bills have been introduced in the House of Representatives. The introduction of this legislation in the Senate demonstrates just how seriously this issue is being taken on Capitol Hill,” said Dan Riffle of the Marijuana Policy Project, which first informed reporters of the legislation.

...

More:
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/senate-medical-marijuana-bill-115904.html

[Mr.NoSmile]

Can say he's willing to reach across the aisle...if this ends up going anywhere with the neocon crowd in the Senate.

[jmdrake]

Can say he's willing to reach across the aisle...if this ends up going anywhere with the neocon crowd in the Senate.

Well we may be pleasantly surprised. In 2008 I had Tom Tancredo pegged as neocon and he led the fight for decriminalization in Colorado. Ultimately this should be a winner or Rand in the general election and maybe even the primary.

[YesI'mALiberal]

I applaud Rand Paul for this step. Now get it done (Mitch owes you a few favors, doesn't he?).

[Brett85]

Can say he's willing to reach across the aisle...if this ends up going anywhere with the neocon crowd in the Senate.


Well we may be pleasantly surprised. In 2008 I had Tom Tancredo pegged as neocon and he led the fight for decriminalization in Colorado. Ultimately this should be a winner or Rand in the general election and maybe even the primary.

Marijuana doesn't have anything to do with neoconservatism. Pat Buchanan supports marijuana prohibition but is about the furthest thing away from a neoconservative. Neil Boortz supports legalizing all drugs but supports all kinds of foreign intervention.

[JJ2]

"That bill would also allow veterans in states with medical marijuana programs to receive care from the government"

Awesome! All Rand has to do is paint the others in the primary as being "anti-Veteran" if they oppose this!

[r3volution 3.0]

"That bill would also allow veterans in states with medical marijuana programs to receive care from the government"

Awesome! All Rand has to do is paint the others in the primary as being "anti-Veteran" if they oppose this!

And they can't really argue with him about the benefits, since he'll be the only medical doctor in the room.

[surf]

that's a start, but federal decriminalization of "recreational" weed would have accomplished the same thing and much more

[eleganz]

This is amazing, should be enough senators to vote for this if we take the politics out of it. I can see some people going against simply because it would help boost Rand's favor with democratic base.

[nikcers]

This is amazing, should be enough senators to vote for this if we take the politics out of it. I can see some people going against simply because it would help boost Rand's favor with democratic base.

THE LETS GETS OUR VETERANS HIGH SO THEY STOP KILLING THEMSELVES BILL

If this is accurate (wont know till it launches) Source http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/03/09/whats-in-the-historic-medical-marijuana-bill-being-unveiled-on-tuesday/


The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion, and Respect States (CARERS) act grew out of an amendment proposed last year by Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and is being introduced by those two senators in conjunction with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).


Under the bill, marijuana would be downgraded one level in the Drug Enforcement Agency’s five-category drug classification system. It is currently treated, along with heroin, LSD, and ecstasy, as a Schedule 1 drug—those deemed by the DEA to have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” The bill would reclassify it as a Schedule 2 drug, joining cocaine, OxyContin, Adderall and Ritalin.

The bill would also make it easier to transport some marijuana between states. While medical marijuana is allowed in 23 states and D.C., another dozen states allow the drug on a much more limited basis. Those states typically allow restricted access to medicine derived from marijuana strains with low levels of THC, the drug’s primary psychoactive component, and high levels of CBD, which is believed to have medicinal benefits. But patients often have no way of accessing such drugs, so the proposed bill would ease restrictions on inter-state transport to facilitate access to such medicine.

The bill would also make it easier for banks to provide services to the marijuana industry as they do to any other.
It would reform the National Institute on Drug Abuse in order to broaden access to cannabis for research purposes.
And it would allow doctors working for the Department of Veterans Affairs in states where medical marijuana is legal to recommend it for certain conditions.

[Natural Citizen]

Relevant reading...




