The bill proposes using some of tax dollars generated from marijuana sales to fund restorative justice programs.
Senate Democrats, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York), are set to introduce a bill on Wednesday that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. The bill also attempts to remedy the harms done to those negatively impacted — disproportionately represented by people of color — by the prohibition of the drug over the decades. The 163-page bill, which is also sponsored by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) and Cory Booker (D-New Jersey), would call for bringing “common sense to the federal government” when it comes to cannabis, to “end prohibition and restore the lives of those hurt most and set them up for opportunity.” “Cannabis prohibition, a key pillar of the failed war on drugs, has caused substantial harm to our communities and small businesses, and especially for communities of color,” Wyden said in a statement about the bill. The bill would “finally turn the page on this dark chapter in American history and begin righting these wrongs,” Booker also said. Among a number of provisions in the bill, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act list of drugs that are barred for recreational use, and allow the government to regulate and tax marijuana as well.
