Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer just confirmed he will support decriminalizing cannabis at the federal level.
Something cosmic is happening this 4/20.
New York’s Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer just confirmed he is putting his name on legislation aimed at “decriminalizing” marijuana at the federal level.
“The legislation is long overdue,” Schumer said in an exclusive interview with VICE News. “I’ve seen too many people’s lives ruined because they had small amounts of marijuana and served time in jail much too long.”
Just hours after Bernie Sanders announced he was joining Cory Booker in co-sponsoring the Marijuana Justice Act, Schumer announced that he will introduce a bill to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act altogether so that states can set their own policies.
“Ultimately, it’s the right thing to do. Freedom. If smoking marijuana doesn’t hurt anybody else, why shouldn’t we allow people to do it and not make it criminal?” Schumer said.
While the Democratic Senate Minority Leader, reported Vice, stopped short of calling it legalization, de-scheduling weed would essentially make it legal at the federal level.
In addition to de-scheduling cannabis, Schumer’s bill would also create funding for minority and women-owned marijuana businesses, provide money for cannabis research and specifically look at its effect on driving impairment.
And lastly, per Vice, Schumer’s bill would “maintain federal authority to regulate marijuana advertising in the same way it does alcohol and tobacco,” to make sure weed businesses aren’t targeting children with their ads.
Schumer said he’d support legalization in his home state of New York as well as any other state. “My personal view is legalization is just fine,” he said. “The best thing to do is let each state decide on its own.”
Political ploy as we move toward 2018 midterms or 2020 primaries?
“I’m doing it because I think it’s the right thing to do. I’ve seen too many people’s lives ruined by the criminalization,” he said. “If we benefit, so be it. But that’s not my motivation.”
HAPPY 4/20!
Source: The Weed Blog
