"The time has come to decriminalize marijuana," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Friday. (Photo: Elston/flickr/cc)
Apr 20, 2018
In a positive step to address the failed war on drugs, the Senate's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, announced Friday that he will soon put forth legislation to effectively decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, calling it "the right thing to do for America."
"The time has come to decriminalize marijuana," stated Schumer. "My thinking--as well as the general population's views--on the issue has evolved, and so I believe there's no better time than the present to get this done. It's simply the right thing to do."
"When I first came to Congress in 1981, only 1 in 4 Americans believed marijuana should be made legal. Today, that number has climbed to nearly two thirds, a record high," he writes at Medium.
The Drug Policy Alliance gave the announcement cautious praise, writing on Twitter: "We're glad to see @SenSchumer come around and finally support federal marijuana reform! Looking forward to seeing more details about his bill, but it sounds like he wants to de-schedule marijuana & completely remove it from the Controlled Substances Act."
Schumer first announced the move Thursday--the day before the drug's unofficial holiday--to VICE News. The legislation is expected within the next week, the news outlet reported.
The key change Schumer's legislation would effect is removing marijuana from the list of "Schedule 1" drugs, where it sits alongside heroin and LSD. In a Twitter thread, the senator outlines the other changes it would bring about:
\u201cTHREAD: It\u2019s official. Today, I am formally announcing my plan to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. It\u2019s time we allow states, once and for all, to have the power to decide what works best for them.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cI have long believed that states should function as their own laboratories of democracy. My bill is a step in the right direction aimed at removing the barriers to state legalization efforts.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cSo why have I changed my stance? Looking at the numbers helped. 2/3 of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized, meanwhile more than half of all drug arrests in the United States are marijuana arrests. (https://t.co/MUOam2uIxz)\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cAnd under existing law, the federal government considers marijuana as dangerous as heroin and treats it less favorably than cocaine. That has to change.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cIn addition to decriminalization, my bill will invest critical resources into the THC research needed to prevent unintended effects on our youth and ensure highway safety.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cIt will also maintain federal authority to regulate interstate trafficking to ensure that marijuana from states that have legalized doesn\u2019t pour into those that have not.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cNow, I recognize that time after time when these sweeping changes occur, the little guys lose while the big guys continue to profit. We saw this with big tobacco and we could see it with marijuana as well.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cThat\u2019s why this bill will inject real dollars into minority and women-owned businesses to ensure those disproportionately affected by marijuana criminalization can benefit from this new economy.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cIt's clear that African Americans and Latinos have been disproportionately impacted; approximately 80% of people in federal prison and 60% in state prison for drug offenses are black or Latino.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cThis will not course correct the damage that\u2019s been done, but it is a first step that can help to enable those historically harmed to have an opportunity to better compete in the industry as we make this change on the federal level.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cPlain and simple: this is the right thing to do for America.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
Schumer's formal announcement comes a day after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced he became the third co-sponsor of the Marijuana Justice Act, introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Kirsten Gilibrand (N.Y.) are already co-sponsors, and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) introduced a companion bill in the House. Lee argued the legislation was especially pressing given the Trump administration's "doubling down on unjust marijuana criminalization policies."
Like Schumer's expected legislation, Booker's bill would take marijuana off the list of scheduled substances. Booker's would also establish a $500 million fund to annually reinvest in communities most impacted by the war on drugs, incentivize states to legalize marijuana, and expunge federal marijuana use and possession crimes.
In a CNN op-ed on Friday, Drug Policy Alliance staffers Jolene Forman and Suchitra Rajagopalan argue that now is the time to "look beyond just legalizing" marijuana and make sure legislation recognizes the disproportionate impact marijuana criminalization has had on non-white communities.
"Marijuana legalization isn't--and shouldn't be--simply about greater access to marijuana," they write. "We must center the people who have been most harmed by decades of racialized drug policies. If we don't, marijuana legalization won't fulfill its potential to repair the devastation that mass criminalization has wrought on black and brown communities."
