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Schumer proposes federal decriminalization of marijuana

14 July 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) unveiled draft legislation on Wednesday to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level.

Why it matters: Though the legislation faces steep odds in the 50-50 Senate, it's a major milestone for marijuana activists and a sign of how far the debate has moved on criminal justice and the war on drugs.

Details: The bill, called the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, would remove the drug from the Controlled Substances Act and impose a federal tax on marijuana products, according to Marijuana Moment.

  • Revenue from the tax would be used to fund grant programs for communities most impacted by marijuana prosecutions. Regulation of marijuana would be transferred away from the Drug Enforcement Administration to the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies.
  • States would still be allowed to set their own marijuana laws, but businesses and individuals in states that have legalized it would be allowed to sell and consume marijuana without the risk of federal punishment.
  • The bill would also require federal districts to expunge nonviolent marijuana-related arrests and convictions within one year.

Between the lines: Taking marijuana off the list of controlled substances "would remove the most difficult regulatory burdens from U.S. marijuana companies, allowing them to take tax deductions, hold bank accounts and loans, and list on U.S. stock exchanges such as the Nasdaq and the NYSE," Bloomberg reports.

What they're saying: "For decades, young men and women — disproportionately young Black and Hispanic men and women, have been arrested and jailed for even carrying a small amount of marijuana in their pocket," Schumer said on the Senate floor Wednesday.

  • "A charge that often came with exorbitant penalties and a serious criminal record because of the over-criminalization of marijuana. ... It makes no sense and it's time for change."

What to watch: The House voted overwhelmingly to decriminalize marijuana last year and reintroduced a bill in May. Any weed legislation will likely face a difficult path forward in the Senate, where Republicans have expressed opposition and some moderate Democrats may be skeptical. President Biden has not endorsed the bill.

Go deeper:Advocates, Democrats plan to push major pot reform

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.