So far, 23 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana. Another dozen states have passed or are in the process of passing legislation regulating the use of cannabidiol (CBD) oils in those locations. However, if the federal government so chooses, they could prosecute the prescription pot users for violating national drug laws.

Several bills that would legalize medical marijuana on the federal level have already been introduced in the House of Representatives. Approximately two-thirds of Americans believe the federal government should not interfere (http://rt.com/usa/212919-usa-marijuana-legalization-federal-gov/) with state laws on the subject, according to a poll published in December.

"The introduction of this legislation in the Senate demonstrates just how seriously this issue is being taken on Capitol Hill,” Dan Riffle of the Marijuana Policy Project said in a statement. “This is a significant step forward when it comes to reforming marijuana laws at the federal level.”

Advocates of using the plant for medicinal use cheered the senators’ move.

“Almost half the states have legalized marijuana for medical use; it’s long past time to end the federal ban,” Michael Collins, policy manager for the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), said in a statement. “This bipartisan legislation allows states to set their own medical marijuana policies and ends the criminalization of patients, their families, and the caregivers and dispensary owners and employees who provide them their medicine.”

Paul has previously railed against several fellow Republicans who have said they are against medical marijuana, specifically potential 2016 GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida.

Bush told the Boston Globe in January that he had drank alcohol and smoked pot in high school. However, he has consistently opposed efforts to legalize marijuana or even loosen its penalties, Politico reported. The former governor urged voters to oppose a Florida ballot initiative in November that would have approved medicinal use of the drug.

"I think it's hypocritical that someone who used marijuana as a kid and now has harsh laws over it," Paul told Fox News on Sunday.

The Kentucky Republican also called Bush a hypocrite in the Hill newspaper over his stance earlier this year, after reading the Globe interview.

Booker and Paul worked together in June to author an amendment to a bill that would have broadly banned DOJ action against state medical marijuana laws. It mirrored a similar bill that was attached to a House spending bill that passed the lower chamber (http://rt.com/usa/162620-congress-dea-medical-marijuana/) in May.




Continued - Joint action: Bipartisan medical marijuana bill heads to US Senate (http://rt.com/usa/239101-booker-gillibrand-paul-medical-marijuana/)

[presence]

Nice step... but I'll be impressed when it can be grown in your own back yard without licenses, fees, tax stamps, or professional approval.

The whole fucking system of regulation and "legalization" needs to go.

[PAF]

Booker, who has gained attention for criticizing some aspects of the US drug war, explains in a Huffington Post interview on Tuesday that he wants to move resources from enforcing US laws against victimless drug crimes to enforcing US laws against victimless gun crimes. Says Booker:

I love when Second Amendment or pro-gun folks say, “We have enough gun crimes; enforce the laws that we have.” And I actually say, “You know what? You are right.” (laughs) We don’t actually enforce the laws that we have well because we have anemic [US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives], uh ATF group, because they don’t get the funding they need. Why? Because we’re spending so much money funding other agencies prosecuting the drug war.

Continue reading:

http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/congress-alert/2015/february/26/sen-cory-booker-use-war-on-drugs-resources-to-expand-war-on-guns/

[tsai3904]

Live link to press conference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTPi5lpXqOE

It's been going on for about 30 min now.

[dannno]

THE LETS GETS OUR VETERANS HIGH SO THEY STOP KILLING THEMSELVES BILL

lol, whoever wrote that obviously doesn't know what seroquel is.

[tsai3904]

Press conference:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inpF2Dt8O7w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inpF2Dt8O7w

Press release:
http://www.paul.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1310

[Bastiat's The Law]

Nice step... but I'll be impressed when it can be grown in your own back yard without licenses, fees, tax stamps, or professional approval.

The whole fucking system of regulation and "legalization" needs to go.

No doubt. Baby step for us. Giant leap for someone running for President. Hopefully the trend continues and Rand becomes bolder in the general election.

