US WA: EDU: New Bill Would Remove Federal Marijuana Regulation

The Daily Evergreen, 27 Jun 2011 - The Proposed Bill Would Leave the Regulation of Marijuana to State Governments. HR 2306, the bipartisan bill known as Ending the Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2011, was introduced into Congress on June 23 by D-Rep. Barney Frank with the support of R-Rep. Ron Paul. If passed, the bill would not legalize marijuana, but would remove regulation from the federal level and be left to the discretion of the states. The bill lists a number of sections in federal law where marijuana would be removed, essentially striking it from the federal list of "controlled substances." The states would then have the power to regulate, tax or prohibit them on their own terms. "A bill to limit the application of Federal laws to the distribution and consumption of marijuana, and for other purposes," the HR 2306 bill document said in its introduction. According to Politico, the bill is modeled after the 21st amendment, which repealed the alcohol prohibition. During an interview about the proposal, Paul said that the prohibition is a catastrophe. Kids are able to obtain marijuana more easily than alcohol and marijuana is beneficial for many cancer patients, he said. "The war against marijuana causes so much hardship and accomplishes nothing," Paul said. "We knew prohibition of alcohol was very bad, so this is just getting back to a sensible position on how we handle difficult problems." According to their website, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws [NORML] and their state affiliates, like Washington NORML, act with the intention to educate the public, lobby state and federal officials and gain overall support for the elimination of the criminal prohibition on marijuana. Kevin Oliver, the executive director of Washington NORML, said they need support for the bill. "Once the bill has been introduced and has a bill number, we should all begin asking our elected representatives in the House to co-sponsor the measure," Oliver said. Brady Irwin, the CFO for the WSU branch of Students for Sensible Drug Policy [SSDP] and NORML, said that this legislation would be a huge win for the anti-prohibition movement. He said he does not know if this bill will be the one, but it is a step in the right direction.

Source: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n425/a06.html

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