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Adam Eidinger, founder of DCMJ.org, speaks at the groups protest outside the U.S. Capitol on Monday, April 24, 2017 to call on Congress to postpone the drug classification of marijuana.
Bill Clark | CQ-Roll Appeal, Inc. | Getty Images
The House passed a bill on Friday to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and put in place a process to clear previous convictions.
The Democratic-led chamber approved the measure in a 228-164 vote. Only five Republicans and one independent supported him. Six Democrats voted against the bill.
This is the first time the House has voted to remove cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act. The legislation also includes provisions to boost entrepreneurship in the legal marijuana industry, including among people of color disproportionately harmed by decades of federal drug law enforcement.
It is not clear now whether the GOP-held Senate will have any appetite to take the bill. A spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not immediately respond to a request for comment that the Kentucky Republican was considering holding a vote on the legislation.
In a statement following the vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., said the legislation “is part of a larger movement to tackle inequalities in criminal justice, business and more ”. He encouraged his chamber to support the bill.
The nationwide drive to decriminalize marijuana comes as more states legalize it for recreational or medical purposes. Fifteen states have now legalized the substance. Four – Arizona, Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota – did so in the 2020 election alone.
Thirty-six states have authorized marijuana for medical purposes.
Democratic Representatives Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Barbara Lee of California, co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, described the bill as a step towards repairing the damage caused by the war on drugs. Writing to House lawmakers earlier this month, they called it a “critical issue of racial justice.”
Speaking in the House on Friday, Blumenauer said Congress must catch up with the rest of the American people.
“We are here because we have let down three generations of black and brown youth, whose lives can be ruined, or lost, by the selective enforcement of these laws,” he said. “This legislation will end this disaster.”
According to Blumenauer’s office, the legislation would require federal courts to clear marijuana-related arrests and convictions and resentment against Americans after a judicial review process. Since marijuana would no longer be considered a controlled substance by the federal government, its possession would not be grounds for deportation.
The bill would create an excise tax on sales of marijuana to fund re-entry services for ex-convicts and drug treatment. It would also help fund efforts to increase equity and access to loans in the marijuana industry.
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