House advances bill to remove pot from Controlled Substances Act

Legalizing marijuana in U.S. takes first step

Washington — The House Judiciary Committee took the first step Wednesday to legalizing marijuana in the U.S., advancing a bill to remove pot from the Controlled Substances Act and create a tax to fund programs to heal damage from the war on drugs.

“For far too long, we have treated marijuana as a criminal justice problem instead of a matter of personal choice and public health,” said committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler,

D-N.Y. “Whatever one’s views on the use of marijuana for recreational or medicinal purposes, arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating users at the federal level is unwise and unjust.”

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., argued that Americans are far ahead of Congress in attitudes about marijuana.

“We are not rushing; we are being dragged forward by our constituents,” said Gaetz, who backed the bill but warned that some of its attempts to redress damage from the war on drugs might go too far for conservatives.

In addition to removing cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and leaving it to states to regulate, the bill creates a 5% tax that would be used to fund restorative programs and help people most targeted by the war on drugs start new legal weed businesses.

Some Republicans who favor legalization sought to substitute a bill called the States Act that lacks the social programs but has bipartisan support in the Senate, including from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

“Why don’t we start with one that already has bipartisan support in both and make it better? Then we can come back to the social justice issues,” said Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, the top Republican on the committee.

“Whatever one’s views on the use of marijuana for recreational or medicinal purposes, arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating users at the federal level is unwise and unjust.”

REP. JERRY NADLER, D-N.Y., HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN