Politics
Here Are The Full Details Of The New Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill From Chuck Schumer And Senate Colleagues
The first draft of a long-anticipated Senate bill to federally legalize marijuana has been released—and its sponsors are asking for public input to further improve the legislation before it is formally introduced.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) are unveiling the draft at a press conference on Wednesday. It’s an extensive bill, titled the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, that weighs in at 163 pages.
The main features of the legislation largely align with what advocates and stakeholders expected. It would federally deschedule cannabis, expunge prior convictions, allow people to petition for resentencing, maintain the authority of states to set their own marijuana policies and remove collateral consequences like immigration-related penalties for people who’ve been criminalized over the plant.
“Cannabis prohibition, a key pillar of the failed war on drugs, has caused substantial harm to our communities and small businesses, and especially for communities of color,” Wyden said. “It’s as simple as this: Senators Booker, Schumer and I want to bring common sense to the federal government, end prohibition and restore the lives of those hurt most and set them up for opportunity.”
This is big: Today @SenBooker @SenSchumer and I are releasing our draft legislation to end the federal prohibition of cannabis. https://t.co/IuibyvyM0x
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) July 14, 2021
“The War on Drugs has too often been a war on people, and particularly people of color,” Schumer said. “Not only will this legislation remove cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances, but it will also help fix our criminal justice system, ensure restorative justice, protect public health, and implement responsible taxes and regulations.”
I’m standing today with @RonWyden & @SenBooker to release a discussion draft of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act
It’s our legislative proposal to end the federal prohibition on marijuana and repair damage done by the War on Drugs—especially in communities of color
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) July 14, 2021
Booker, for his part, said that for decades, “our federal government has waged a War on Drugs that has unfairly impacted low-income communities and communities of color.”
“While red and blue states across the country continue to legalize marijuana, the federal government continues to lag woefully behind,” he said. “It is time for Congress to end the federal marijuana prohibition and reinvest in communities most impacted by the failed War on Drugs.”
A marijuana conviction can mean a lifetime of unjust hardship—trouble getting a job, housing, loans & more in addition to thousands of other collateral consequences. It’s time to legalize marijuana, expunge records & restore justice to communities harmed by the failed drug war. https://t.co/2hexx56LM6
— Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBooker) July 14, 2021
The bill would also impose a federal tax on marijuana products and put some of that revenue toward grant programs meant to support people from communities most impacted by prohibition who want to participate in the industry.
Further, the legislation would transfer regulatory authority over cannabis from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).
There’s a lot of ground to cover on the proposal. And while the senators are confident that it addresses key concerns from stakeholders, advocates, public health officials and law enforcement alike, they recognize that this is not the final form the bill will take. To that end, a public comment period is open until September 1.
“The War on Drugs has been a war on people—particularly people of color. The Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act aims to end the decades of harm inflicted on communities of color by removing cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances and empowering states to implement their own cannabis laws,” the senators said in a summary of the bill that was shared with Marijuana Moment. “Descheduling cannabis is a critical step towards achieving justice for those targeted and hard hit by the War on Drugs. But that alone is not enough.”
The bill is multifaceted and deals with a large number of complex issues that have arisen under the umbrella of federal prohibition.
The basic components
Perhaps the most immediately consequential provision would be a requirement that the attorney general to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act within 60 days of the bill’s enactment.
But it’s important to keep in mind that this legislation—like other federal legalization bills moving through Congress—would not make it so marijuana is legal in every state. The proposal specifically preserves the right of states to maintain prohibition if they way. It stipulates, for example, that shipping marijuana into a state where the plant is prohibited would still be federally illegal.
However, the measure would make it clear that states can’t stop businesses from transporting cannabis products across their borders to other states where the plant is permitted.
FDA would be “recognized as the primary federal regulatory authority with respect to the manufacture and marketing of cannabis products, including requirements related to minimum national good manufacturing practice, product standards, registration and listing, and labeling information related to ingredients and directions for use,” according to the summary.
Meanwhile, TTB would have jurisdiction over marijuana tax and trade practices. That would include cannabis tax revenue collection, tax law enforcement and tracking and tracing of marijuana products.