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In a positive step to address the failed war on drugs, the Senate's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, announced Friday that he will soon put forth legislation to effectively decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, calling it "the right thing to do for America."
"The time has come to decriminalize marijuana," stated Schumer. "My thinking--as well as the general population's views--on the issue has evolved, and so I believe there's no better time than the present to get this done. It's simply the right thing to do."
"When I first came to Congress in 1981, only 1 in 4 Americans believed marijuana should be made legal. Today, that number has climbed to nearly two thirds, a record high," he writes at Medium.
The Drug Policy Alliance gave the announcement cautious praise, writing on Twitter: "We're glad to see @SenSchumer come around and finally support federal marijuana reform! Looking forward to seeing more details about his bill, but it sounds like he wants to de-schedule marijuana & completely remove it from the Controlled Substances Act."
Schumer first announced the move Thursday--the day before the drug's unofficial holiday--to VICE News. The legislation is expected within the next week, the news outlet reported.
The key change Schumer's legislation would effect is removing marijuana from the list of "Schedule 1" drugs, where it sits alongside heroin and LSD. In a Twitter thread, the senator outlines the other changes it would bring about:
\u201cTHREAD: It\u2019s official. Today, I am formally announcing my plan to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. It\u2019s time we allow states, once and for all, to have the power to decide what works best for them.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cI have long believed that states should function as their own laboratories of democracy. My bill is a step in the right direction aimed at removing the barriers to state legalization efforts.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cSo why have I changed my stance? Looking at the numbers helped. 2/3 of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized, meanwhile more than half of all drug arrests in the United States are marijuana arrests. (https://t.co/MUOam2uIxz)\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cAnd under existing law, the federal government considers marijuana as dangerous as heroin and treats it less favorably than cocaine. That has to change.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cIn addition to decriminalization, my bill will invest critical resources into the THC research needed to prevent unintended effects on our youth and ensure highway safety.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cIt will also maintain federal authority to regulate interstate trafficking to ensure that marijuana from states that have legalized doesn\u2019t pour into those that have not.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cNow, I recognize that time after time when these sweeping changes occur, the little guys lose while the big guys continue to profit. We saw this with big tobacco and we could see it with marijuana as well.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cThat\u2019s why this bill will inject real dollars into minority and women-owned businesses to ensure those disproportionately affected by marijuana criminalization can benefit from this new economy.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cIt's clear that African Americans and Latinos have been disproportionately impacted; approximately 80% of people in federal prison and 60% in state prison for drug offenses are black or Latino.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cThis will not course correct the damage that\u2019s been done, but it is a first step that can help to enable those historically harmed to have an opportunity to better compete in the industry as we make this change on the federal level.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cPlain and simple: this is the right thing to do for America.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
Schumer's formal announcement comes a day after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced he became the third co-sponsor of the Marijuana Justice Act, introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Kirsten Gilibrand (N.Y.) are already co-sponsors, and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) introduced a companion bill in the House. Lee argued the legislation was especially pressing given the Trump administration's "doubling down on unjust marijuana criminalization policies."
Like Schumer's expected legislation, Booker's bill would take marijuana off the list of scheduled substances. Booker's would also establish a $500 million fund to annually reinvest in communities most impacted by the war on drugs, incentivize states to legalize marijuana, and expunge federal marijuana use and possession crimes.
In a CNN op-ed on Friday, Drug Policy Alliance staffers Jolene Forman and Suchitra Rajagopalan argue that now is the time to "look beyond just legalizing" marijuana and make sure legislation recognizes the disproportionate impact marijuana criminalization has had on non-white communities.
"Marijuana legalization isn't--and shouldn't be--simply about greater access to marijuana," they write. "We must center the people who have been most harmed by decades of racialized drug policies. If we don't, marijuana legalization won't fulfill its potential to repair the devastation that mass criminalization has wrought on black and brown communities."
