Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) will chair the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism. A press release on the appointment prominently touts two marijuana bills the senator has sponsored.
The Marijuana Justice Act to federally deschedule cannabis and promote social justice is the very first piece of legislation cited in the release after it notes the senator’s work to make “championing reforms of America’s broken criminal justice system a top priority.” Also mentioned is his separate CARERS Act, which would protect state medical marijuana programs.
With a congressional committee set to hold a first-ever hearing on ending federal marijuana prohibition on Wednesday, debate among legalization advocates over which piece of cannabis reform legislation would be the most effective and politically achievable is intensifying.
A key part of that conversation concerns the Strengthening the Tenth Amendment Through Entrusting States (STATES) Act, which would amend the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) to exempt state-legal marijuana activity from federal enforcement actions.
After a meeting with black millennial leaders and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), I visited one of my closest friends who lives in a quaint apartment complex in a D.C. suburb. Attempting to decompress from the conversation about mass incarceration, gender equity, and bail bonds, I found myself zoned in on Maryland foliage swaying gently from a spring breeze. My attention was then captured by children traversing the courtyard of the complex with elevated voices and sheer excitement. The children were unfazed by the economic limitations characteristic of the neighborhood.
In the fight to legalize pot, enthusiasts have largely pointed to the unjust demonization of the drug itself. Weed is no more harmful than alcohol, the argument goes, so why not tax it and regulate it the same way? That logic has carried the day in nearly a dozen pot-legal states from Alaska to California to Maine.
New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker reintroduced legislation that would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, effectively meaning state-legal cannabis businesses would not have to fear federal interference and could gain normal access to banking services.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, one of half a dozen Democratic senators running for the White House, is reintroducing a bill on Thursday that would fundamentally end the federal government's prohibition on marijuana.
Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) announced his bid for the 2020 U.S. Presidential campaign, including in his announcement his official backing for an end to cannabis prohibition, according to a MarketWatch report.
Sen. Booker talked about how our country needs radical empathy to bring the country back together and when asked by the hosts of the show about his stance on incarceration and drug policy, he took a strong stance against the drug war.
Sen. Cory Booker says businesses that sell even medical marijuana can’t get bank accounts, issue payroll checks or get loans — even in states like New Jersey, which legalized medical marijuana in 2010. That’s because federal law classifies marijuana as a Schedule I illegal drug — the same as heroin — and federal treasury officials might prosecute.
Marijuana reform in Congress has gained substantial momentum in 2018 and June was no exception.
Beginning with the introduction of the bipartisan STATES Act from Senators Warren and Gardner, to the Joyce/Leahy medical marijuana amendment (formerly known as Rohrabacher-Blumenauer) passing at the committee level through non-controversial voice votes, it appears that many in Congress are finally joining their constituents in supporting marijuana reform.
California Sen. Kamala Harris announced Thursday she is going to co-sponsor the Marijuana Justice Act, a bill that would legalize marijuana federally.
The bill was originally introduced last August by New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker.
This legislation would remove marijuana’s status as a Schedule 1 narcotic under the Controlled Substance Act. It would also require federal courts to expunge Americans’ records who have previous marijuana possession-based convictions.