Year offenses republican congress legislation drug. Medical search. Frequent questions

The First Step Act, which passed with overwhelming support from Republicans and Democrats, takes modest steps to alter the federal criminal justice system and ease very punitive prison sentences at the federal level. (vox.com)
In the letter, the Senators, all Democrats, called America's war on drugs "failed and racist. (riverfronttimes.com)
Yet with control of Congress at stake and Republicans weaponizing a law-and-order message against Democrats in their midterm election campaigns, the fate of the measure is in doubt. (cochs.org)
Democrats tried to add the provisions back through an amendment, but Republicans blocked the move. (marijuanamoment.net)
Though some of her Republican colleagues may be reticent to endorse a bill that fully decriminalizes cannabis at the federal level, its biggest hurdle will be in gaining enough support from Democrats who view it as not going far enough. (cei.org)
On the other side are bills favored by Democrats, like the still-pending MORE Act , which would remove cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances (fully decriminalizing it at the federal level), expunge non-violent cannabis offenses, create a system of federal regulation, institute a federal excise tax, and earmark tax revenue for programs aimed at supporting disadvantaged individuals, businesses, and communities. (cei.org)
Third-rail for generations, legalization support has become a virtual requirement among Democrats after several blue-state voters mandated their own laws, and the congressional bill won votes on Wednesday from Republicans as well. (buzzfeednews.com)
Introduced by Nadler, the MORE Act is an amalgamation of several bills floated by Democrats in recent years - the fact that this particular measure emerged as the party's consensus shows Democrats want social justice to be a nonnegotiable component of legalization. (buzzfeednews.com)
Three Republicans and three Democrats have co-sponsored the bill, which would reduce crime and enhance public safety. (hrw.org)
He said that AGOA was particularly important as it was supported by both Republicans and Democrats to encourage economic development in Africa. (fox40.com)
Eight Republicans joined with Democrats to vote 209-201 to send her resolution to committees for possible consideration, like any other bill. (ozarksfirst.com)
The January 2021 run-off election shifted control of the Senate to Democrats, giving Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) the power to put cannabis reform legislation on the agenda. (cannabislaw.report)
With Democrats in control of all branches of the government, and even more states permissive of cannabis this year (including Virginia), the time may be now. (cannabislaw.report)
That is where Republicans as well as Democrats will learn more about what exactly this agreement looks like. (cnn.com)
Republicans lead, Democrats follow. (tripod.com)
As usual, Democrats, as the mindless, corporate, "left" wing of the Republicrat corporate party, obeyed their Republican masters and kissed Republican butt (again) concerning drug war issues. (tripod.com)
Democrats follow Republican evil. (tripod.com)
Either the Republicans are going to give Democrats virtually everything that they want, or the federal government will shut down at the end of the day on Friday. (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)
In 2016 we gave the Republicans control of the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives, and yet the Democrats just keep winning over and over again. (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)
I am never going to compromise on my most important principles , and any Republican that caves in and gives the Democrats whatever they want just to avoid a government shutdown should be ashamed of themselves. (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)
Candidates continued to bash Biden on the influx of migrants at the border, a hot-button issue Republicans pounce on Democrats for regularly. (klfy.com)
The Democratic Party's success in securing a 51st Senate seat in the Georgia runoff Tuesday is certainly consequential, but it did nothing to avert an imminent shift in the national political environment: On Jan. 3, Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives, and it will be two years at least - if not much longer, given historical trends - before Democrats again have the power to enact major legislation. (trikarpurnews.com)
Democrats have two options to avert financial crisis, Peter Orszag, a former director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office, explains: Win over enough Senate Republicans to form a filibuster-proof majority to raise the debt ceiling, or raise it unilaterally through the reconciliation process, which would require only 50 votes. (trikarpurnews.com)
Any Democrats averse to taking such a painful vote now should consider how much leverage their party will lose once Republicans control the House - and how much higher the risk of default will be then," he writes in The Washington Post. (trikarpurnews.com)
Nearly two years after President Biden proposed the most comprehensive immigration reform since the Reagan administration, Democrats have made very little headway on the issue. (trikarpurnews.com)
Bipartisan support for this move is also high, with 74% of Independents, 84% of Democrats, and 58% of Republicans backing the proposal. (thecannabisindustry.org)

But despite these changing political winds, reform advocates still say they are optimistic that Congress will pass the EQUAL Act, which would end federal sentencing disparities between crack and cocaine offenses. (cochs.org)
This week, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) became the 11th Republican to sign onto the EQUAL Act ( S. 59 ), which would eliminate the sentencing disparity in crack and powder cocaine offenses. (stopthedrugwar.org)