“The agencies would have dual jurisdiction related to certain aspects of cannabis product labeling and packaging, advertising, and other consumer information,” the document says.
Social equity
As promised, the senators are including language into the bill that would promote social justice for those who’ve been disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.
“Communities that have been most harmed by cannabis prohibition are benefitting the least from the legal marijuana marketplace,” the findings section of the bill says, noting that a “legacy of racial and ethnic injustices, compounded by the disproportionate collateral consequences of 80 years of cannabis prohibition enforcement, now limits participation in the industry.”
“Historically disproportionate arrest and conviction rates make it particularly difficult for people of color to enter the legal cannabis market- place, as most States bar these individuals from participating,” it says.
A key barrier for such individuals is that fact that people from communities of color have been most targeted by cannabis criminalization, despite the fact that use is comparable across races. The bill seeks to repair that harm by mandating each federal district to expunge arrests and convictions for non-violent marijuana offenses within one year, and it also allows people who are still under a criminal sentence for cannabis to obtain a resentencing review hearing.
Grants
There would be three grant programs established under the bill.
One would “fund nonprofits that provide services to individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, such as job training, reentry services and legal aid, among other services,” according to the summary. It would be distributed through a new Cannabis Justice Office under the Justice Department.
Another would “provide funding to eligible states and localities to make loans to assist small businesses in the cannabis industry owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals” through the Small Business Administration (SBA).
Finally, the Equitable Licensing Grant Program would “provide funding to eligible states and localities to implement cannabis licensing programs that minimize barriers for individuals adversely affected by the War on Drugs.”
“To be eligible for these SBA grants, states and localities must take steps to create an automatic process to expunge criminal records for cannabis offenses and violations for individuals under criminal supervision for cannabis offenses,” the summary says.
Consumers’ rights
People could not be denied federal benefits due to the use or possession of marijuana or for a conviction for a cannabis offense. That includes preventing the revocation of security clearances for federal employees.
However, one component of the new bill that advocates have taken issue with—which has been previously included in past reform legislation—would let agencies “continue to include cannabis for purposes of drug testing of Federal employees.”
Additionally, the measure would authorize physicians with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to issue recommendations for medical cannabis to veterans. That’s another topic that’s been the focus of separate, standalone legislation in recent sessions.
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Taxes and permits
A gradual federal tax rate would be imposed on marijuana sales, starting at 10 percent for the first year after the bill’s enactment and the first, subsequent calendar year. Then it would be increased annually, rising from 15 percent to 20 percent to 25 percent. Starting in the fifth year post-enactment, the tax would be a “per-ounce or per-milligram of THC amount determined by the Secretary of the Treasury equal to 25 percent of the prevailing price of cannabis sold in the United States in the prior year.”
In an effort to support small cannabis enterprises, the legislation says that “small cannabis producers with less than $20 million in sales annually would be eligible for a 50 percent reduction in their tax rate, via a tax credit.”
“Producers with more than $20 million in sales would be eligible for a tax credit on their first $20 million of cannabis sold annually, with sales above that amount subject to tax at the full rate. Similar to the reduced rates for alcohol producers, certain anti-abuse rules would limit the tax benefit only to products produced or substantially modified by the small producer, in order to limit the benefit received by large producers and to prevent a double-benefit.”
The legislation also lays out a structure for how marijuana businesses will be approved and regulated. For example, companies selling taxable marijuana products, or cannabis at the wholesale level, would require Treasury Department approval. Marijuana producers would further need to be registered with FDA.
A cannabis permit “may be denied or revoked if the premises is inadequate to prevent tax evasion or diversion, operation of the premises do not comply with federal or state law, or an applicant fails to disclose material information or makes a false statement,” the summary says. “In addition, a cannabis permit application may be denied if the applicant has been convicted of a disqualifying offense.”
