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TULSA — A US Senator from New Jersey says the nation’s marijuana laws unfairly target the poor, minorities, the mentally ill, and veterans.
He believes it’s time to remove marijuana from the list of Schedule I narcotics, effectively making it legal to use from a federal perspective.
He laid out his arguments Tuesday in a Facebook Live video from his D. C. office.
For decades, the failed War on Drugs has locked up millions of nonviolent drug offenders—especially for marijuana-related offenses—at an incredible cost of lost human potential, torn apart families and communities, and taxpayer dollars. The effects of the drug war have had a disproportionately devastating impact on Americans of color and the poor. Today I’m introducing the Marijuana Justice Act, a bill that if passed will legalize marijuana at the federal level and go even further in an effort to remedy many of the failures of the War on Drugs. This is the right thing to do for public safety, and will help reduce our overflowing prison population. Watch below as I outline the provisions of the bill in detail. I’ll also answer many of your questions - please leave them in the comments.
Posted by Cory Booker on Tuesday, August 1, 2017
He says his bill would also encourage states to legalize marijuana, allow people convicted of marijuana possession to appeal, and create a community reinvestment fund, allowing those he says have been “disproportionately affected” by the enforcement of marijuana laws to recover from decades of the abuse of those laws.
Eight states and the District of Columbia have already made marijuana legal for recreational purposes.
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