A Democratic congresswoman is pushing legislation that would give states that have legalized marijuana the authority to bypass the federal government’s ban on the drug.
Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington
said her bill would bridge the differences between state and federal
law by allowing states that are “effectively” regulating marijuana to
waive the U.S. government’s central drug control law for up to three
years.
“These waivers will ensure people in states that have different laws
than the federal government on marijuana are protected from prosecution,
provided they meet certain requirements, as more and more states work
to regulate marijuana in their own borders,” DelBene said in a statement.
Currently, 23 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized some form
of marijuana while a handful of others have advanced ballot initiatives
for potential legalization in 2016.
But the federal Controlled Substances Act
still bars marijuana use, including possession for medical purposes,
leaving individuals and businesses that operate in those states where
pot is legal at risk of prosecution. federal“States are currently unable to regulate as effectively as possible
because they are hamstrung by preemption problems,” DelBene
said, adding that her bill would “fix” this problem. Cully Stimson,
manager of The Heritage Foundation’s national security law program,
said the legislation is a “not-so-subtle attempt” to circumvent the
federal government’s scheduling of marijuana by framing marijuana
legalization as a states’ rights issue.
He said the Justice Department should continue to enforce the federal law because of the number of scientific studies finding marijuana to be both dangerous and addictive.
“If this administration thinks that marijuana should be legalized or reduced in the Controlled Substances Act, they should lead and convince Congress, which they won’t, that it should be rescheduled,” Stimson said.
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