Posted on 11/16/2021 4:48:30 AM PST by Tired of Taxes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation on Monday that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and eliminate legal hazards facing many cannabis-related businesses while regulating its use like alcohol.
Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who is spear-heading the legislative effort, described the bill as a "compromise" with less onerous regulations than measures proposed earlier by other lawmakers including Democrats.
The legislation's path in the Democratic-controlled House was uncertain. Mace, a first-term lawmaker, said the measure has five Republican co-sponsors.
Adult use of cannabis is legal in 18 U.S. states and allowed medically in 36 states. But it remains illegal under federal law, which has deterred banks and other investors from involvement with companies that sell marijuana or related products.
"This bill would also support businesses, in particular small businesses. That's very important," Mace told a news conference. "If we were to pass this bill today ... businesses would operate and be legal and regulated just like alcohol."
Titled the States Reform Act, the Republican legislation would defer to state authorities on matters of prohibition and regulation.
It would prohibit marijuana use by those under 21, restrict advertising, protect access to hiring and benefits for veterans who have used cannabis and expunge the records of people convicted on nonviolent, cannabis-only related offenses.
The bill diverges in several important ways from draft legislation proposed in July by Senate Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
Mace's bill would impose a 3% excise tax on cannabis, compared to an increasing Senate tax proposal that would top out at around 25%.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
This takes rats getting all these weed head votes in future elections off the table.
And still no national standard set for what constitutes THC impairment behind the wheel.
Pothead drivers are killing more people than drunks in my neck of the woods.
They’ve figured out that pot impairment is both harder to prove and far more expensive to prosecute, so guess what they’re getting high on when they’re gonna be driving.
Not to mention what this will do to employers who can’t have workers stoned on the job.
Continuing proof that the only reason two political parties still exist is to give voters the illusion of choice.
The stinkier the better. Like cheese.
Why?? On the grand scale will this legislation gain more votes, or loose?? There is no doubt in my mind that the sum total will be be fewer votes for the Republican side and more for the liberals.
Impaired voters, like ignorant voters, are far more easier to control.
Deep State likes them stoned and stupid.
But, for God’s sake, that doesn’t mean we have to make it easy for them.
I did not fully understand this issue before moving into an apartment. The stench of weed travels through the vents. I’ve never minded the smell of cigarettes or cigars or pipes. But this stuff smells awful. Then I read that the secondhand smoke can lead to detectable amounts of THC in the blood or urine. How would someone explain that if they have to test for their job?
I despise “tweed” and don’t care to be around those who partake, but this is a liberty issue to my mind.
The very idea of outlawing a indigenous plant always seemed silly to me.
A much better approach would be to take action against those who can’t behave themselves while high, as with alcohol.
If you’re smoking up in your house and taking a nap on the sofa, I don’t care.
If you’re smoking up and driving around (really slowly) and endangering others, or if you steal your neighbour’s lawn mower to pay for your high, then you should feel the full weight of your actions.
There are vaporizers and edibles which virtually eliminate the odor. Or so I hear.
Treat it like cigarettes.
If that’s what it takes to get rid of the Democrats, so be it.
Thankful some GOP congress critters are doing this. Fingers crossed it because the law of the land asap!!!
I’ve tried everything. I even bought expensive air purifiers. Nothing works.
Good point on the driving—as a dumb teenager I drove once after smoking pot.
I still have nightmares about it—a total miracle I stayed on the road at all—and another miracle I didn’t hit any other vehicles.
I stopped going to the Dolphin games in the Orange Bowl many years ago because of all the pot smoke.
Why do you think that? I live in a state where cannabis has been quasi legal for almost 20 years when you factor in the early medical marijuana period before the full blown 21 and up legal recreational marijuana. There’s retail outlets in every city.
I’m guessing but I bet my estimate is pretty close to accurate, at least 40% of the people consuming legal cannabis are senior citizens. I see them walking in when I pass by one. As a matter of fact, my neighbors kid works in one, I’m going to ask him about the demographic breakdown of his customers next time I see him.
The reason seems pretty simple to me and no, it’s not that they’re all aging hippies, those freaks are easily spotted, it’s because they are trying to find a lesser form of pain management or a non-pharmaceutical anti-anxiety medication.
Both maladies have been shown to be reduced by cannabis. The aged folks I know that have chronic issues are always looking for safer relief, many think pot fits that bill.
Canibis has already been decriminalized at the Federal level.
Donald Trump did not enforce the law and many states abrogated the Federal law and decriminalized effectively seceding from the union
You will never test positive for marijuana because of second hand smoke. I work for the Feds and my wife smokes the stuff daily to help with her high inter ocular pressure from Glaucoma. I get piss tested every month.
Don’t worry about testing positive because the stink weed drifts into your apartment, the smell issue, I get it. It smells bad, IMHO, and it seems to waft quite a distance too.
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