Decriminalizing marijuana proposal gets 35 House co-sponsors

[Swordsmyth]

Rep. William Lacy Clay is one of 35 House Democrats co-sponsoring legislation that would decriminalize marijuana in federal statutes and penalize states that don’t legalize it and have high rates of pot-related arrests and incarceration.

HR 4815 (https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4815) was introduced in January. Clay, D-St. Louis, signed on late last month. The bill would remove marijuana from coverage under the Controlled Substance Act and “eliminate criminal penalties for an individual who imports, exports, manufactures, distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute marijuana,” according to a synopsis of the bill.

The bill also “directs federal courts to expunge convictions for marijuana use or possession,” the summary says. And it “prohibits and reduces certain federal funds for a state without a statute legalizing marijuana, if the Bureau of Justice Assistance determines that such a state has a disproportionate arrest rate or disproportionate incarceration rate for marijuana offenses.”

More at: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/decriminalizing-marijuana-proposal-gets-house-co-sponsors-including-st-louis/article_4d856844-455e-554f-90a2-1989ee1216d9.html

[Swordsmyth]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (http://thehill.com/people/mitch-mcconnell) (R-Ky.) on Tuesday told reporters he has no plan to support the legalization of marijuana as he pushes an effort to legalize hemp.
“I do not have any plans to endorse the legalization of marijuana,” he said, adding that marijuana and hemp are “two entirely separate plants.”

More at: http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/386791-mcconnell-i-wont-support-legalizing-marijuana

[timosman]

Republican are morons for allowing the dems to steal this one.

[phill4paul]

Always with the "gotcha." Takes money away from anti-druggie "conservative" states and redistributes it to....


Shown Here:
Introduced in House (01/17/2018)
Marijuana Justice Act of 2018

This bill amends the Controlled Substances Act:

to remove marijuana and tetrahydrocannabinols from schedule I; and

to eliminate criminal penalties for an individual who imports, exports, manufactures, distributes, or possesses with intent to distribute marijuana.
It prohibits and reduces certain federal funds for a state without a statute legalizing marijuana, if the Bureau of Justice Assistance determines that such a state has a disproportionate arrest rate or disproportionate incarceration rate for marijuana offenses.

The bill directs federal courts to expunge convictions for marijuana use or possession.

Finally, it establishes in the Treasury the Community Reinvestment Fund. Amounts in the fund may be used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish a grant program to reinvest in communities most affected by the war on drugs.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4815

[Swordsmyth]

Always with the "gotcha." Takes money away from anti-druggie "conservative" states and redistributes it to....



https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/4815

Good catch, welfare is not an acceptable trade for this.