{"id":205702,"date":"2021-03-18T23:38:59","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T20:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/schumer-says-he-will-introduce-a-marijuana-reform-bill\/"},"modified":"2021-03-18T23:38:59","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T20:38:59","slug":"schumer-says-he-will-introduce-a-marijuana-reform-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/schumer-says-he-will-introduce-a-marijuana-reform-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"#Schumer says he will introduce a marijuana reform bill"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Schumer says he will introduce a marijuana reform bill<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says he wants to make the \u201clong overdue\u201d issue of marijuana reform a priority for Congress, saying it will provide \u201cjustice\u201d for those harmed by harsh cannabis laws.<\/p>\n

The New York Democrat released a video<\/a> on his Twitter<\/a> account Thursday featuring a conversation with Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ron Wyden of Oregon about the ills of marijuana laws and to announce that they would be introducing their legislation in the coming days.<\/p>\n

He said the reform legislation would focus on small business, especially those in communities bearing the brunt of the marijuana laws \u2013 and \u201cjustice, justice, justice \u2014 as well as freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of the effort would be to ensure that Big Tobacco \u200bdoesn\u2019t overpower \u200bsmaller companies.<\/p>\n

\"Senate
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking at a press conference outside of the Capitol building on March 17, 2021.<\/figcaption>
Photo by Win McNamee\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want the big tobacco companies and the big liquor companies to swoop in and take over,\u201d Schumer said. \u201cThe legislation we have will make sure that smaller businesses, businesses in communities of color, get the advantage because communities of color have paid the price for decades. They should at least get something back.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor decades,\u201d he said, \u201cyoung men who were arrested with a small amount of marijuana in their pockets served long prison terms and then they had a felony record and could never make themselves right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to take it off the federal list that makes it as serious a drug as heroin or cocaine,\u201d Schumer said.<\/p>\n

Schumer said the legislation was \u201clong overdue\u201d because when states decriminalized or legalized marijuana use, the crime rates that critics warned would shoot up never materialized.<\/p>\n

Wyden, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee that would take up a reform measure, said it\u2019s \u201clong past time to address the harms of\u00a0the failed war on drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sen.
Sen. Ron Wyden speaking to the press in the Capitol building on March 5, 2021.<\/figcaption>
EPA\/SHAWN THEW<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cMy state was one of the first, and people went to the polls and they said this marijuana prohibition, folks, just doesn\u2019t work. And certainly\u00a0communities of color have been devastated by these failed policies,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to accept any more dawdling from the federal government. It\u2019s kind of like the federal government has been in a time warp\u200b,\u201d Wyden said, \u200b\u201cWe\u2019ve got a real shot now at making progress\u200b.\u200b\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

B\u200booker agreed with his Democratic colleagues.<\/p>\n

\u200b\u201dIt\u2019s not just about creating an environment where states are legalizing, it\u2019s about restorative justice, and that\u2019s a number of things,\u201d Booker said. <\/p>\n

\"Sen.
Sen. Cory Booker at a hearing on Capitol Hill on March 2, 2021.<\/figcaption>
REUTERS\/Leah Millis<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s, one, making sure that we expunge records. Don\u2019t talk about free adult use of marijuana without talking about expunging records. Number two, the tax money\u2014this is going to be a multibillion dollar business. Those tax receipts should be reinvested in those in those communities,\u201d\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n

Schumer said along with decriminalizing marijuana use, people\u2019s records should be expunged \u201cso that they don\u2019t live their lives as if they committed the most dastardly felony because they smoked marijuana.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n