Rolling Back The War On Weed: Sanders Backs Booker’s Bill

U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey has gained a key ally in his quest to roll back the federal ban on marijuana: Vermont’s Bernie Sanders.

Sanders announced his support for Booker’s “Marijuana Justice Act” on Thursday, a day before April 20, the unofficial holiday for cannabis users. In doing so, he became the latest U.S. senator to throw their weight behind the proposed law, which seeks to “reverse decades of failed drug policy.”

According to Booker, the former mayor of Newark, in addition to removing marijuana from the list of controlled substances, the bill would offer states federal funds to change their marijuana laws if those laws were shown to have a “disproportionate effect” on low-income individuals and people of color.

• See related article: Marijuana Arrests Are Criminalizing Black Residents, NJ ACLU Says

People who have already been arrested and charged with marijuana offenses would also benefit from the Marijuana Justice Act. The bill is retroactive and would apply to those already serving time behind bars for marijuana-related offenses, providing for “a judge’s review of marijuana sentences,” Booker said.

Read the full bill here.

Sanders and Booker offered support for the bill during a Facebook Live conference on Thursday afternoon. (Watch the video below)

Sanders said that while “some aspects of the issue are complicated,” scheduling marijuana alongside drugs such as heroin makes little sense. He added that the drive to legalize marijuana has picked up support from both conservatives and progressives.

“Clearly what we have to do is move in the direction of what a number of states have done, and that is either decriminalize marijuana or move toward legalization,” Sanders said.

“Marijuana legalization is an issue whose time has come – it’s no longer a matter of if, it’s a matter of when,” Booker said. “This bill is about justice and the reality that low-income communities and communities of color have been disproportionately targeted by the War on Drugs, which was not really a war on drugs as much as it was a war on people. This issue is about moving our country toward greater justice for communities of color and low-income communities and I’m excited that Senator Sanders is lending his voice and support to this movement.”

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) became the first Senator to cosponsor the Marijuana Justice Act last year and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) became the second co-sponsor in February. In addition to these cosponsors, U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) introduced a companion measure in the House of Representatives in January, which has more than 20 co-sponsors.

• See related article: US Marijuana Legalization Bill Would End 'War On Weed'

In 2016, about 60 percent of Americans said pot should be legal, a record high, according to a Gallup poll. The eight states that currently allow recreational marijuana combine to make up more than 20 percent of the U.S. population, Gallup stated.

• See related article: 4/20 Legal Marijuana Quinnipiac Poll Hits New High of Support

While many in Booker's home state of New Jersey expect the legalization of marijuana under the tenure of new governor Phil Murphy, the state's former governor, Chris Christie, has been a longtime opponent of legal weed, going so far as to call the effort “stupid.”

• See related article: Christie Calls N.J. Marijuana Legalization 'Stupid'

The concept of legalizing recreational weed has also seen stiff opposition from some political heavyweights such as U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who recently said that “good people don’t smoke cannabis.”

• See related article: Jeff Sessions On Marijuana: 'Won't Commit' To Obama Policy

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