Legal pot is step closer to U.S. law

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. Jerrold Nadler (DN.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.”

Several Republicans joined with most Democrats in backing the measure, though Republicans predicted too many of their colleagues in the Senate would probably oppose the legislation.

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.

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 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 (R-Ga.), the top Republican on the committee.

Democrats, though, insisted measures to heal the harm were vital. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (DN.Y.) argued that the incarcerated population in America jumped from 350,000 at the start of the war on drugs to 2.2 million now, disproportionately jailing black and Latino people.

He pointed to New York, saying the city “became the marijuana arrest capital of the world,” with 80% of those busted on minor possession raps being black or Latino.