By Steven Nelson
Aug. 6, 2015 | 5:28 p.m. EDT
National Conference of State Legislatures
members, meeting in Seattle this week, approved a call for congressional action on
marijuana reform. Washington state, along with
Colorado, has rolled out a regulated recreational marijuana market.
A nonpartisan national organization that
represents state legislatures demanded
Thursday that Congress overhaul federal drug
laws and allow states to establish their own
policies for marijuana and hemp.
The National Conference of State Legislatures
approved the policy statement in a voice vote
Thursday, throwing its support behind a states’
rights position that polls often find more popular than specific drug law reforms.
“The National Conference of State
Legislatures believes that federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act, should be amended to explicitly allow states to set their own marijuana and hemp policies without federal interference and urges the administration not to undermine state marijuana and hemp policies,†the resolution says.
The resolution recognizes “members have
differing views on how to treat marijuana and
hemp in their states and believes that states
and localities should be able to set whatever
marijuana and hemp policies work best to
improve the public safety, health, and economic development of their communities.â€
[READ: DEA Leader Now Certain: Heroin Obviously More Dangerous Than Pot]
State Rep. Renny Cushing, D-N.H., sponsored the measure. The lower house of New Hampshire’s legislature, in which he serves, last year became the first state legislative body in the U.S. to pass a tax-and-regulate marijuana legalization bill, though that effort later stalled.
Thus far, voter-passed initiatives have produced further-reaching effects than reforms approved by state legislatures, beginning with California’s groundbreaking medical marijuana initiative in 1996 and continuing with ballot initiatives that in 2012 and 2014 legalized recreational marijuana under local law in four states and the nation’s capital.
“The voters have stimulated conversation
among state legislators and state legislators in
response are calling on the federal government not to be an impediment," Cushing says. “[The resolution] means the states are no longer going to be willing participants in the war on drugs."
A super majority of 75 percent was required for adoption of the measure. Each state’s appointed representatives had one vote and 49 were on the floor, Cushing says, and opposition was so small there was no need for a recorded tally.
[ALSO: Missouri Man Serving Life for Pot Prepares for First Parole Hearing]
Though marijuana possession for any reason
outside limited research remains a federal crime, federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents generally respect state marijuana policies, in line with guidance from the Justice Department that encourages use of discretion focusing on certain priorities, such as preventing access to minors and interstate drug smuggling.
But there have been high-profile instances
where state autonomy has been seen as under assault. The Drug Enforcement Administration last year seized hemp seeds en route to Kentucky’s Department of Agriculture for legal pilot programs and in Washington state medical marijuana patients await sentencing after being convicted of violating federal law for tending a collective garden that only slightly exceeded state limits.
Congress reacted to these incidents last year by passing spending restrictions that bar the
Justice Department from using money to hinder state medical marijuana and hemp programs. The administration’s view of these restrictions, which did not change underlying federal law, is somewhat unclear. The House re-approved the amendments in June, but narrowly rejected a measure to protect state recreational marijuana laws.
“I think there’s every indication that a sea
change is taking place in the country,†Cushing
says. “People are realizing it’s the end of
prohibition, the parallels are very similar to what happened when the U.S. realized the prohibition of alcohol was a failed public policy.â€
[MORE: Prosecutors Rally Against Sentencing Reform, Say Build More Prisons]
Cushing says he doesn’t know if any state
lawmakers have visited state-legal marijuana
shops in Seattle, where the conference was
hosted. “If I have time I may want to do that
myself,†he says, noting he did tour a bakery
making marijuana-infused goods.
Pro-legalization groups quickly issued
statements celebrating the action. “This resolution is a strong indication that legislators throughout the nation are not just hearing from but listening to their constituents,†said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, which intends to support a half dozen legalization ballot initiatives in 2016.
“The overwhelming support for this resolution
shows clear bipartisan support for states' right
to create their own drug policies,†said Diane
Goldstein of Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition.
Passage of the measure came hours before the first televised presidential debate in the 2016 Republican primary. Some candidates appearing on the debate stage, notably Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., have suggested they would fully enforce the Controlled Substances Act and cripple state- regulated marijuana markets.