“For these purposes, a disqualifying offense is a felony criminal offense that occurred after enactment of this Act and within the preceding three years related to cannabis diversion or cannabis tax evasion. An applicant may apply to the Cannabis Products Advisory Committee for a waiver with respect to a disqualifying offense if the Committee finds that the applicant has established sufficient evidence of mitigation or rehabilitation and fitness to maintain cannabis operations in compliance with state and federal law.”
FDA would have “authority over cannabis products in intrastate commerce,” the summary says. Under the agency, a new Center for Cannabis Products and a Cannabis Products Regulatory Advisory Committee would be created.
Cannabis products would not be regulated as dietary supplements, but the bill would “authorize manufacturers of cannabis products to make claims about the benefits of their products in the same manner that manufacturers of dietary supplements do today.”
It would, however, stipulate the FDA must create a regulatory pathway for CBD to be marketed as a dietary supplement.
The bill would further require “owners and operators of establishments that are engaged in the manufacture, preparation, compounding, or processing of a cannabis product to register their establishments with FDA upon first engaging in such activities and annually thereafter.” The agency would “issue regulations pertaining to distribution of cannabis products and good manufacturing practice.”
Another provision would mandate that FDA create a program to “expedite the development and review of applications for drugs containing cannabis that are manufactured by a small businesses owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals that operate in the cannabis industry.”
Under the legislation, the Treasury secretary would be compelled to establish a track-and-trace regime to prevent illicit distribution of cannabis products. And the official would also be mandated to start a program to facilitate “the lawful delivery of hemp that inadvertently exceeds the permissible THC limitations for hemp to a permitted cannabis enterprise for the proper processing of such products.”
The Consumer Product Safety Commission would be authorized to issue regulations setting standards for special packaging of cannabis products.
Federal law would be amended to explicitly state that SBA programs and services available to marijuana businesses and companies that work with them.
Although the bill does not specifically mention banking, its provisions ending the federal prohibition of marijuana would automatically remove any penalties that financial institutions currently potentially face as a result of working with licensed cannabis businesses because those operations would no longer be federally illegal.
Federal studies
The bill further directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to facilitate a number of studies into marijuana policy.
The office must conduct a “review of federal laws, regulations, and policies, to identify additional areas in need of change, including a study on replacing the term ‘marijuana’ and ‘marihuana’ with ‘cannabis’ through the U.S. Code and regulations,” the summary says. It must also study the demographics of those with federal cannabis convictions.
GAO would also have to evaluate the “societal impact of legalization” in states with recreational marijuana laws on the books.
Additionally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) would need to compile demographic data on “business owners and employees in the cannabis industry.” Those figures could help inform social justice efforts, as there’s been widespread criticism of the industry over a lack of diversity despite advocates’ push for equity.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would be required to work with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on ways to promote research into cannabis impacts. And meanwhile, HHS would be mandated to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) on data collection for marijuana-impaired driving while also supporting research into “an impairment standard for driving under the influence of cannabis.”
More details
The senators’ bill would establish a federal standard to make it so only those 21 and older can purchase recreational marijuana products. Each state that currently allows adult-use cannabis maintains that age restriction.
In order to reduce illegal diversion, the legislation would cap cannabis sales, stating that adults could only buy up to 10 ounces at a time.
Vaping delivery system products that contain added natural or artificial flavors would be banned under the proposal.
A newly created definition of “cannabis” would be created under federal law, but it would retain the exception for hemp that now exists.
The senators want feedback on the draft bill
Here’s an overview of some of the main points that the are seeking comment on:
-Measuring the potency of cannabis products, the overlap of definitions for hemp and marijuana, regulations for synthetic THC, regulatory responsibilities for various federal agencies and FDA funding.
-Coordinating federal and state law enforcement responsibilities for cannabis, state “primacy regarding cannabis regulation” and interstate commerce.
-Balancing efforts to reduce barriers to entry to the marijuana industry while mitigating the influence of illicit cannabis operators.
-Determining whether cannabis products should go through a premarket review before being marketed.
-How to deal with international treaty obligations with respect to marijuana.
Interested parties are encouraged to submit comments on these and other issues to [email protected] by September 1.
