Sen. Chuck Schumer Announces Bill To Decriminalize Marijuana

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has announced that he is proposing a bill to decriminalize marijuana as a federal offense.

Schumer’s bill would reportedly take marijuana off the Drug Enforcement Administration’s list of controlled substances and would allow states to have the authority over how to regulate the drug.

“The legislation is long overdue based on, you know, a bunch of different facts,” Schumer said in an interview with Vice. “I’ve seen too many people’s lives ruined because they had small amounts of marijuana and served time in jail much too long.”

He then added, “If smoking marijuana doesn’t hurt anybody else, why shouldn’t we allow people to do it and not make it criminal.”

On Friday morning, Schumer highlighted his new stance on marijuana and what his new bill proposes on his Twitter.

THREAD: It’s official. Today, I am formally announcing my plan to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. It’s time we allow states, once and for all, to have the power to decide what works best for them.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 20, 2018

I have long believed that states should function as their own laboratories of democracy. My bill is a step in the right direction aimed at removing the barriers to state legalization efforts.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 20, 2018

So why have I changed my stance? Looking at the numbers helped. 2/3 of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized, meanwhile more than half of all drug arrests in the United States are marijuana arrests. (https://t.co/MUOam2uIxz)

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 20, 2018

And under existing law, the federal government considers marijuana as dangerous as heroin and treats it less favorably than cocaine. That has to change.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 20, 2018

In addition to decriminalization, my bill will invest critical resources into the THC research needed to prevent unintended effects on our youth and ensure highway safety.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 20, 2018

It will also maintain federal authority to regulate interstate trafficking to ensure that marijuana from states that have legalized doesn’t pour into those that have not.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 20, 2018

Now, I recognize that time after time when these sweeping changes occur, the little guys lose while the big guys continue to profit. We saw this with big tobacco and we could see it with marijuana as well.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 20, 2018

That’s why this bill will inject real dollars into minority and women-owned businesses to ensure those disproportionately affected by marijuana criminalization can benefit from this new economy.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 20, 2018

It’s clear that African Americans and Latinos have been disproportionately impacted; approximately 80% of people in federal prison and 60% in state prison for drug offenses are black or Latino.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 20, 2018

This will not course correct the damage that’s been done, but it is a first step that can help to enable those historically harmed to have an opportunity to better compete in the industry as we make this change on the federal level.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 20, 2018

Plain and simple: this is the right thing to do for America.

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) April 20, 2018

Schumer believes that weed is not a drug that needs to be feared in the same way heroin and cocaine are. “If smoking marijuana doesn’t hurt anybody else, why shouldn’t we allow people to do it and not make it criminal,” he said.

Through his bill, the federal government will still have power to “regulate marijuana advertising in the same way it does alcohol and tobacco” so the industry cannot target children for advertisements and sales.

Schumer said that the legislation bill would be released within the next week.