Aug. 6, 2015 | 5:28 p.m. EDT
National Conference of State Legislatures
members, meeting in Seattle this week, approved a call for congressional action on
marijuana reform. Washington state, along with
Colorado, has rolled out a regulated recreational marijuana market.
A nonpartisan national organization that
represents state legislatures demanded
Thursday that Congress overhaul federal drug
laws and allow states to establish their own
policies for marijuana and hemp.
The National Conference of State Legislatures
approved the policy statement in a voice vote
Thursday, throwing its support behind a states’
rights position that polls often find more popular than specific drug law reforms.
“The National Conference of State
Legislatures believes that federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act, should be amended to explicitly allow states to set their own marijuana and hemp policies without federal interference and urges the administration not to undermine state marijuana and hemp policies,†the resolution says.
The resolution recognizes “members have
differing views on how to treat marijuana and
hemp in their states and believes that states
and localities should be able to set whatever
marijuana and hemp policies work best to
improve the public safety, health, and economic development of their communities.â€
[READ: DEA Leader Now Certain: Heroin Obviously More Dangerous Than Pot]
State Rep. Renny Cushing, D-N.H., sponsored the measure. The lower house of New Hampshire’s legislature, in which he serves, last year became the first state legislative body in the U.S. to pass a tax-and-regulate marijuana legalization bill, though that effort later stalled.
Thus far, voter-passed initiatives have produced further-reaching effects than reforms approved by state legislatures, beginning with California’s groundbreaking medical marijuana initiative in 1996 and continuing with ballot initiatives that in 2012 and 2014 legalized recreational marijuana under local law in four states and the nation’s capital.
“The voters have stimulated conversation
among state legislators and state legislators in
response are calling on the federal government not to be an impediment," Cushing says. “[The resolution] means the states are no longer going to be willing participants in the war on drugs."
A super majority of 75 percent was required for adoption of the measure. Each state’s appointed representatives had one vote and 49 were on the floor, Cushing says, and opposition was so small there was no need for a recorded tally.
[ALSO: Missouri Man Serving Life for Pot Prepares for First Parole Hearing]
Though marijuana possession for any reason
outside limited research remains a federal crime, federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents generally respect state marijuana policies, in line with guidance from the Justice Department that encourages use of discretion focusing on certain priorities, such as preventing access to minors and interstate drug smuggling.
But there have been high-profile instances
where state autonomy has been seen as under assault. The Drug Enforcement Administration last year seized hemp seeds en route to Kentucky’s Department of Agriculture for legal pilot programs and in Washington state medical marijuana patients await sentencing after being convicted of violating federal law for tending a collective garden that only slightly exceeded state limits.
Congress reacted to these incidents last year by passing spending restrictions that bar the
Justice Department from using money to hinder state medical marijuana and hemp programs. The administration’s view of these restrictions, which did not change underlying federal law, is somewhat unclear. The House re-approved the amendments in June, but narrowly rejected a measure to protect state recreational marijuana laws.
“I think there’s every indication that a sea
change is taking place in the country,†Cushing
says. “People are realizing it’s the end of
prohibition, the parallels are very similar to what happened when the U.S. realized the prohibition of alcohol was a failed public policy.â€
[MORE: Prosecutors Rally Against Sentencing Reform, Say Build More Prisons]
Cushing says he doesn’t know if any state
lawmakers have visited state-legal marijuana
shops in Seattle, where the conference was
hosted. “If I have time I may want to do that
myself,†he says, noting he did tour a bakery
making marijuana-infused goods.
Pro-legalization groups quickly issued
statements celebrating the action. “This resolution is a strong indication that legislators throughout the nation are not just hearing from but listening to their constituents,†said Karen O’Keefe, director of state policies for the Marijuana Policy Project, which intends to support a half dozen legalization ballot initiatives in 2016.
“The overwhelming support for this resolution
shows clear bipartisan support for states' right
to create their own drug policies,†said Diane
Goldstein of Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition.
Passage of the measure came hours before the first televised presidential debate in the 2016 Republican primary. Some candidates appearing on the debate stage, notably Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., have suggested they would fully enforce the Controlled Substances Act and cripple state- regulated marijuana markets.
Semper Fidelis
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