Both the MORE Act and the SRA expunge nonviolent cannabis-related offenses, but, unlike the MORE Act, Rep. Mace's bill does not limit offenses to those committed after 1971. (cei.org)
A group of celebrities, Republican officials and civil rights advocates sent a letter to President Trump on Wednesday, urging him to pardon or commute the sentences of people in federal prison for nonviolent federal marijuana offenses. (marijuanamoment.net)
Mandatory minimums - The First Step Act would shorten mandatory prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenses and give judges more leeway to exempt certain cases. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)

The measure, which Trump signed into law, is the most significant criminal justice reform legislation in years. (vox.com)
In his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, President Donald Trump held up criminal justice reform legislation as one of his big accomplishments. (vox.com)
This legislation reformed sentencing laws that have wrongly and disproportionately harmed the African-American community," Trump said. (vox.com)
After it passed Congress in December, Trump signed it into law. (vox.com)
Even though Trump ran on a "tough on crime" platform in which he promised to support harsh prison sentences, the president came to support the legislation - in large part thanks to the backing of key advisers, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner. (vox.com)
Second, dropping the sentencing provisions of the Grassley-Durbin legislation from the Trump administration's reform conversations guarantees that there will be no significant inroads made into reversing mass incarceration. (newsweek.com)
When Donald Trump signed a long-sought criminal justice reform measure into law in 2018, he had visions of using the legislation to make major inroads with Black and moderate swing voters. (cochs.org)
Three-and-a-half years later, few Republicans - Trump included - seem not at all interested in talking about it. (cochs.org)
Borden said, "We are committed to recognizing if and when the Trump administration takes good steps in drug policy or criminal justice. (enewspf.com)
In the meanwhile, however, the overall Trump administration record in the drug war is a horrific one. (enewspf.com)
In less than a year, President Trump demolished Obama's legacy. (vice.com)
Here are nine ways Trump has transformed the landscape of criminal justice, just one tumultuous year into his presidency. (vice.com)
Among the more than 50 signatories of the new letter is Alice Johnson, who appeared at the Republican National Convention and whose story was featured in Trump campaign ads after her drug sentence was commuted by the president. (marijuanamoment.net)
President Trump, the Republican leadership and the conservative Koch brothers are on board. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)

The legalization tide has swept right past Joe Biden , the former vice president and antidrug former senator, who stuck out as an outlier in the Democratic presidential race this week by opposing federal legalization and questioning whether pot is a "gateway drug. (buzzfeednews.com)
Biden said in a letter addressed to members of U.S. Congress that despite intensive engagements with Niger, Uganda, Central African Republic and Gabon, they hadn't addressed U.S. concerns "about their noncompliance with the AGOA eligibility criteria. (fox40.com)
It is not clear yet what President Joe Biden has decided to do regarding any existing cannabis reform legislation, but he did say during his presidential campaign that he would support rescheduling cannabis to make it legal. (cannabislaw.report)
But at least on Saturday, an important development as President Biden, the White House reached that agreement with House Republicans, allowing them to move forward and try to avert a debt default on June 5. (cnn.com)
The Biden administration's proposal to seize drug patents if the prices of the medicines are deemed unreasonable is expected to face significant legal pushback, and the potential effects on the pharmaceutical industry may not be what the administration had in mind, experts say. (law360.com)
A Los Angeles federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday evening charging Hunter Biden with failing to pay more than $1 million in federal taxes over a four-year period and other tax-related offenses, as top Republicans have mulled drafting articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden. (law360.com)
The Biden administration announced a framework Thursday morning that proposes including prices as a factor when deciding if the public can easily obtain a taxpayer-funded drug and allowing government agencies to license the patent behind the product to another party if the cost is determined to be too high. (law360.com)
Republican candidates during their first debate Wednesday attacked President Biden on a range of policies that included inflation, immigration, Ukraine and the southern border, giving a glimpse into the type of attack lines forming against the incumbent in the 2024 presidential campaign. (klfy.com)
Republicans have closely scrutinized the Biden administration's handling of the border with Mexico for months and sought to build an impeachment case against Mayorkas. (yahoo.com)
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) has faulted President Joe Biden for not including undocumented immigrants in his blanket pardon he announced in early October for people convicted of possessing marijuana on a federal level. (theepochtimes.com)
Biden announced the pardon on Oct. 6 and his proclamation states that the pardon "does not apply to individuals who were non-citizens not lawfully present in the United States at the time of their offense. (theepochtimes.com)
I'm pardoning all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession," Biden wrote on Twitter after announcing the pardon. (theepochtimes.com)
In the midst of a crime wave and on the brink of a recession, Joe Biden is giving blanket pardons to drug offenders-many of whom pled down from more serious charges," wrote Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark. (theepochtimes.com)

