Senate Drug Warrior Supports Medical Marijuana Bill

[Origanalist]

BY TOM ANGELL ON JULY 28, 2015 LAW & POLITICS, PEOPLE, UNCATEGORIZED
One of Congress’s most ardent supporters of the so-called “war on drugs” surprised many medical cannabis supporters by adding his name to a comprehensive reform bill on Monday.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who has long championed harsh drug penalties and opposed efforts to reform marijuana laws, signed on as a co-sponsor of the Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States Act of 2015.

The legislation, known as the CARERS Act, would reschedule marijuana, allow banks to provide financial services to state-legal cannabis businesses, lift restrictions on marijuana research, permit the interstate importation of CBD-rich cannabis preparations and grant V.A. doctors the ability to recommend medical marijuana to military veterans, among other changes.

The bill now 15 has senators on board, including two Republicans.

Schumer’s support for medical marijuana comes in contrast to decades of work on Capitol Hill to ramp up drug penalties and oppose reforms.

“The fact that tough-on-crime Democrat such as Senator Schumer has become a cosponsor of the CARERS Act shows how truly mainstream the issue of medical marijuana is today,” Mike Liszewski, director of government affairs for Americans for Safe Access, told Marijuana.com. He added that support from Schumer, who is the third-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate and is widely expected to take over as minority leader when Harry Reid retires at the end of the current Congressional session, “shows that the CARERS Act is viable and on the minds of leadership.”

While this is the first time Schumer has cosponsored legislation to reform marijuana laws, he has given indications over the past year that his position is evolving.

In an interview with MSNBC last January, he said it is a “good idea” to let states move ahead with implementing legalization without federal interference. “We now have the states as laboratories, different states at different levels. Colorado and Washington sort of opened the door,” he said. “I’d be a little cautious here at the federal level and see the laboratories of the states, see their outcomes before we make a decision.”

In September, he joined fellow New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, also a Democrat, in urging the federal government to grant their state a waiver to import CBD-rich cannabis preparations to treat children suffering from severe seizure disorders. New York has a medical marijuana law, but its implementation has been slow.

“We urge the Department of Justice, using adequate safeguards to keep it out of the black market, to provide this waiver so that some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers can have a measure of relief from their suffering,” Schumer said at the time.

continued...http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2...arijuana-bill/

[Occam's Banana]

“I’d be a little cautious here at the federal level and see the laboratories of the states, see their outcomes before we make a decision.”

Strange ... I thought that was what the Constitution was supposed to be for ...

[Origanalist]

Strange ... I thought that was what the Constitution was supposed to be for ...

[Tinnuhana]

Not The Onion, but:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...ti-pot-satire/

[Origanalist]

Not The Onion, but:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...ti-pot-satire/

They must be getting high over there, they posted a pro legalization op ed and had to retract it.

[surf]

so, am I correct in my view that apparently the Blob is the only presidential candidate that is threatening to wipe marijuana off the face of the [US]?

[Occam's Banana]

Not The Onion, but:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...ti-pot-satire/

LMAO. FTA:

The "author" of the story is one Haywood Bynum III, whose other bylines include "Is It Time For America To Invade The Middle East and Rename It New America," "German Soccer Team Uses Nazi Super Soldier Serum To Beat Brazil 7-1, Risks Start of World War III" and "Are Women Even People, Really?"

[ClydeCoulter]

Medical Maryjane........money to be maid...as in laid...

[Root]

FFS, just treat it like any other crop and be done with it already.

[Origanalist]

FFS, just treat it like any other crop and be done with it already.

makes too much sense...

[Sola_Fide]

FFS, just treat it like any other crop and be done with it already.

There's too much money to be made and too much control to be had for that to happen.