The bill has been highly anticipated
Advocates have been anxiously awaiting this legislation, which Schumer has repeatedly said was coming “soon” after he, Wyden and Booker first pledged in February that it would be ready “in the early part of this year.”
Since then, the majority leader has been making the case for reform everywhere from the Senate floor on 4/20 to a cannabis rally in New York City.
The three senators formally started their efforts on the legalization bill by holding a meeting earlier this year with representatives from a variety of advocacy groups to gain feedback on the best approach to the reform.
Schumer made a point in March to say that it will specifically seek to restrict the ability of large alcohol and tobacco companies to overtake the industry. Instead, it will prioritize small businesses, particularly those owned by people from communities most impacted by prohibition, and focus on “justice, justice, justice—as well as freedom,” he said.
He also urged voters to reach out to their congressional representatives and tell them that “this is long overdue.”
Activists are encouraged by the introduction of the lengthy and detailed proposal.
“The days of federal prohibition are numbered,” NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri said in a press release. “These actions by Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Senators Booker and Wyden reflect the fact that the supermajority of Americans are demanding that Congress take action to end the cruel and senseless policy of federal prohibition.”
“It is time for legislators to comport federal law with the laws of the growing number of states that have legalized the plant, and it is time for lawmakers to facilitate a federal structure that allows for cannabis commerce so that responsible consumers can obtain high-quality, low-cost cannabis grown right here in America without fear of arrest and incarceration,” he said.
Shaleen Title, CEO of the Parabola Center, said that the bill’s filing “sends a clear signal to the states to keep making progress on cannabis policy.”
“We’re encouraged by the senators’ inclusive process and intend to join other equity advocates in offering ways for the federal government to protect and build on the states’ progress toward social justice in cannabis policy,” she said. “Millions of people fought for an end to prohibition. We see this as an opportunity to stop the arrests and to shape the national marketplace for legal marijuana to be open to all, not just a wealthy few.”
Meanwhile, a separate House bill to federally legalize marijuana and promote social equity in the industry was reintroduced in May.
The legislation, sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), was filed with a number of changes compared to the version that was approved by the chamber last year.
The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act passed the House but did not advance in the Senate under GOP control. But this time around, advocates are optimistic that the policy change could be enacted now that Democrats run both chambers and the White House, and as more states are moving to enact legalization.
President Joe Biden, however, is an outlier within the Democratic Party, maintaining an opposition to adult-use legalization despite the widespread and increasingly bipartisan public popularity of the reform. It remains to be seen whether the president—who campaigned on more modest pledges to decriminalize cannabis possession, expunge prior records and respect state legalization laws—would stand in the way of a comprehensive policy change by threatening to veto the bill that’s ultimately produced.
Wyden, who under the chamber’s new Democratic majority assumed the top spot on the Senate Finance Committee—where the new legislation is likely to be referred once formally introduced—recently said his goal will be to “end the prohibition and come up with sensible tax and regulatory oversight at the federal level.”
He said in February that “it’s not enough in my view to just end cannabis prohibition,” and “I think we need to restore the lives of people who’ve been hurt most by the failed war on drugs and especially black Americans.”
All three senators—Schumer, Wyden and Booker—have in past years introduced marijuana legalization bills that never got hearings or votes.
Separately, a proposal to federally deschedule marijuana that does not include social equity components was recently filed by a pair of Republican congressmen.
Read the full text of the new federal marijuana legalization bill below:
Cannabis Administration and… by Marijuana Moment
Photo courtesy of Mike Latimer.
Politics
Florida Marijuana Activists File New Legalization Initiative For 2022 Ballot Following Supreme Court Defeats
Florida marijuana activists are making another push to place adult-use legalization before voters in 2022, filing a new petition with the state after previous versions of the reform were rejected by the state Supreme Court earlier this year.
The proposed constitutional amendment, which was approved for initial signature gathering last week, would allow adults 21 and older to use and possess cannabis. They could also grow up to nine plants for personal use. The initiative would not provide for retail sales, however.
Regulate Florida is leading the campaign and stressed that time is limited to get enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. Activists must first collect 222,898 valid signatures to prompt a judicial and fiscal impact review, then they need a total of 891,589 signatures to make the ballot.