The bill would remove low-level drug crimes as deportable offenses and would require that certain criminal convictions come with a prison sentence of at least five years. (wikipedia.org)
Back then, the legislation made no effort to cut the length of prison sentences on the front end, although it did take some steps to encourage rehabilitation programs in prison that inmates could use, in effect, to reduce how long they're in prison. (vox.com)
It restricts the current practice of stacking gun charges against drug offenders to add possibly decades to prison sentences. (vox.com)
The law increases the cap to 54, allowing well-behaved inmates to cut their prison sentences by an additional week for each year they're incarcerated. (vox.com)
Since taking office, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has promoted an aggressive agenda of reversing the policies of the Obama years, including reviving contracting with private prisons, urging federal prosecutors to seek harsher prison terms and opposing sentencing reform. (newsweek.com)
The legislation would outlaw many of the mandatory drug sentencing provisions that have imposed lengthy prison terms in cases of drug kingpins and lower level offenses, alike. (newsweek.com)
The legislation, which aims to end a longstanding racial disparity in federal prison sentences for drug possession, passed the House overwhelmingly last year, with more than 360 votes. (cochs.org)
The spiraling number of overdose deaths and hospitalizations among California prison inmates fell dramatically during the first two years of a program that uses prescribed drugs to treat more incarcerated addicts than any such program in the country. (cochs.org)
People convicted of a subsequent offense would face a felony charge punishable by a maximum $10,000 fine and up to three and a half years in prison. (marijuanamoment.net)
Thousands of individuals - overwhelmingly people of color - have been subjected, by the federal government, to unjust prison sentences for marijuana offenses," House Judiciary Committee chair Jerry Nadler said in opening remarks that nodded to the groundwork laid by Rep. Barbara Lee of California. (buzzfeednews.com)
Those two dozen currently incarcerated individuals include people like Luke Scarmazzo, who was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for operating a state-legal medical cannabis business in California. (marijuanamoment.net)
Corrections officials blamed the orchestrated violence - the worst U.S. prison riot in 25 years - in part on illegal cellphones. (wnem.com)
The First Step Act would scale back harsh sentences for some drug crimes, improve prison conditions and provide more help for prisoners when they re-enter society. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)
Many people were sent to prison for relatively minor third offenses, and there was often racial disparity in who got life sentences. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)
The new law reduces the three strikes penalty from life in prison to 25 years. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)

Despite bipartisan support for sentencing reform in Congress, the legislation has been held up in the Senate by a handful of Republicans. (newsweek.com)
Reforming the law to prevent such schemes has bipartisan support: Nearly 40 senators, including 16 Republicans, have signed on to a bill introduced in the Senate over the summer, and the House passed its own bill in September. (trikarpurnews.com)

Some Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, took issue with the mild reforms in the First Step Act, even as Republican senators like Chuck Grassley (IA) and Lindsey Graham (SC) came on board. (vox.com)
In August, three senators separately filed legislation to legalize cannabis for adult use in the state . (marijuanamoment.net)
and to pass legislation sponsored by Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) to impose human rights conditions on some aid to the Philippines while funding public health work and human rights advocacy. (enewspf.com)
Sessions won the election 52 percent to 45 percent, and Alabama was represented by two Republican senators for the first time since Reconstruction. (encyclopediaofalabama.org)
But this week, there were signs of a potential breakthrough when a bipartisan pair of senators reportedly drafted a framework for legislation that would create a pathway to citizenship for two million DACA recipients and improve the asylum system. (trikarpurnews.com)

The New Way Forward Act (H.R. 5383) is a proposed legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate and House on December 10, 2019 by Jesús "Chuy" García, which focuses on immigration reform. (wikipedia.org)
But the First Step Act ultimately passed with huge support in both the House and Senate, becoming the most significant criminal justice reform law at the federal level in years. (vox.com)
It was the first time Congress ever took up cannabis reform legislation . (riverfronttimes.com)
That year, 50 percent of voters said they favor cannabis reform, versus 45 percent who said it should remain illegal. (marijuanamoment.net)
The memo also discusses how voters in multiple cities and counties across Wisconsin have strongly approved local, non-binding ballot referendums expressing support for marijuana reform in recent years. (marijuanamoment.net)
And in the interim as lawmakers pursue reform, the governor has issued more than 300 pardons during his years in office, primarily to people convicted of non-violent marijuana or other drug offenses. (marijuanamoment.net)
The 100:1 disparity was created by the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act, but reduced to an 18:1 disparity by the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act, and that reform was made retroactive by the 2018 First Step Act. (stopthedrugwar.org)
Whilst both equally surveys identified that 59 % of Ohioans back the reform, Fallon’s places Republican aid at 48 percent, though opposition is at 46 per cent. (wellencbd.com)
At just over 130 pages, the States Reform Act is the most comprehensive cannabis legislation ever introduced in Congress. (cei.org)
While both of the Republicans lost, prisoner advocates worry the discourse has re-sparked irrational fears and will spook conservatives who have in recent years joined the reform movement. (vice.com)
On February 1, 2021, he released a joint statement with Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ) and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) stating their intention to introduce "comprehensive cannabis reform legislation. (cannabislaw.report)
We are committed to working together to put forward and advance comprehensive cannabis reform legislation that will not only turn the page on this sad chapter in American history, but also undo the devastating consequences of these discriminatory policies. (cannabislaw.report)
In the early part of this year, we will release a unified discussion draft on comprehensive reform to ensure restorative justice, protect public health and implement responsible taxes and regulations. (cannabislaw.report)
The months of October and November have brought a flurry of activity to DPF s public policy office, including tracking end-of-session legislative activity by the 105th Congress, and publishing Election 98: The Vote for Medical Marijuana and Drug Policy Reform. (tripod.com)
This in-depth analysis of this year s successful drug policy reform ballot initiatives was distributed to the media, the public, and drug policy reformers to summarize the different initiatives and evaluate key provisions in each. (tripod.com)
We have included an overview of the results of the drug policy reform initiatives and a list of the major drug policy-related legislation we followed this year. (tripod.com)
Overwhelmingly Approve Medical Marijuana, Drug Policy Reform Initiatives. (tripod.com)
In states across the country, voters approved medicinal marijuana and broader drug policy reform initiatives on November 3. (tripod.com)
But following Biden's pardon, many hope that Congress' marijuana reform will pass the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act for the industry. (thecannabisindustry.org)

