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Booker and Four Presidential Rivals Endorse MJ
Posted by CN Staff on February 28, 2019 at 09:44:17 PT
By David Weigel
Source: Washington Post
Washington, D.C. -- Joined by four fellow candidates for the presidency, Sen. Cory Booker is reintroducing legislation that would legalize marijuana and expunge convictions for possessing the drug.“It’s not enough to simply decriminalize marijuana,” Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, said in a statement announcing the new version of his Marijuana Justice Act. “We must expunge the records of those who have served their time. The end we seek is not just legalization, it’s justice.”
Booker’s bill, which was first introduced in 2017 but never brought up for a vote, will be co-sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Ca.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).All of them had co-sponsored the 2017 bill, too, as had Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), who is considering his own run for the presidency. Sen. Michael F. Bennet (D-Colo.), who traveled to Iowa last week, is also co-sponsoring the new bill.Any of them would be the first nominee of a major political party to endorse the legalization of marijuana; Sanders, as a candidate in 2016, had called for the drug to be decriminalized.“Hundreds of thousands of people are arrested for possession of marijuana every single year,” Sanders said in a statement. “We must end the absurd situation of marijuana being listed as a Schedule 1 drug alongside heroin. It is time to decriminalize marijuana, expunge past marijuana convictions and end the failed war on drugs.”Since the 1970 passage of the Controlled Substances Act, the federal government has classified marijuana as a substance with “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” Petitions to change that designation have been ignored by the Drug Enforcement Administration, and states have decriminalized marijuana for medical and recreational purposes despite the statute, creating a legal gray area.In 2016, for the first time, Democrats amended their party platform to call for the government to decriminalize marijuana and “appropriately regulate it, providing a reasoned pathway for future legalization.” Under those distinctions, decriminalizing marijuana meant users could not be arrested for its possession; legalization would make the drug available for legal purchase.While the party’s 2016 presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, rarely discussed the issue, the dozen Democrats who have declared presidential bids this year are all in favor of legalization, as are many of the candidates expected to announce their plans next month.Booker’s legislation goes further than legalization, though, and would create a “community reinvestment fund” to offer grants, job training, and transition from prison to community life for the people and places “most affected by the war on drugs.”That’s in line with how Booker and other Democrats have described the next steps toward decriminalizing marijuana. As states have allowed marijuana to be sold legally, Democrats have warned that people who were jailed for selling a now-legal product remain in prison. Booker’s bill points out the racial disparities in marijuana arrests and convictions, something several endorsers have emphasized.“It is shameful that my son would likely be treated very differently from one of his black or Latino peers if he was stopped and found with marijuana,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “Legalizing marijuana is an issue of morality and social justice.”Harris said in a statement: “Marijuana laws in this country have not been applied equally, and as a result we have criminalized marijuana use in a way that has led to the disproportionate incarceration of young men of color. Legalizing marijuana is the smart thing to do and the right thing to do to advance justice and equality for every American.”Booker’s bill is unlikely to get a vote in a Republican-controlled Senate; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has called marijuana “illicit.” But it could get hearings and votes in the new Democratic House, where it is being introduced by Reps. Barbara Lee and Ro Khanna, both Democrats from California, where recreational marijuana was legalized in a 2016 ballot measure.“I’m proud to sponsor legislation that would legalize marijuana at the federal level, address the disproportionate impact of prohibition on people of color by expunging criminal convictions, and promote equitable participation in the legal marijuana industry,” Lee said.Khanna added that it was significant that every Democrat running for president had endorsed at least some path toward decriminalizing marijuana.“This shows that public opinion is shifting in this country to recognize that legalizing marijuana is a racial justice issue, an issue for helping make progress on the opioid crisis, and an economic issue of creating jobs,” Khanna said.Source: Washington Post (DC)Author: David WeigelPublished: February 28, 2019Copyright: 2019 Washington Post CompanyContact: letters washpost.com Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ URL: http://drugsense.org/url/4oKXOlR1CannabisNews - Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml 
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Comment #4 posted by afterburner on March 08, 2019 at 10:59:48 PT
War and Love as Change Agents
To my mind, the whole world is being controlled by death cults. Undercover governments destabilize the economies of smaller countries with rich natural resources. War of self-defense follows with enemy combatants, also known as terrorists. This leads to more war by coalition members. It is incumbent upon citizens to pursue love as a weapon against never-ending war. We've seen what destruction of society occurs because of 50 to 100 years of the War on Drugs. Without Love, war will be continue to be the default choice for governments. God is love. God wants us to use forgiveness in our social interactions. God appointed judges to settle social disagreements and only allowed kings and queens because of the unfaithfulness of the people of the Exodus and their golden calf.Lotta Love by Neil Young 
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GhQr0kndwBE"It's gonna take a lotta love
To change the way things are.