[Brett85]

This is a smart move by Rand, and not as controversial among Republicans as some people may think. The polls show that the majority of Republicans are in favor of legalizing marijuana for medical reasons.

[Brian4Liberty]

575720776592138240

[dancjm]

So what's the process here? What happens next? When will it be passed?

[thoughtomator]

So what's the process here? What happens next? When will it be passed?

what happens next is that the prison industry and the domestic paramilitary industry will get together and donate enough money to enough Senators to make sure this goes nowhere

[Scrooge McDuck]

Yeah he never had the old person vote anyway lol might as well play to everyone else

[r3volution 3.0]

I can't seem to find the bill number (would like to see co-sponsors).

Has it not been formally submitted yet?

[Millennial Conservatarian]

And they can't really argue with him about the benefits, since he'll be the only medical doctor in the room.
No, they'll just attack his medical record/license/education like the always do when he says something they disagree with on a medical issue (that isn't one directly related to his field)

[ShawnBaker]

Well. That's very good steps.

____________________________
http://dispensaryshops.com/location/washington/bothell-cannabis-dispensaries

[presence]

Maybe we should repeal the 21st amendment and introduce a bill legalizing medical whiskey.

[Suzanimal]

Nice step... but I'll be impressed when it can be grown in your own back yard without licenses, fees, tax stamps, or professional approval.

The whole fucking system of regulation and "legalization" needs to go.

I owe ya one.


You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to presence again.

[jct74]

CARERS Act is up to 19 co-sponsors...

https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/senate-bill/683/cosponsors



including Lindsey Graham.


Lindsey Graham’s Mind-Expanding Pot Journey
The conservative senator’s evolving views track a striking shift in public opinion on medical marijuana.

By James Higdon
September 20, 2016

Eighteen months ago, three junior senators attempted something their chamber had never considered, much less accomplished—starting to roll back the long-entrenched federal ban on marijuana.

Though all first-termers, the senators—Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Rand Paul of Kentucky—knew enough about the difficulties of marijuana politics to avoid any mention of full-scale legalization. They tailored the bill to focus narrowly on medical marijuana and the half-dozen stumbling blocks in federal law that have made it so difficult for Americans to get safe access to the increasingly popular drug.

They branded their bill with a clever acronym: the CARERS Act, for the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act of 2015, which, if passed, would do a number of sensible things: reclassify marijuana so that it is considered to have some medical value; permit banks to handle money from legal marijuana businesses; prevent the government from interfering with state-legal medical marijuana programs; exclude non-psychoactive marijuana extracts from the definition of marijuana; grant military veterans access to medical marijuana; and break the government’s monopoly on medical marijuana research.

To no one’s surprise, the bill went absolutely nowhere. But it didn’t die. Despite being ignored by leadership, it managed to collect 16 cosponsors by the end of 2015, a laundry list of mostly Democrats, two Republicans and an independent. Then, early this year, a 17th name was added, and a surprising one at that: Lindsey Graham.

The senior senator from South Carolina, an establishment Republican if ever there was one, a foreign policy hawk who ran for president this cycle in large part because he perceived Rand Paul’s isolationism as a threat to national security, Lindsey Graham—who represents a state that doesn’t even allow medical marijuana—has become one of the unlikeliest and potentially most influential of the bill’s backers because he is unique among the bill's cosponsors (now at 20), as he’s the only one with a gavel.

And unlike his colleagues among Republican leadership, Graham is using his authority to move the marijuana bill forward. In mid-July, he chaired a Judiciary subcommittee hearing focused on the pros and cons of changing the way the Drug Enforcement Administration classifies marijuana like it was heroin. Over the 4½ decades of the war on drugs, there have been plenty of hearings on the dangers of marijuana, but before July 13 there had never been a hearing on marijuana's medical benefits. “If there was one, I don't know about it,” Graham told POLITICO Magazine.

...

read more:
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/lindsey-graham-pot-journey-medical-marijuana-214266