During Sessions' first year in Congress, he notably voted in favor of both articles of impeachment against Pres. (encyclopediaofalabama.org)

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also met Tuesday with advocates and formerly incarcerated leaders, where he described the legislation as 'a priority. (stopthedrugwar.org)
Unlike the last version, the new letter comes with an attachment-at the request of Kushner's office, advocates said-of a specific list of 24 people who are currently behind bars for cannabis offenses, including several who are serving life sentences. (marijuanamoment.net)
Several prominent Republicans have become outspoken advocates of pushing forward on the GOP's longstanding effort to impeach Mayorkas. (ozarksfirst.com)
NBC News interviewed 31 lawyers and advocates who have collectively represented hundreds of students in suspension or expulsion matters as well as the parents or guardians of 41 students who were suspended, expelled or sent to alternative schools in recent years. (nbcnews.com)

Singapore is the object of international condemnation over its resumption of the death penalty for drug offenses. (stopthedrugwar.org)
A growing coalition with over 140 organizations as of this writing has condemned President Trump's call to institute the death penalty for drug offenses. (enewspf.com)
The US has never brought a death penalty case for a drug offense, but following the president's call for executions last spring, Attorney General Sessions sent a memo to prosecutors urging them to consider seeking the death penalty in some cases. (enewspf.com)
The statement argues, with references, that the president's claims of success for drug death penalty approaches in other countries is "premised on falsehoods. (enewspf.com)
and accuses Singapore's government of using "faked data" to justify their drugs death penalty. (enewspf.com)
That law, which allows the death penalty for some homosexual offenses, has widespread support at home, but has been condemned by rights campaigners and others. (fox40.com)

Earlier this year, New York Senator Chuck Schumer, also a Democrat, introduced the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act , which would legalize marijuana by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act, allowing for it to be taxed and regulated. (riverfronttimes.com)
Simply, we need Congress to pass legislation giving states the authority to implement a cell phone jamming system to protect inmates, guards, and the public at large," the 22 prosecutors - all Republicans, led by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson - wrote in a letter sent Wednesday to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. (wnem.com)

As it stands, marijuana possession is punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and up to six months in jail for a first offense. (marijuanamoment.net)
Other Republican lawmakers have filed bills to more modestly decriminalize marijuana possession in the state, but none of those proposals advanced during last year's session. (marijuanamoment.net)
Over the years, the simple possession or use of cannabis has seen many lives upended by arrests and criminal convictions. (thecannabisindustry.org)

