The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is moving toward reclassifying marijuana as a less dangerous drug. The Justice Department proposal would recognize the medical uses of cannabis, but wouldn't legalize it for recreational use.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00So today, we're proud to say, the three of us are proud to say, we're introducing the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act,
00:08a comprehensive and necessary update to the federal government's approach to cannabis.
00:13Over the decades, millions of Americans, most often Americans of color,
00:18have had their lives derailed and destroyed by our country's failed war on drugs.
00:24The consequences of this harmful campaign linger on to this very day.
00:29It was plead by yesterday's news that the DEA, under the Biden Administration,
00:33is preparing to take a truly historic step, rescheduling cannabis from a Schedule I substance to a Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act.
00:44Reclassifying cannabis is necessary, and it's a long overdue step.
00:49But, it is not the end of the story.
00:53It's not all we need to do.
00:56It's time for Congress to wake up to the times and do its part by passing the cannabis reform that most Americans have wished for.
01:06It's past time for Congress to catch up with public opinion and to catch up with the science.
01:13I'm proud to be the first Majority Leader ever to call for an end to the marijuana prohibition
01:19because I've seen both the consequences of the outdated drug laws and the benefits of common sense cannabis regulation at the state level.
01:27And it's time for Congress to follow suit.
01:30In this case, the states were the laboratories of innovation, and they have led the way.
01:35I'm very proud of the bill we're releasing today.
01:38As I said, our legislation will finally remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances.
01:44It will expunge the criminal records of so many Americans with low-level marijuana offenses that haunt them and inhibit them for decades,
01:52preventing them from getting good jobs and leading good, strong lives.
01:56And it will help our country close the book once and for all on the awful and harmful and failed war on drugs,
02:04which all too often has been nothing more than a war on Americans of color.
02:08It would call for new guidelines on how marijuana products are labeled, require new standards to prevent impaired driving,
02:14require HHS and NIH to support research into cannabis's health impacts, and more.
02:20Our bill, if passed, would close the door on an outdated and harmful way of thinking at the federal level
02:27while allowing for reform and sensible regulation to take root.