In a positive step to address the failed war on drugs, the Senate's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York, announced Friday that he will soon put forth legislation to effectively decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, calling it "the right thing to do for America."
"The time has come to decriminalize marijuana," stated Schumer. "My thinking--as well as the general population's views--on the issue has evolved, and so I believe there's no better time than the present to get this done. It's simply the right thing to do."
"When I first came to Congress in 1981, only 1 in 4 Americans believed marijuana should be made legal. Today, that number has climbed to nearly two thirds, a record high," he writes at Medium.
The Drug Policy Alliance gave the announcement cautious praise, writing on Twitter: "We're glad to see @SenSchumer come around and finally support federal marijuana reform! Looking forward to seeing more details about his bill, but it sounds like he wants to de-schedule marijuana & completely remove it from the Controlled Substances Act."
Schumer first announced the move Thursday--the day before the drug's unofficial holiday--to VICE News. The legislation is expected within the next week, the news outlet reported.
The key change Schumer's legislation would effect is removing marijuana from the list of "Schedule 1" drugs, where it sits alongside heroin and LSD. In a Twitter thread, the senator outlines the other changes it would bring about:
\u201cTHREAD: It\u2019s official. Today, I am formally announcing my plan to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. It\u2019s time we allow states, once and for all, to have the power to decide what works best for them.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cI have long believed that states should function as their own laboratories of democracy. My bill is a step in the right direction aimed at removing the barriers to state legalization efforts.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cSo why have I changed my stance? Looking at the numbers helped. 2/3 of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized, meanwhile more than half of all drug arrests in the United States are marijuana arrests. (https://t.co/MUOam2uIxz)\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cAnd under existing law, the federal government considers marijuana as dangerous as heroin and treats it less favorably than cocaine. That has to change.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cIn addition to decriminalization, my bill will invest critical resources into the THC research needed to prevent unintended effects on our youth and ensure highway safety.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cIt will also maintain federal authority to regulate interstate trafficking to ensure that marijuana from states that have legalized doesn\u2019t pour into those that have not.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cNow, I recognize that time after time when these sweeping changes occur, the little guys lose while the big guys continue to profit. We saw this with big tobacco and we could see it with marijuana as well.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cThat\u2019s why this bill will inject real dollars into minority and women-owned businesses to ensure those disproportionately affected by marijuana criminalization can benefit from this new economy.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cIt's clear that African Americans and Latinos have been disproportionately impacted; approximately 80% of people in federal prison and 60% in state prison for drug offenses are black or Latino.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cThis will not course correct the damage that\u2019s been done, but it is a first step that can help to enable those historically harmed to have an opportunity to better compete in the industry as we make this change on the federal level.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
\u201cPlain and simple: this is the right thing to do for America.\u201d— Chuck Schumer (@Chuck Schumer) 1524232147
Schumer's formal announcement comes a day after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced he became the third co-sponsor of the Marijuana Justice Act, introduced by Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.). Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Kirsten Gilibrand (N.Y.) are already co-sponsors, and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) introduced a companion bill in the House. Lee argued the legislation was especially pressing given the Trump administration's "doubling down on unjust marijuana criminalization policies."
Like Schumer's expected legislation, Booker's bill would take marijuana off the list of scheduled substances. Booker's would also establish a $500 million fund to annually reinvest in communities most impacted by the war on drugs, incentivize states to legalize marijuana, and expunge federal marijuana use and possession crimes.
In a CNN op-ed on Friday, Drug Policy Alliance staffers Jolene Forman and Suchitra Rajagopalan argue that now is the time to "look beyond just legalizing" marijuana and make sure legislation recognizes the disproportionate impact marijuana criminalization has had on non-white communities.
"Marijuana legalization isn't--and shouldn't be--simply about greater access to marijuana," they write. "We must center the people who have been most harmed by decades of racialized drug policies. If we don't, marijuana legalization won't fulfill its potential to repair the devastation that mass criminalization has wrought on black and brown communities."
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