That first hurdle has created headaches for advocates this year. After the state attorney general’s office requested a judicial review of the group’s prior legalization initiative—and filed briefs opposing the petitions—the state Supreme Court rejected it, as well as a separate reform proposal from an industry-backed campaign, because justices deemed the language misleading.
The new initiative seeks to avoid the court’s specific contentions with the prior measures.
A majority of justices found that the ballot summaries were “affirmatively misleading” because they said adult-use cannabis would be made lawful in the state without explicitly acknowledging that it would remain illegal under federal law. Regulate Florida has now gone out of its way to specify that nothing in its new initiative “purports to give immunity under federal law.”
The group also eliminated language on “limited use” of marijuana that led the court to reject its original proposal earlier this year.
Regulate Florida is asking voters to print, sign and mail out the new petition.
“Time is short, so we need you to send in your completed and signed petition today!” the group said. “We can do this if we work together.”
If the measure does end up on the ballot, at least 60 percent of Florida voters would have to approve it for it to be enacted. Recent polling shows that a majority of Florida voters (59 percent) support legalizing cannabis for adult use, so that’s a slim margin that shows that advocates will have their work cut out for them if the measure qualifies—particularly in a midterm cycle in which demographics that are more likely to support marijuana reform are less likely to turn out than in presidential election years.
A separate campaign, Make It Legal Florida, also had their legalization proposal rejected by court this year. Advocates intended to get reform on the ballot in 2020, but they announced early that year that they were shifting focus to 2022 due to restrictive signature gathering requirements.
It’s not yet clear if that group, which had substantial funding from cannabis businesses and collected considerably more signatures on its petition prior to the court’s intervention than Regulate Florida had on its previous attempt, plans to file a new measure for next year’s ballot.
Florida is just one of multiple states where advocates are hoping to put cannabis reform before voters next year.
South Dakota marijuana activists are now ramping up for a signature gathering effort to put legalization on the 2022 ballot as the state Supreme Court continues to consider a case on the fate of the legal cannabis measure that voters approved last year.
New Hampshire lawmakers are pursuing a new strategy to legalize marijuana in the state that involves putting a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot for voters to decide on in 2022.
Lawmakers in Maryland are also crafting legislation to place a marijuana legalization referendum on the 2022 ballot after the House speaker called for the move.
Nebraska marijuana activists announced recently that they have turned in a pair of complementary initiatives to legalize medical cannabis that they hope to place on the state’s 2022 ballot.
Ohio activists recently cleared a final hurdle to begin collecting signatures for a 2022 ballot initiative to legalize marijuana in the state.
Missouri voters may see a multiple marijuana initiatives on the state’s ballot next year, with a new group filing an adult-use legalization proposal that could compete with separate reform measures that are already in the works.
Arkansas advocates are collecting signatures to place adult-use marijuana legalization on the ballot.
Activists in Idaho are working to advance separate measures to legalize possession of recreational marijuana and to create a system of legal medical cannabis sales. State officials recently cleared activists to begin collecting signatures for a revised initiative to legalize possession of marijuana that they hope to place before voters on the 2022 ballot. Meanwhile, a separate campaign to legalize medical cannabis in the state is also underway, with advocates actively collecting signatures to qualify that measure for next year’s ballot.
After a House-passed bill to legalize marijuana in North Dakota was rejected by the Senate in March, some senators hatched a plan to advance the issue by referring it to voters on the 2022 ballot. While their resolution advanced through a key committee, the full Senate blocked it. However, activists with the group North Dakota Cannabis Caucus are collecting signatures to qualify a constitutional amendment to legalize cannabis for the 2022 ballot.
Oklahoma advocates are pushing two separate initiatives to legalize marijuana for adult use and overhaul the state’s existing medical cannabis program.
Wyoming’s attorney general recently issued ballot summaries for proposed initiatives to legalize medical marijuana and decriminalize cannabis possession, freeing up activists to collect signatures to qualify for the 2022 ballot.