That opposition at times appeared to endanger the legislation, as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voiced skepticism of causing an intraparty fight over the issue. (vox.com)
But Republicans, leading a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on drug policy, branded the Clinton administration strategy a clear failure and insisted it develop a tougher response that depends more on police, courts and jails. (marijuanalibrary.org)
The Senate on Thursday approved a bill aimed at helping minority entrepreneurs and people adversely impacted by previous drug law enforcement gain a foothold in the legal marijuana industry. (stopthedrugwar.org)
Through this bill we are sending a strong message that Indian reservations will not be a haven for criminal activity, drug trafficking, gangs, or abuse," Barrasso said in remarks on the Senate floor. (indianz.com)
The House Judiciary Committee passed a hard-line border and migration bill that may not even have enough Republican votes to pass the House, much less the Democratic-majority Senate. (wola.org)
The Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2008, the most important juvenile justice legislation Congress has addressed in years, is up for consideration in the Senate next week. (hrw.org)
When the Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to consider the bill, Republicans refused to attend. (hrw.org)
Leaders in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives announced that they plan to vote on a far-reaching bill to federally legalize marijuana next month, but the Republican Senate has shown no signs it intends to follow suit. (marijuanamoment.net)
Equifax this week managed that feat. Firebrand consumer watchdog Elizabeth Warren was joined Wednesday by a number of Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee in roasting the company over its enormous data breach this year in which the personal information - including Social Security numbers - of as many as 145.5 million Americans was compromised. (senate.gov)
However, this year, he has already taken proactive steps to align himself with members of the Senate who support full cannabis legalization. (cannabislaw.report)
That legislation failed to obtain a vote in the Republican-controlled Senate during the last legislative session. (cannabislaw.report)
This legislation has passed in the House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis several times but has never passed in the U.S. Senate. (cannabislaw.report)
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) will sponsor the Senate version of the bill, as he has in years past. (cannabislaw.report)
Committee leaders in the House and Senate unveiled draft legislation making technical corrections to a sweeping retirement policy overhaul Congress passed in December 2022, expanding access to and incentives for employer-sponsored retirement plans, with the bill release quickly garnering praise from a top industry group. (law360.com)
The Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, killed the nomination, citing Sessions' "gross insensitivity" to racial issues, despite Sessions' denials of the allegations of racism and discrimination. (encyclopediaofalabama.org)
Here are just some of the most pressing legislative priorities on the party's agenda that could be accomplished without fear of a Republican filibuster in the Senate, or with the possibility of enough Republican votes to block such a move. (trikarpurnews.com)

The U.S. Congress held six committee hearings relevant to border issues this week, while Republican legislators conveyed plans to impeach Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the situation at the border. (wola.org)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House voted Monday to push off a Republican effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, ending for now a threat against the Cabinet secretary that has been brewing ever since Republicans took the House majority in January. (ozarksfirst.com)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a hard-right Republican from Georgia, forced a vote on impeaching Mayorkas to the floor through a rule that allows any single member to force a snap vote on resolutions, including constitutional matters such as impeachment. (ozarksfirst.com)
Greene in a floor speech Monday accused Mayorkas of a "pattern of conduct that is incompatible with the laws of the United States," as she cited record numbers of illegal border crossings, an influx of drugs and his "open border policies. (ozarksfirst.com)
The renewed push to impeach Mayorkas is yet another headache for new House Speaker Mike Johnson, who is already juggling both a potential impeachment vote and delicate negotiations over government funding legislation to avert a federal shutdown at the end of the week. (yahoo.com)
Johnson earlier this month said in a Fox News interview that he believed Mayorkas has committed "impeachable offenses," but also warned that the House has "limited time and resources. (yahoo.com)

Thousands of federal drug defendants will be sentenced to decades of incarceration and resources will be squandered that could more effectively be directed to prevention and treatment initiatives. (newsweek.com)
Our country's cannabis policies must be completely overhauled, but you have the power to act now: you can and should issue a blanket pardon for all non-violent federal cannabis offenses, fulfilling your promises to the American people and transforming the lives of tens of thousands [of] Americans," the letter states. (riverfronttimes.com)
Last year, the U.S. House voted in support of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, which would also decriminalize cannabis at the federal level. (riverfronttimes.com)
Evie Lopoo at Columbia University Justice Lab's Square One Project, writes: The House created Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Caucus in 2021, which is designed to crowdsource ways in which Congress and the federal government can help facilitate social determinant interventions. (cochs.org)
He has offered tentative support for legislation to give formal federal permission to states enacting marijuana legalization, though Republican leadership has blocked the bill from moving. (enewspf.com)
On one side are GOP-backed bills, like the STATES Act , which would exempt state-authorized commercial cannabis activities from federal interference without taking further steps to address the disparities created by the War on Drugs. (cei.org)
The MORE Act provides broad protections for cannabis users, including barring federal agencies from denying public benefits, employment, loans, or immigration services on the basis of cannabis use or non-violent cannabis offenses. (cei.org)
Under this policy, federal prosecutions had declined for five consecutive years and, in 2016, were at their lowest level in nearly two decades, according to the Pew Research Center . (vice.com)
Sessions ordered prosecutors to seek the maximum punishment available, prompting widespread fear of a return to the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the federal prisons filled with drug offenders. (vice.com)
The House Judiciary Committee took a landslide 24-10 vote to approve legislation that would eliminate federal penalties for cannabis, remove conviction records, and invest in communities - particularly communities of color who have been disproportionately hurt by drug enforcement - to ensure they reap a share of legalization's profits. (buzzfeednews.com)
The MORE Act would eliminate penalties for cannabis and THC, its primary psychoactive ingredient, at the federal level by removing the drug from the Controlled Substances Act. (buzzfeednews.com)
The text and structure of the CSA,' Kennedy wrote, 'show that Congress did not have this far-reaching intent to alter the federal-state balance and the congressional role in maintaining it. (alternet.org)
Kennedy never questioned the federal government's authority to regulate drugs. (alternet.org)
Interestingly, this case came on the heels of Gonzales v. Raich , in which the Supreme Court upheld a federal override of a California law legalizing marijuana last year. (alternet.org)
Sen. Hatch says he is steadfast in his "dedication to consider and introduce any appropriate federal legislation which might limit the effects of crime in our communities. (hrw.org)
These inmates shouldn't have to wait for Congress to get around to enacting federal policy change, and the president should use executive action to pardon them, the letter states. (marijuanamoment.net)
After a shift in political power in Congress and the White House, there are strong indications that the federal prohibition on cannabis in the United States will come to an end. (cannabislaw.report)
In December, US Representatives Dave Joyce (R-OH) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced federal legislation to provide funding to state and local governments for the purposes of expunging the records of those with marijuana-related convictions. (typepad.com)
Members of Congress on Thursday unveiled a revamped version of a bipartisan bill to allow states, tribes and U.S. territories to implement their own marijuana policies without interference from federal prohibition. (law360.com)
Nationally, more than 101,000 students were expelled and 2.5 million suspended in the 2017-18 school year, the most recent year for which federal data is available, and many fear those numbers have climbed since the pandemic. (nbcnews.com)
The federal government's classification of cannabis as a Schedule I substance puts it in the same category as more lethal drugs like heroin and LSD while drugs like fentanyl are not considered less severe than marijuana since it falls under Schedule II. (thecannabisindustry.org)

