Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:27 pm
Senate Majority Leader Schumer (D-NY) called for the end of the federal prohibition on marijuana on the Senate floor.
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Schumer said:
Today is what you might call a very unofficial American holiday: 4/20.
It’s as appropriate a time as any to take a hard look at our laws that have over-criminalized the use of marijuana and put it on par with heroin, LSD, and other narcotics that bear little or no resemblance in their effects either on individuals or on society more broadly.
The War on Drugs has too often been a war on people: particularly people of color.
For decades, young men and women, disproportionately young men and women of color have been arrested and jailed for even carrying a small amount of marijuana—a charge that often came with exorbitant penalties and a serious criminal record, from which they might never recover. Being rejected from job after job—because of this minor, minor deviation from the law, which was listed as a serious criminal record. It makes no sense, and it’s time for a change.
I believe the time has come to end the federal prohibition on marijuana in this country—and I am working with Senators Booker and Wyden on legislation to do just that.
My thinking on this issue has evolved. A number of states, including very recently my home state of New York, have legalized the recreational use of marijuana for adults and those experiments by and large have been a success. The doom and gloom predictions made when states like Colorado or Oregon went forward and decriminalized and legalized never occurred. In state after state, through ballot initiatives and constitutional amendments, the American people are sending a clear message that they want this policy changed.
Senators Booker, Wyden and I are going to continue to work on our legislation and in the near future we hope to have a draft of a comprehensive reform effort: not only to end the federal prohibition on marijuana but to ensure restorative justice, protect public health, and implement responsible taxes and regulations. This was the approach taken by legislators in New York. I believe it is the right approach and serves as a model for how we should deal with this issue in Congress.
Hopefully the next time this unofficial holiday of 4/20 rolls around, our country will have made progress in addressing the massive over-criminalization of marijuana in a meaningful and comprehensive way.
Decriminalization is separate from legalization. Federal decriminalization would be a massive step in the direction of criminal justice reform. Legalization, which Schumer also supports would provide government at all levels with much-needed revenue after the pandemic has decimated budgets across the country.
Times have changed. National attitudes have changed.
President Biden has been described as hesitant, but open-minded on this policy.
For those who believe that Democrats and Republicans are the same, Republicans would have never proposed this policy change. Elections matter.
Democrats won and are using the power to potentially deal a fatal blow to America’s failed and racist war on drugs.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
