Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) of the House join in support of Sen. Corey Booker and introduced the House version of the Marijuana Justice Act.
Per Leafly
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) today introduced the House version of the Marijuana Justice Act, the companion bill to Sen. Cory Booker’s legislation, S. 1689. The Marijuana Justice Act, which Booker introduced in the Senate last August, would end federal cannabis prohibition and help correct decades of injustice surrounding the discriminatory enforcement of marijuana criminalization laws in the United States.
Booker’s bill would get the federal government out of the prohibition game by declaring that the Controlled Substances Act would no longer apply to cannabis.
The bill would not declare marijuana legal in all 50 states. It would simply remove federal illegality and allow each state to regulate cannabis in its own way. States with criminal penalties for cannabis would keep those laws, at least until voters or legislators decided to change them. States with legal regulated cannabis systems would be allowed to continue without the threat of federal interference.
The bill would also use federal funds to encourages states to change their cannabis laws if those laws are shown to have a disproportionate effect on low-income individuals or people of color. Most studies on the issue have shown that those disproportionate effects happen in every state. The bill also includes provisions for expungement of marijuana-related convictions, and a community reinvestment fund for communities most impacted by the war on drugs and the prohibition of cannabis.
“This legislation will end this destructive war on drugs,” Rep. Lee said this afternoon. “Here on the first day, we have 12 co-signers in the House. Which is really remarkable.”
“This bill is really an essential step in correcting the injustices of the war on drugs,” she added.
This would be a huge boost for Bookers bill and for legalization overall. Read more here