And it’s not just marijuana measures that reform activists are seeking to qualify for state ballots next year. A California campaign was recently cleared to begin collecting signatures for an initiative to legalize psilocybin. And advocates in Washington State have announced plans to put a proposal to decriminalize all drug before voters.
Read the text of the new Florida marijuana legalization initiative below:
Politics
Rhode Island Lawmakers Are ‘Very Close’ On Marijuana Legalization Deal Ahead Of Possible Special Session, Top Senator Says
A top Rhode Island senator says lawmakers are “very close” to reaching a deal on a marijuana legalization bill that could be taken up during a special session this fall.
Senate President Dominick Ruggerio (D) was asked for a status update on negotiations that have been taking place on the reform proposal since lawmakers adjourned for the session. He told WPRI-TV that while there are still outstanding issues to be resolved, he believes legalization will be taken up before the end of the year.
“We’ve had people working on that issue since we’ve left the session this year,” he said.
“We sent legislation—which we think is a very good piece of legislation—over to the House before we left in June,” the senator said, referring to a legalization bill that his chamber approved in June. “They are working on that legislation with some of the House people at this point in time.”
A special session has yet to be called, but Ruggerio said he feels an agreement on cannabis reform will be made in time to call lawmakers back to the State House within the coming months.
“We’re hoping we can get cannabis done. We’re very close. We’re making progress, but we’re not there at this point in time,” he said. “There’s a couple stumbling blocks that they are addressing right now, and we’ll see how that shakes out.”
What remains to be seen is whether the negotiated legalization bill that’s ultimately produced will satisfy advocates and progressive lawmakers, some of whom have rallied behind an agenda for reform that emphasizes the need for bold social equity provisions.
Negotiators have been working to reconcile competing proposals from the House, Senate and Gov. Daniel McKee (D). While the bills each contain components meant to address the harms of marijuana criminalization, the coalition led by Reclaim Rhode Island says they’re insufficient. Advocates and supportive lawmakers have laid out specific items that they want to see incorporated such as setting aside half of cannabis business licenses for communities most impacted by prohibition.
“We can’t reverse the harm of the war on drugs, but we can start to repair it by passing automatic expungement and waiving all related fines, fees and court debt,” Rep. Karen Alzate (D), chair of the Rhode Island Legislative Black and Latino Caucus, said earlier this month. “This bold legalization plan offers us the chance to turn a new leaf for the Ocean State, and it’s time we take it.”
Ruggerio, for his part, said he does feel that the legalization bill that was approved in the Senate contained “very strong social justice provisions” and the expungements provision is “as close to automatic as practical.”
Reclaim Rhode Island isn’t the only group pushing lawmakers to expeditiously work to pass legalization. It’s part of a coalition of 10 civil rights and drug policy reform advocacy groups—including the Rhode Island chapters of the ACLU and NAACP—that recently demanded that lawmakers move ahead with enacting marijuana reform in the state before the end of 2021.
House Speaker Joe Shekarchi (D) said in July that while there’s not yet a consensus among legislators and the governor on a deal to legalize marijuana, it’s still a “workable” issue and would be prioritized if negotiations succeed this summer and a special session is convened this fall.
The speaker said this month that bicameral negotiators “are continuing to have productive discussions about the significant policy implications associated with legalizing marijuana for personal use, including, but not limited to, some of the issues raised today at the press conference” by activists and lawmakers.
Rep. Scott Slater (D), for his part, recently told Marijuana Moment that “things are still where they were” prior to the end of session. Lawmakers are “trying to figure out a reconciliation between my bill, the Senate’s and the governor’s.”
Meetings over the summer have been “mostly informal” so far, the representative said. “I think we can get there before next year. It will not be perfect, and I am sure a work in progress.”
Ruggerio said in July that he’s not disappointed the House hasn’t advanced legalization legislation yet and that “what we really wanted to do was send it over and have them take a look at it” when his chamber passed its cannabis reform measure.
Shekarchi, for his part, previously said that he feels reform is “inevitable.”
A key disagreement between the House, Senate and governor’s office concerns who should have regulatory authority over marijuana. Ruggerio was pressed on the issue during a recent interview and said members of his chamber agree that “a separate commission is the way to go with respect to this.”
