One Democratic member of Congress has presented a resolution that states the “moral obligation” for America to live up to its founding promise, which is to ensure justice for everyone. This includes legalizing pot and erasing all drug-related records. It also allows facilities to be opened where controlled substances can be consumed in a monitored manner to avoid overdose deaths.
Ayanna pressley, (D-MA) proposed a series of reforms that would address issues such as mass incarceration and racial injustice, drug addiction, homelessness, etc.
Cannabis does not feature prominently in this measure. However, it is part of one section which calls for decriminalization “of behavior and cases diverted that don’t require confinement”. This will reduce the number of prisoners in the nation.
The effort to decriminalize addiction should also aim at reducing homelessness, HIV, disability, mental disorders, as well, through the legalization of marijuana and prevention of overdose sites. Low-level crimes such as loitering, theft, or stealing necessities, will not be criminally prosecuted.
It is the fourth Congress that this resolution has been submitted. The previous versions never went to an official hearing or vote.
This measure also highlights the fact that 30 percent of federal prisoner sentences are drug related.
The report states that people with substance abuse disorders are more likely to overdose when jails or prisons prohibit drugs like methadone and buprenorphine.
The measure also calls for dismantling the 1994 Crime Bill which, during its time as a senator, was promoted by the former president Joe Biden and implemented punitive policies on drugs. This measure must be “replaced with an holistic, community-driven public health and security agenda,” according to the resolution.
The report also urges the end of disparities in sentencing between crack cocaine and powder cocaine.
This section emphasizes the fact that the Federal Government must rebuild the American Legal System to make it safer, smaller, more humane, and less punitive.
It remains to be seen if the GOP controlled Congress will move the resolution. Although President Donald Trump favored modest cannabis reforms like rescheduling the drug, he is opposed to harm reduction measures.
Trump, for example, signed an executive directive earlier this month, which has been criticized by the community of drug policy reformers over its focus on harm reduction and specifically safe consumption programs.
On rescheduling—which would not federally legalize marijuana as Pressley’s resolution calls for—key right-wing influencers have been voicing conflicting positions after the president announced an imminent decision on the issue.
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The owner of the major gardening supply company Scotts Miracle-Gro recently said Trump has told him directly “multiple times” since taking office that he intends to see through the marijuana rescheduling process.
Trump’s former acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) also recently predicted that the administration will soon “dig in” to the state-federal marijuana policy conflict, emphasizing the need to “eliminate confusion, not create it” amid the rescheduling push.
Meanwhile, Terrence Cole, who was sworn in last month as the new administrator of the DEA, declined to include rescheduling on a list of “strategic priorities” the agency that instead focused on anti-trafficking enforcement, Mexican cartels, the fentanyl supply chain, drug-fueled violence, cryptocurrency, the dark web and a host of other matters.
That’s despite the fact that Cole said during a confirmation hearing in April that examining the government’s pending marijuana rescheduling proposal would be “one of my first priorities” after taking office.
Sean Spicer was the White House’s former Press Secretary. He predicted, earlier in this month, that Trump wouldn’t legalize marijuana. However, that issue is separate from current proposals to change schedules.
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who Trump initially nominated to serve as U.S. attorney general during the current term, has also renewed his call for cannabis rescheduling—saying the “game is over for Democrats at the ballot box” if the president moves forward on the reform.
Meanwhile, a strategic consulting and research firm associated with Trump—Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, LLC—conducted a survey of registered voters that showed a majority of Republicans back a variety of cannabis reforms.
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