Recently the president released Alice Johnson, a 63-year old grandmother who had been imprisoned since 1996 on a drug offense, and he suggested there could be many more pardons. (enewspf.com)

Congress is staring down a Dec. 16 deadline to pass a budget for the 2023 fiscal year. (trikarpurnews.com)

Therefore, when the Schumer/Wyden/Booker legislation passes both chambers of Congress and is on President Biden's desk, it is likely that the President will sign it into law. (cannabislaw.report)
Ramaswamy and DeSantis both said they would cut off U.S. funding to Ukraine when asked about Biden's request to Congress for $25 billion in more aid to the war-torn country. (klfy.com)
She went on to criticize Biden's pardon , which has since drawn mixed responses from Congress. (theepochtimes.com)

But there are signs of movement, including among Republican lawmakers. (marijuanamoment.net)
More than a dozen Republican Wisconsin lawmakers announced in January that they were filing a bill to legalize medical marijuana in the state, for example. (marijuanamoment.net)
Among them, the House Energy and Commerce Committee has relatively few sponsors of the bill, so skeptical lawmakers could move to amend the legislation or slow it down. (buzzfeednews.com)
Republican state lawmakers from Kansas, Maine and Missouri also signed on, as did a former U.S. attorney, actor Danny Trejo, the New Haven, Missouri police chief and former New Mexico governor and presidential candidate Gary Johnson. (marijuanamoment.net)
South Africa's own continued participation in AGOA came under scrutiny this year when U.S. lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties questioned its eligibility to participate in AGOA, citing allegations that it supplied Russia with arms amid its war with Ukraine. (fox40.com)

Singapore resumed executions of drug offenders on March 30, with others in line to be hung shortly, and that is sparking both condemnation abroad and rare public protests at home. (stopthedrugwar.org)

After a few years when he had earned the nickname 'Deporter-in-Chief,' Obama pivoted to refocus immigration authorities-in effect, a parallel criminal justice system-on migrants considered dangerous, and created safeguards for those brought here as children. (vice.com)
Once a pro forma administrative task, raising the debt ceiling became a matter of high-stakes brinkmanship during the Obama administration, as Republicans repeatedly leveraged the threat of default to push for spending cuts and regulatory rollbacks. (trikarpurnews.com)

Without further ado, please enjoy the news: UPn 02/10/95 Administration says drug use growing By PAUL BASKEN WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. drug czar Lee Brown on Friday conceded a growing use of illegal drugs nationwide, but urged the Republican-led Congress not to abandon the administration's emphasis on treatment over enforcement. (marijuanalibrary.org)
Brown, the administration's chief of drug control policy, did not dispute that the problem was growing. (marijuanalibrary.org)

But Brown insisted the administration -- which requested a fiscal 1996 drug control budget of $14.6 billion, up 9.7 percent over this year -- had a "tougher than ever" strategy for confronting the problem, led by its continuing emphasis on treatment programs for hardcore users. (marijuanalibrary.org)

Enhance the sentencing authority of tribal courts to punish offenders up to three years imprisonment. (indianz.com)
Status offenders are youth who engage in non-criminal offenses such as running away or truancy - conduct that would not be considered criminal if committed by an adult. (hrw.org)