The House and McKee, on the other hand, want the program to be managed by the state Department of Business Regulation (DBR). Ruggerio noted that “it was difficult to negotiate on a bill when the House bill really didn’t come until late in the session.”
Senate Majority Leader Mike McCaffrey (D) was also recently asked about provisions related to allowing local municipalities to opt out of allowing marijuana businesses to operate in their area. He said “once the legislation is passed and whatever form is passed in, the communities have an opportunity to opt out.”
“They have an opportunity to opt out if the community doesn’t want to participate in it,” he said. “That’s their decision—however, they don’t get the funds that would come from the sales in that community.”
The majority leader also noted that neighboring states like Connecticut and Massachusetts have enacted legalization, and that adds impetus for the legislature to pursue reform in the state.
Shekarchi, meanwhile, said in July that he doesn’t intend to let regional pressure dictate the timeline for when Rhode Island enacts a policy change. Social equity, licensing fees, labor agreements and home grow provisions are among the outstanding matters that need to be addressed, the speaker said.
The House Finance Committee held a hearing on Slater’s legalization measure in June.
The governor previously told reporters that while he backs legalization it is “not like one of my highest priorities,” adding that “we’re not in a race with Connecticut or Massachusetts on this issue.”
“I think we need to get it right,” he said, pointing to ongoing discussions with the House and Senate.
The House Finance Committee discussed the governor’s proposal to end prohibition at an earlier hearing in April.
Both the governor and the leaders’ legalization plans are notably different than the proposal that former Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) had included in her budget last year. Prior to leaving office to join the Biden administration as commerce secretary, she called for legalization through a state-run model.
McKee gave initial insights into his perspective on the reform in January, saying that “it’s time that [legalization] happens” and that he’s “more leaning towards an entrepreneurial strategy there to let that roll that way.”
Shekarchi, meanwhile, has said he’s “absolutely” open to the idea of cannabis legalization and also leans toward privatization.
Late last year, the Senate Finance Committee began preliminary consideration of legalization in preparation for the 2021 session, with lawmakers generally accepting the reform as an inevitability. “I certainly do think we’ll act on the issue, whether it’s more private or more state,” Sen. Ryan Pearson (D), who now serves as the panel’s chairman, said at the time.
Meanwhile, the governor in July signed a historic bill to allow safe consumption sites where people could use illicit drugs under medical supervision and receive resources to enter treatment. Harm reduction advocates say this would prevent overdose deaths and help de-stigmatize substance misuse. Rhode Island is the first state to allow the facilities.
The Senate Judiciary Committee also held a hearing in March on legislation that would end criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of drugs and replace them with a $100 fine.
Pennsylvania Senators Will Consider DUI Protections For Medical Marijuana Patients At Hearing
Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.
Politics
Biden Should Grant Clemency To Thousands, Including People With Drug Convictions, Congressional Lawmakers Say
Congressional lawmakers are pushing President Joe Biden to grant clemency to nearly 20,000 people in the federal prison system—including those with drug convictions.
The Biden administration is already asking a fraction of people with drug convictions who were placed on home confinement amid the coronavirus pandemic to apply for the relief. But nearly 30 members of Congress signed a letter to the president on Friday urging him to take additional steps for a broader pool of people.
“As our country continues to work to address racial and systemic injustices in our prison system, we must make a reality of our nation’s founding principles of liberty and justice for all,” they wrote. “This moment in history can be a defining one for criminal-legal reform, and following actions by Congress last year, granting clemency for thousands of people will move us closer to our ideals of liberty and justice.”
The lawmakers are imploring Biden to commute the sentences of more than 4,000 people who were put on home confinement as part of the CARES Act. Additionally, they’re advocating for the processing of 15,000 other clemency applications that have been submitted.
This also comes days after a group of more than 150 celebrities, athletes, politicians, law enforcement professionals and academics signed a letter that was delivered to Biden, asking him to issue a “full, complete and unconditional pardon” to all people with non-violent federal marijuana convictions.
