Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Divided US House Committee Backs Pot Decriminalization
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
November 20, 2019

Share

LOS ANGELES — A divided U.S. House committee approved a proposal Wednesday to decriminalize and tax marijuana at the federal level, a vote that was alternately described as a momentous turning point in national cannabis policy or a hollow political gesture.
The House Judiciary Committee approved the proposal 24-10 after more than two hours of debate. It would reverse a longstanding federal prohibition by removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, while allowing states to set their own rules on pot.
The vote “marks a turning point for federal cannabis policy and is truly a sign that prohibition’s days are numbered,” Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, said in a statement.
Cannabis Trade Federation CEO Neal Levine called the vote “a historic step forward for cannabis policy reform.”
The vote comes at a time when most Americans live in states where marijuana is legal in some form, and committee members from both parties agreed that national cannabis policy lagged woefully behind changes at the state level. That divide has created a host of problems — loans and other banking services, for example, are hard to get for many marijuana companies because pot remains illegal at the federal level.
However, the bill’s future is uncertain. It wasn’t immediately clear if the proposal would be reviewed by other committees and when, or if, a vote would take place in the full House. The proposal has better chances of passing in the Democratic-controlled chamber than in the Republican-held Senate.

Photo of Rep. Jarrold Nadler
FILE – In this Oct. 31, 2019 file folder, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, joined at left by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, acting chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, meets with reporters at the Capitol in Washington. A divided House panel has endorsed a proposal to decriminalize and tax marijuana at the federal level. Groups supporting an end to the national prohibition on pot call the 24-10 vote by the House Judiciary Committee historic. However, even if passed in the House, the proposal faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled Senate. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The Legislation Would Authorize a 5% Sales Tax on Marijuana Products

The House passed a bill earlier this year to grant legal marijuana businesses access to banking, but it hasn’t advanced in the Senate.

“Arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating users at the federal level is unwise and unjust. The racial disparity in enforcement of marijuana laws has only compounded this mistake with serious consequences, particularly for minority communities.” Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler
Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee complained that the proposal to decriminalize cannabis had never had a hearing and lacked the bipartisan support needed to become law.
“It’s going nowhere,” said Rep. Doug Collins, a Georgia Republican.
Among its provisions, the legislation would authorize a 5% sales tax on marijuana products to fund programs aimed at assisting people and communities harmed in the so-called war on drugs, such as job training and legal aid. It also would require federal courts to expunge prior marijuana convictions.
Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said the nation has for too long “treated marijuana as a criminal justice problem, instead of a matter of personal choice and public health.”
“Arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating users at the federal level is unwise and unjust,” the New York Democrat said. “The racial disparity in enforcement of marijuana laws has only compounded this mistake with serious consequences, particularly for minority communities.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

World’s Largest Almond Processor Will Shutter Sacramento Plant. 600 Workers Impacted

DON'T MISS

Trump Eyes Major Funding Cuts for California, Including All Public Universities

DON'T MISS

Farming Regulation Costs Rise 1,300% Since 2006: Cal Poly

DON'T MISS

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

DON'T MISS

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

DON'T MISS

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

DON'T MISS

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

DON'T MISS

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

DON'T MISS

FDA’s AI Assistant ‘Elsa’ Fails Its First Day on the Job

DON'T MISS

Documentary Series Goes Inside Trump’s Bubble

UP NEXT

Trump Eyes Major Funding Cuts for California, Including All Public Universities

UP NEXT

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

UP NEXT

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

UP NEXT

FDA’s AI Assistant ‘Elsa’ Fails Its First Day on the Job

UP NEXT

Newsom Promises Funding to Jump-Start ‘Science of Reading’

UP NEXT

Rancho Cucamonga Prepares for First US Bullet Train Hub in 2028

UP NEXT

8 Ways Musk and Trump Could Inflict Pain on Each Other

UP NEXT

D-Day Veterans Return to Normandy to Mark 81st Anniversary of Landings

UP NEXT

Lambda Legal, a Nonprofit Supporting LGBTQ+ Rights, Exceeded Fundraising Goal by $105M

UP NEXT

Trump Threatens Musk’s Government Deals as Feud Explodes Over Tax-Cut Bill

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

3 hours ago

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

3 hours ago

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

4 hours ago

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

4 hours ago

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

4 hours ago

FDA’s AI Assistant ‘Elsa’ Fails Its First Day on the Job

4 hours ago

Documentary Series Goes Inside Trump’s Bubble

4 hours ago

Tulare County Gang Member Convicted of Trying to a Murder Police Officer

4 hours ago

Newsom Promises Funding to Jump-Start ‘Science of Reading’

5 hours ago

Feds Indict SoCal Hospice CEO for Medicare Fraud in Fresno and Kern Counties

5 hours ago

World’s Largest Almond Processor Will Shutter Sacramento Plant. 600 Workers Impacted

The world’s largest almond processor, Blue Diamond Growers, says it will close its Sacramento processing plant this year The almond co...

2 hours ago

2 hours ago

World’s Largest Almond Processor Will Shutter Sacramento Plant. 600 Workers Impacted

3 hours ago

Trump Eyes Major Funding Cuts for California, Including All Public Universities

3 hours ago

Farming Regulation Costs Rise 1,300% Since 2006: Cal Poly

4 hours ago

Southern California Air Regulators Weigh a Plan to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters

4 hours ago

US Supreme Court Allows DOGE Broad Access to Social Security Data

5 hours ago

Doctors Were Preparing to Remove Their Organs. Then They Woke Up.

5 hours ago

Abrego Garcia Is Returned to US From El Salvador

5 hours ago

Proud Boys Convicted in Jan. 6 Attack Sue Government on Claims of ‘Political Persecution’

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend