[W]ASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., signed onto a bill that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and punish states that have harsh marijuana laws Thursday.
The legislation, introduced last year by Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., would remove marijuana from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s list of most dangerous substances. It also would eliminate federal criminal penalties related to trafficking, growing, distributing and possessing pot.
In a video with Booker Thursday, Sanders said he sees a need to “rethink fundamentally our attitude toward marijuana.”
He said the country should “end this absurdity” of classifying marijuana in the same category of substances like heroin.
“Nobody I know thinks that it makes any sense at all that under the federal Controlled Substances Act, you have … marijuana as a Schedule I drug alongside of heroin, which is a killer drug,” Sanders said.
Criminal penalties for marijuana have not worked, he said, and minority communities have been disproportionately impacted.
Under the proposal, states that do not adopt policies legalizing marijuana could lose some federal funding, if they have disproportionate rates of arrest and incarceration of minorities.
Those states would not be able to use federal money to build or operate prisons, and they would lose up to 10 percent of some law enforcement grants.
Booker introduced the bill last year. Sanders is the third senator to join Booker to cosponsor the Marijuana Justice Act. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who is often mentioned as a possible 2020 presidential candidate, also joined Booker’s effort.
Nine states have some form of legalized marijuana policies, including Vermont, where possession of small amounts will be legal for adults starting later this year. Twenty-nine states have medical marijuana systems.
As states have loosened marijuana policies, the substance has remained illegal at the federal level. So far, the federal government has not cracked down on pot in jurisdictions where it is legal.
However, Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed an Obama-era guidance earlier this year that restrained Department of Justice enforcement on marijuana. Lawmakers from states that have regulated markets, like Colorado, have been urging protections in Washington.
Meanwhile, there are indications that support for descheduling marijuana at the federal level is growing. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, announced separately on Thursday that he will soon be introducing a separate bill to decriminalize marijuana.
Booker’s proposal is similar to a concept Sanders has endorsed for several years. Sanders called for marijuana to be removed from the DEA’s Schedule I list during his 2016 presidential bid.
States, he said, should have latitude to set marijuana regulation policies, as is currently done with alcohol and tobacco.
Kevin Sabet of Smart Approaches to Marijuana said the group believes Booker’s bill would have a negative impact on public health, safety and on social justice.
“The only people who will benefit are the pot industry which is mimicking big tobacco,” Sabet said. “Marijuana legalization today is about Wall Street, not Woodstock. It is a movement by mainly privileged white men to make as much money as possible.”
Sabet charged that the bill is counter to Sanders’ stance on large corporations.
“Bernie Sanders says he’s anti-corporation and anti-big banks,” Sabet said. “Ironically, those are who will benefit if pot is legalized.”
Morgan Fox of the Marijuana Policy Project said the group endorses legislation that allows states to move toward regulated systems.
“It is great to see Sen. Sanders continuing his support for ending marijuana prohibition and helping to undo the damage caused by those policies,” Fox said.
