On early Friday morning, the House of Representatives passed a bill to federally decriminalize marijuana and eliminate criminal penalties for individuals who distribute or possess it. The bill passed with a narrow margin of 220-204 and had 3 Republicans supporting it while 2 Democrats opposed it.
There was a previous marijuana legalization bill passed in the House in December 2020. However, the measure did not go far in the Senate as it was still largely GOP controlled. There might still be a bit of a struggle to advance this new bill in the Senate, but Schumer will be working to introduce the bill sometime this spring.
The bill is intended to clear marijuana convictions and remove it from the list of controlled substances, thereby decriminalizing any marijuana-related offenses on the federal level. There would also be an imposed sales tax, that would range from 5 to 8% over the next few years, that would be used to fund programs aimed at helping underprivileged communities.
Additionally, Democrats emphasized how the bill would work to reverse the severe negative impact of criminalizing marijuana on racial minorities, especially Hispanics and African Americans. Despite similar use among African Americans and whites, African Americans are much more likely to be arrested for marijuana use or possession. As a result, the decriminalization of marijuana will remove previous convictions and prevent future convictions for those whose records were ruined simply for marijuana use.
Opponents of the bill cited that marijuana is a gateway drug that would lead to greater use of opioids and other substances. They also said the marijuana sold today is more potent than what was sold in previous years which would lead to greater impairment and increase crime and possibly fatal car accidents.
In 37 states, medical marijuana use has been legalized. In over 18 states, adult recreational use has been legalized. Many states have already been ahead of the federal curve which is why it is very important for the federal government to take this important step and make it an overarching federal law to decriminalize marijuana and expunge those records.
Chuck Schumer will now be working diligently to craft similar legislation in the Senate, but the outlook for passing a bill of that kind in the Senate appears to be low because of the significant support that Democrats would need to advance to a final vote and avoid extreme Republican opposition that would prevent that vote.
This blog post is part of the CIMA Law Group blog. If you are located in Arizona and are seeking legal services, CIMA Law Group specializes in Immigration Law, Criminal Defense, Personal Injury, and Government Relations.
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