Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the lead sponsor, Chairman Nadler, for problem solving, along with Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Cohen, Congresswoman Lee…”

“I thank the lead sponsor, Chairman Nadler, for problem solving, along with Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Cohen, Congresswoman Lee, and all of those who galvanized all of us. I was pleased to be able to lead this through the Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security Subcommittee. The war on drugs simply failed, and I am glad that one interpretation that has just been evidenced by my good friend on the other side of the aisle will have little weight and little basis because what we are doing here is solving a problem. Let me just indicate from the Health Affairs Culture of Health, a Black person is still nearly four times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession than a White person. To summarize this bill, it deals with Federal decriminalization, taxation, and expungement. It does not stop the DA, the Department of Justice, the FBI or anyone else from doing their job. The bill would remove cannabis from the list or schedule of federally controlled substances. This means that, going forward, individuals can no longer be prosecuted federally for marijuana offenses. This does not mean that marijuana would now be legal throughout the United States. The bill would simply remove the Federal Government from the business of prosecuting marijuana cases, which would leave the question of legality to individual States. Forty-seven States already have some form of legal use of marijuana. Let me share, my friends, the points that they are going to make.…”