• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • News
  • Lifestyle
  • Wellness
  • Cuisine
  • Product Reviews
  • Subscribe
Cannabis News and Culture Magazine

Cannabis News and Culture Magazine

Cannabis News and Culture Magazine

Emerald Media News Subscription
  • Print Magazines
  • 100+ Minority-Owned Companies to Support
  • No Pipe, No Problem
  • Blunt vs. Joint
  • The Cost of Cannabis in Each State
  • Calculating Your Edibles Dosage
  • Flintts Mouthwatering Mints

Kamala Harris and Jerry Nadler Introduce Federal Decriminalization Bill

July 29, 2019 by Rita Thompson Leave a Comment

We’ve been fighting for cannabis legalization and decriminalization for quite some time now. Maybe, just maybe, things might finally be looking up. 

California Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ stance on cannabis has changed a lot since 2010. Back when she was elected to the California attorney general’s office, Harris felt that cannabis could harm communities, and thus, voted against bills to regulate and tax recreational cannabis in California.

Yet, in 2015 during California’s Democratic State Convention, Harris called to “end the federal ban on medical marijuana,” and further, admitted to smoking weed in an interview with The Breakfast Club this past February. 

Now, Harris is collaborating with House Judiciary Chair, Jerry Nadler, to sponsor the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act of 2019. By removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, the bill would federally decriminalize cannabis flower and expunge records of those convicted of low-level cannabis crime. Furthermore, it enacts a 5% cannabis tax to provide grants for job training, legal aid, and rehabilitation to communities most affected by the country’s war on cannabis. 

“Racially motivated enforcement of marijuana laws has disproportionately impacted communities of color,” Nadler said in a statement. “It’s past time to right this wrong nationwide and work to view marijuana use as an issue of personal choice and public health, not criminal behavior.”

While federal decriminalization would remove federal penalties, such as jail time, for cannabis offenses, states would still be able to determine their own approach to possession and sales. MORE will also prohibit federal agencies from denying benefits to those using cannabis, and prevent immigrants from being deported for cannabis-related convictions.

This is all great and promising news for us cannabis users, however, with a Republican-controlled Senate, it is difficult to predict the bill’s outcome. Regardless, with almost all of the 2020 Democratic candidates advocating for decriminalization, we are hopeful for the future of America’s flourishing cannabis industry. 

 

Filed Under: Current, Lifestyle Tagged With: cannabis, decriminalization, Main Gallery Images

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Subscribe to Emerald's Newsletter

loader

Advertise Here

Categories

Sustainability

seaweed naturals

SeaWeed Naturals Combines the Power of Seaweed with Cannabis to Further Ocean Restoration

April 3, 2022 By Maggie Horton

fungi climate change

Research Finds Fungi Help Ease Climate Change and Benefit the Environment

March 30, 2022 By Julia Meyer

climate crisis and the pandemic

“We Can Act:” What Bending the COVID-19 Curve Teaches Us About the Climate Crisis

April 21, 2020 By Melissa Hutsell

Footer

  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Press

Recent

  • Are Pre-Rolls the Future of Cannabis Retail?
  • Oxalis Integrative Support Services
  • Unlocking the Future of Cannabis Consumption: Amedicanna’s Nano Emulsified Beverages
  • From Veterans to Entrepreneurs: How Emanuel Ledezma, Rudy Rendon, and Erwin Sibal Became Leaders in the Cannabis Industry 
  • Cannifest 2023

Search

Copyright © 2023 · The Emerald™ · News & Lifestyle Magazine

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings.

Cannabis News and Culture Magazine
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.