It's gonna take a lotta love
Or we won't get too far."
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on March 07, 2019 at 19:31:08 PT
About this article.
I appreciate this bunch. They have courage. They might be of some influence. I hope so. They're trying. I am neither Republican nor Democrat. I am independent. Thank you. ""Booker’s bill, which was first introduced in 2017 but never brought up for a vote, will be co-sponsored by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Ca.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).Personal note. I have kept an eye on Cory Booker all his political life. His political life began before he was even grown. He is a very impressive young man. I tend to trust him."Plus, it's obvious that people are ready to shake off the shackles of a misguided war, a pretty ferocious war on a large part of the populace, of the world! Illegality gave way to black markets, and black markets led to huge amounts of money, and that led to all kinds of death, destruction, and ungodly mayhem. They need to stop with the death and destruction and give peace amongst us some kind of chance.
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Comment #2 posted by Hope on March 07, 2019 at 15:00:33 PT
I did watch the hearing the other evening.
It was pretty impressive. Many people spoke for decriminalization. They were cool and spoke well. Some voices were shaky with emotion. Who could blame them? It was obvious they weren't all trained speakers. They were so brave. Many were lawyers and even district attorneys who, we would hope, are somewhat trained speakers. They are at least used to speaking in public forums. They were all speaking for this stout little bill that has come back for the third time now in three consecutive legislative sessions. I'm warily hopeful. It's a start to a saner way of dealing with the fears and phobias that continue to plague those that want to pummel the hell out of people that find cannabis and it's seeds beneficial to their health and well being. Many people, all kinds of people, fancy people and plain people, made pleas for a less draconian way of dealing with people in trouble for breaking what could be an unjust law in itselfListening to the prohibition to the hilt guys, it was double speak, a couple of times eloquently, and apparently heartfelt... it was double speak. No matter how "Heartfelt" and pleading their presentation against the bill, it was shot through with diversion, falsehoods, misrepresentation.I was not able to watch every bit of the hearing, with tending to some other things as well, but what I saw looked very good. It was stressed several times during the hearing that this "Is not a legalization bill".I did gather that the officers that testified against the bill believed that cannabis was a gateway for young people. Its extreme illegality was somehow, also a gateway for them. They pointed out that cannabis being illegal was often useful in solving other crimes. It gave them an easy gateway to search and seizure, apparently. Those who spoke against the bill were mostly, if not all, enforcement officers in uniform and body armor. A couple of them were old guys that might think about retiring. It's a labor union thing. They are powerful entities.
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Comment #1 posted by Hope on March 03, 2019 at 19:11:36 PT
Bad stuff
A few of the stories of the many, many victims of the ongoing injustice of prohibition. It must be stopped. The Texas Legislature will be meeting again tomorrow. They have a chance to do the right thing. I don't expect much from of the foot-dragging conceited, arrogant elitists that make up the majority of the legislature, though. Most of them, obviously, have no pity on those they cause to suffer. ("Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people".)If they have any conscience at all, it's obviously been "Seared over... as with a hot iron". If they had a conscience they would know the difference between true right and wrong.www.texasmarijuanapolicy.org/victims/
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