The entire country just might get 420-friendly pretty soon by the efforts of Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer who proposed a bill that would regulate marijuana the same way the government regulates alcohol.
The new bill named, H.R. 420, would completely remove marijuana from the list of illegal narcotics under the federal Controlled Substances Act. In addition, if the bill were to pass, marijuana would also kick start a nationally regulated industry that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Are a part of.
Blumenauer, who is a part of the Democratic Party, has worked with representatives from both parties to legalize marijuana and cannabis products and is also attempting to have progressive reforms put in place on a federal level. Today, marijuana is labeled a Schedule 1 drug which means not “currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” While uses of marijuana are far from being detrimental to humans’ overall health, the government has categorized it with its heroin, LSD, peyote and ecstasy on the Drug Enforcement Agency’s list.
Blumenauer also founded the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, which includes Republican congressmen Don Young of Alaska and David Joyce of Ohio, as well as Democratic Representative Barbara Lee of California, Newsweek reports. The Cannabis Caucus seeks to “end senseless prohibition, ensure restorative justice for those impacted by the War on Drugs, advance research and expand access to vets,” Blumenauer tweeted Wednesday.
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) in a statement, praised Blumenauer for his efforts to team up with different parties to change laws on marijuana. “The Cannabis Caucus was the first of its kind to create a forum for elected officials to collaborate on ways to address our outdated federal marijuana laws,” Blumenauer told the group Wednesday. “Congress is clearly out of step with the American people on cannabis when national support for federal marijuana legalization is at an all-time high and we saw several states move toward with legalization last November.”
