Let’s Decriminalize Pot…NOW!

Isn’t it about time?

I mean, whatever you want to call it: pot, weed, marijuana, cannabis, hemp….it’s just time to once and for awhile eliminate the social and legal stigma of using our favorite herb that isn’t cumin.

(Though, seriously, cumin is a fantastic herb you should be using ALL the time because it makes EVERYTHING taste better, but I digress…)

The United States House of Representatives even thinks it’s time to decriminalize weed at the federal level and they passed Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act earlier this month. Naturally it’s not moving forward in the Senate due to the Republican majority led by Moscow Mitch McConnell but hopefully in 2021, that will change and to make it happen, we need to make our voices heard in Washington that it’s vitally important we pass this legislation.

Super cool former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich thinks so, too, and in the below letter from him via Democracy For America, he urges us to support the More Act.

On December 4th, the House of Representatives passed the historic Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. If enacted, the bill would decriminalize cannabis at the federal level, expunge low-level marijuana arrests, and begin the process of undoing a failed war on drugs that has been used to criminalize communities of color.

This marks the first time in its history that a chamber of Congress has voted to end the marijuana prohibition. It’s about time.

This year, states controlled by Republicans and Democrats, including South Dakota, Arizona, Montana, and New Jersey, joined 11 other states in legalizing the recreational use of cannabis.

Yet the federal government still classifies it as a dangerous Schedule 1 drug. We have a chance to change this.

The Senate must listen to the 68 percent of Americans who support cannabis legalization — and bring the MORE Act to a vote.

Add your name demanding the Senate hold a vote on the MORE Act.

While following the science and the will of the people is important, the MORE Act goes far beyond just decriminalizing marijuana.

The Act’s most important provisions focus on repairing the injustices that were carried out through the so-called “war on drugs.”

The statistics speak for themselves.

Black people are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana charges than white people. And even though Black people only account for 12.5 percent of all substance users, they make up 30 percent of all drug-related arrests.

The MORE Act would empower and repair the communities of color that have been ravaged by the racist war on drugs.

It would levy a 5 percent tax on cannabis products and have those revenues deposited into a trust fund for the benefit of communities harmed by the war on drugs.

Demand that the Senate began to undo the racist war on drugs and hold a vote on the MORE Act.

In solidarity,

Robert Reich
Former Secretary of Labor
Co-founder, Inequality Media