‘Legalize it,’ marijuana advocates tell Congress by alexnazaryan
WASHINGTON — “This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others,” said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., at a Wednesday hearing of the House Judiciary Committee on marijuana policy. The words were not his, of course, belonging rather to 1930s federal narcotics chief Harry J. Anslinger, who formulated antidrug measures that, in many ways, remain in place today.
Burnett was one of several witnesses — including Baltimore’s chief prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, who recently said she would not prosecute marijuana possession — to tell Congress that it was time to decriminalize marijuana use and possession. They also pushed to give people of color opportunities in the rapidly growing legal cannabis industry.
The hearing came less than a month after the same committee held hearings on reparations for descendants of slaves. But while that remains one of the more contentious social and political topics on the American scene, marijuana has become increasingly uncontroversial, with even a majority of Republicans surveyed in a 2018 poll saying they wanted the drug made legal. At one point during the hearing, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.
Story continuesIn fact, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., has published a comprehensive, ambitious plan to make marijuana fully legal within the current congressional session, which ends next year. “This movement is cresting,” his memorandum on marijuana legalization says. Blumenauer has also introduced the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, which, if passed, would lead to marijuana being regulated like “intoxicating liquors or liquids.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Rep. Eric Swalwell becomes first 2020 Democrat to drop out of raceBREAKING: Eric Swalwell becomes first 2020 Democrat to drop out of race
Read more »
Justin Amash resigns from House committee after dumping GOPRep. Justin Amash formally left the GOP conference and resigned from the House Oversight Committee today
Read more »
Rep. Eric Swalwell ends presidential bidNEW: Joe Biden says Eric Swalwell, who dropped out of the 2020 race this afternoon, 'ran a passionate campaign, and I commend him for bringing more attention to the urgent need for gun safety reform in America.'
Read more »
Swalwell ends presidential campaign less than two weeks after first debateThe California Democrat had struggled to gain traction in the crowded primary field.
Read more »