The new letter from the lawmakers—which was led by Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and David Trone (D-MD)—states that “we implore your administration to extend compassion to each person currently on home confinement under the CARES Act and to refrain from placing arbitrary categorical restrictions on who deserves to remain home.”
These men and women have been serving their time at home, contributing to society and in many cases working and caring for family members. pic.twitter.com/wIQ4I8y1gb
— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) September 17, 2021
It goes on to encourage the establishment of an independent advisory board “to streamline and modernize the decades-old clemency process, and provide expeditious review of the thousands of cases awaiting answers to their clemency petitions.”
“This advisory board must address the racially disproportionate impacts of our criminal-legal system,” the lawmakers wrote. “There is no reason to wait.”
“By granting commutation to the 4,000 on home confinement and committing to restructuring the clemency process at-large, your administration has an opportunity to fulfill a campaign promise to reduce our nation’s prison and jail population and improve the lives of the people and communities across the country who have been most harmed by a punitive and racially biased criminal-legal system,” the letter says.
The letter doesn’t specifically talk about relief for people with federal drug convictions—despite the fact that Bush and Watson Coleman introduced a historic bill to federally decriminalize all drugs earlier this year—but it does cite the case of Gwen Levi, a grandmother who was placed on home confinement under the CARES Act after serving 16 years in prison over a drug conviction.
“Clemency is a constitutional imperative,” the letter, which was first reported by The Hill, says. “Granting commutations to those on home confinement and restructuring the clemency process demonstrates genuine compassion, while ensuring that our country continues to mitigate the risks of COVID-19, particularly in the populations that are most vulnerable to its spread.”
“As Members of Congress who care deeply about ending systemic and racial injustice in our criminal legal system, and who are willing to do everything possible to ensure every community is safe from the deadly consequences of this pandemic, we stand ready to work with you,” it concludes.
Other notable signatories include Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Karen Bass (D-CA), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA).
A coalition of advocates and lawmakers sent letters with a marijuana-specific clemency request to Biden early in his presidency in February.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a press briefing last month that Biden is “exploring multiple avenues to provide relief to certain nonviolent drug offenders, including through the use of his clemency power.”
The administration is “working hard every day to reform our justice system in order to strengthen families, boost our economy, give people a chance at a better future,” she said. “As part of this, the president is deeply committed to reducing incarceration, helping people successfully reenter society. And he has said too many people are incarcerated—too many are black and brown.”
Psaki added at the time that there was nothing actionable to preview at that point, but said the president is “looking at a range of avenues” for relief. The fact that, as a senator, Biden played a key role in enacting punitive drug laws that contributed to the mass incarceration he’s now considering steps to resolve did not come up during the exchange.
Biden has faced criticism from drug policy reform advocates who’ve grown frustrated that he’s yet to make good on campaign promises such as decriminalizing marijuana. While his opposition to adult-use legalization remains a challenge on its own, they feel he should at least take steps to enact modest reform.
The president also campaigned on expunging prior cannabis records and respecting the rights of states to set their own laws.
Since taking office, however, his administration has not made progress on any of those pledges and has instead fired its own White House staffers over marijuana and sought to extend a budget provision that has blocked Washington, D.C. from legalizing cannabis sales.
In April, Psaki was pressed on Biden’s clemency promise for people with federal marijuana and said that process will start with modestly rescheduling cannabis—a proposal that advocates say wouldn’t actually accomplish what she’s suggesting.
Moving cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule II under the Controlled Substances Act, as Biden proposed on the campaign trail, wouldn’t facilitate mass clemency given that being convicted for crimes related to drugs in that slightly lower category—which currently includes cocaine—also carries significant penalties.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said during a recent interview that Biden could and should use executive authority to end federal marijuana prohibition on his own—but the two of them have “differences” when it comes to drug policy. There are, however, legal questions about whether a president could actually legalize cannabis unilaterally given existing statutes.
Read the new letter to Biden on clemency below:
Pennsylvania Senators Will Consider DUI Protections For Medical Marijuana Patients At Hearing
Photo courtesy of Flickr/Marc Nozell.