Marijuana Moment is already tracking more than 1,000 cannabis, psychedelics and drug policy bills in state legislatures and Congress this year. (marijuanamoment.net)
In Alaska, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, voters passed medical marijuana initiatives, while Arizona and Oregon voters rejected attempts by the state legislatures to make drug laws more repressive. (tripod.com)

Philadelphia has about 100 traffic-related fatalities a year (93 in 2017), and typically 10 percent happen on the Boulevard, she said. (inquirer.com)

It eases a "three strikes" rule so people with three or more convictions, including for drug offenses, automatically get 25 years instead of life, among other changes. (vox.com)
In all, more than a dozen states have enacted legislation in recent years facilitating the process of having past marijuana convictions either expunged or sealed from public view. (typepad.com)

The proposed legislation would also immediately expunge the criminal records of people with low-level marijuana offenses. (riverfronttimes.com)
During the last Congress, the House of Representatives passed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which would legalize cannabis and expunge past criminal records of people convicted of cannabis-related offenses. (cannabislaw.report)

A vast majority of Ohio voters-including a plurality of Republicans-say they guidance a marijuana legalization initiative that will look on the point out’s November ballot, in accordance to a new poll. (wellencbd.com)
Many Republicans, I would argue, are really tone deaf to their constituents and to their voters," she said. (ozarksfirst.com)
Republican-led drug war disenfranchises (no voting rights) millions of voters (mostly Democrat-voting blacks). (tripod.com)

The has received support from some Democratic Party members including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Karen Bass, Ilhan Omar, Pramila Jayapal and 30 Members of Congress. (wikipedia.org)
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) speaks on banning stock trades for members of Congress at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, on April 07, 2022. (theepochtimes.com)

The Indian committee held a series of hearings during the 110th Congress to discuss law enforcement issues. (indianz.com)
Thune led efforts during the 110th Congress to create a $2 billion fund for Indian law enforcement, health and water programs. (indianz.com)
The bill offers several grants designed to compensate for historic ills against victims of cannabis law enforcement -particularly people of color who have long been disproportionately, and deliberately, targeted and convicted of cannabis offenses. (buzzfeednews.com)
Attempts to reclassify marijuana so that doctors may prescribe it have been blocked repeatedly by Drug Enforcement Administration bureaucrats with no medical training -- just what Kennedy said the CSA is not meant to do,' Mirken said. (alternet.org)
This paper is yet another in the on-going series of student papers supported by the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center . (typepad.com)

As states continue to legalize marijuana, we must also enact measures that will lift up people who were unfairly targeted in the War on Drugs. (cannabislaw.report)
Congress appears poised to enact significant criminal justice reforms. (ryanbeasleylaw.com)

Support for legalization of marijuana has grown in each partisan group since 2013, with a slim majority of Republicans now supporting legalization," Marquette Law School said in a press release. (marijuanamoment.net)
Majority Leader Schumer historically has not been supportive of full legalization and has preferred to take small steps by backing legislation to decriminalize cannabis. (cannabislaw.report)

Congress needs to pass the overhaul now, when it has willing majorities in both houses and well before anyone casts a ballot in 2024. (trikarpurnews.com)

Gov. Tony Evers (D) tried to legalize recreational and medical marijuana through his proposed state budget last year , but a GOP-led legislative committee stripped the cannabis language from the legislation . (marijuanamoment.net)

The vote and its GOP support showed a growing appetite to reach for Congress' most powerful weapons and redefine what the Constitution means by impeachable "high crimes and misdemeanors. (ozarksfirst.com)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - Top state prosecutors from across the country are again urging Congress to pass legislation allowing state prisons to jam the signals of cellphones smuggled to inmates, devices the attorneys argue allow prisoners to plot violence and carry out crimes. (wnem.com)
If inmates were blocked from using contraband cell phones, we could prevent serious levels of drug trafficking, deadly riots, and other crimes from happening," the prosecutors wrote. (wnem.com)

The Republican-led medical cannabis legislation is also fairly restrictive, as it prohibits smokable marijuana products and doesn't allow patients to grow cannabis for personal use. (marijuanamoment.net)

The legislation went through a lot of changes compared to when it was first introduced last year, when a version of it passed the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. (vox.com)
The legislation has been approved by the House transportation committee, which Taylor chairs. (inquirer.com)
The Pennsylvania House speaker, Republican Mike Turzai, is running for governor, and the majority leader, Republican Dave Reed, is running for Congress. (inquirer.com)
House GOP whip Tom Emmer, the No. 3 House Republican, as well as Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican whose congressional district runs along the border with Mexico, voiced support for Greene's resolution. (ozarksfirst.com)
The White House and Republicans announced the tentative deal late today in a frantic effort to avoid a disastrous default. (cnn.com)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The White House and House Republicans have reached an agreement in principle on the debt ceiling. (cnn.com)
Not only was it important for both sides to reach an agreement, but then two, it is what this legislative text will say, showing that to members of Congress and then later a vote on the House floor. (cnn.com)
Even though the SAFE Banking Act has been in the House of Congress seven times, federally insured banking services and modern digital banking solutions like electronic payment processing are still inaccessible to the cannabis industry. (thecannabisindustry.org)

Top state prosecutors are urging Congress to pass legislation allowing state prisons to jam the signals of cellphones smuggled to inmates behind bars. (wnem.com)

Congress has previously considered jamming legislation, but no bills have been signed into law or even had a hearing. (wnem.com)

What all of us want here is to protect people from the enduring, the never-ending pain of someone being killed by a drug dealer selling poison. (stopthedrugwar.org)
It is absolutely necessary, and I don't know another way to slow people down," said Republican State Rep. John Taylor of Philadelphia, one of the bill's sponsors. (inquirer.com)
LAWRENCE - While a national debate over a Republican push to repeal the Affordable Care Act has dominated media this week, Congress faces another health-care deadline that would directly impact coverage for thousands of people in the Merrimack Valley. (senate.gov)
The War on Drugs has been a war on people-particularly people of color. (cannabislaw.report)
Over all our 17 years together, I was one of the few fortunate people to have had the chance to see the many sides of Donald Henry Rumsfeld, the youngest and second-oldest defense secretary in our history. (politico.com)

The event was designed to boost support for pending legislation to allow the city to install speed cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard. (inquirer.com)

Once Ashcroft became attorney general, however, he declared that physician-assisted suicide was not a 'legitimate medical purpose' for prescribing overdoses of federally regulated drugs to terminally ill patients. (alternet.org)

failed verification] The bill was reintroduced in the 117th congress in 2021 (H.R. 536). (wikipedia.org)

congress.gov. 30 January 2020. (wikipedia.org)
The net result in terms of our advocacy for and outreach on behalf of Freedom and Liberty: After 25 years of year-over-year record growth, which increased dramatically on social media platforms since 2010, starting in June of 2020, Patriot Post incoming traffic from those platforms precipitously dropped by more than 80% - the direct result of shadow-banning and suppression of our reach on those platforms. (monoblogue.us)

However, it excludes "foreign cartel members" and offenses related to driving under the influence from expungement eligibility. (cei.org)
If the term legitimate medical purpose has any meaning,' Scalia wrote, 'it surely excludes the prescription of drugs to produce death. (alternet.org)

But over the years, Ugandan officials, including longtime President Yoweri Museveni, have seen AGOA as a beneficial program, even if the country failed to fulfil its potential as a beneficiary. (fox40.com)
NEWTON: So in the day ahead, U.S. officials are expected to unveil new legislation on the national debt limit hours after agreeing to extend it. (cnn.com)

The proposed initiative also includes criminal penalties of 10 to 12 years for a subsequent conviction or guilty plea. (stopthedrugwar.org)

This is deeply infuriating, and grassroots conservatives all over the country are sick and tired of Republicans acting like spineless jellyfish. (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)

Research indicates that the best way to reduce the problem of illicit drug use and its consequences is to reduce the number of chronic, hardcore users," Brown said, and "the best way to reduce chronic drug is to provide effective drug treatment in our communities, and in our jails and prisons. (marijuanalibrary.org)
The push to clamp down on illicit cellphones in state prisons has been ongoing for years, with South Carolina Corrections Director Bryan Stirling at the forefront of an effort by corrections directors across the country to call for the ability to use more technology to crack down on the contraband phones. (wnem.com)

The number of high school seniors who have used drugs grew 2.7 percent last year, and those who said they used drugs within the past month jumped 3. (marijuanalibrary.org)
Of the nine fatal crashes on the Boulevard last year, seven involved pedestrians. (inquirer.com)
Evers held a virtual town hall event last year where he discussed his cannabis proposal , emphasizing that polling demonstrates that Wisconsin residents back the policy change. (marijuanamoment.net)
In Utah, 41 youth were certified into the adult criminal justice system last year. (hrw.org)
You may recall the prominent role Sen. Elizabeth Warren played last year shining a light on Wells Fargo's fake account scandal, which resulted in the resignation of the banking giant's CEO, John Stumpf. (senate.gov)

In 2019, we also celebrate 50 years since brave young pilots flew a quarter of a million miles through space to plant the American flag on the face of the moon. (cbsnews.com)

Members of both parties agreed that the most disturbing statistics were those showing increased levels of drug use among children. (marijuanalibrary.org)
Members of Congress will have limited staff and won't be as responsive (well, as responsive as they normally are) to constituents. (theeconomiccollapseblog.com)

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