Federal Marijuana Legislation

Despite growing deregulation of marijuana for both medical and recreational usage, without changes to the federal regulatory structure, individuals acting in accordance with state regulations can still be prosecuted by federal authorities. In response to public outcry over such hypocrisy, numerous Congresspersons are working to transform regulations with a variety of federal marijuana legislation measures.

These bills can be broken down into three categories: Medical Marijuana, Industrial Hemp and Federal deregulation and taxation.

Medical Marijuana Legislation:

H.R. 784 – The States’ Medical Marijuana Property Rights Protection Act amends the Controlled Substances Act to disallow seizure of real property when medical patients are using marijuana in compliance with their state legal codes…. A nice idea, but with only 5 Democratic cosponsors it has only a 1% chance of moving past either of the committees it’s been assigned and literally no chance of being enacted.

H.R. 710 – The Truth in Trials Act allows cannabis patients to introduce evidence that they were following state regulations when being tried for marijuana related charges. With 12 cosponsors – one of whom is a Republican – it has a 4% chance of moving past the House Judiciary committee but only a 1% chance of being enacted.

H.R. 689 – The States’ Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act goes the furthest by reclassifying marijuana, thereby granting states the right to regulate medical cannabis usage as they see fit. But even with 15 cosponsors – 14 Democrats and 1 Republican – the bill only has a 3% chance of moving past committee to be considered for enactment – and a 0% chance of being enacted.

Hemp Legislation:

H.R. 525 & S.R. 359 – The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2013 would change the definition of marijuana in the Controlled Substance Act to exclude hemp, once again allowing hemp to be produced domestically. S.R. 359 has 4 cosponsors – 2 Republicans, 1 Democrat and 1 Independent – and an 8% chance of moving past committee, but only 2% chance of being enacted. Although H.R. 525 has gotten a lot more attention and support in the U.S. House of Representatives with 36 cosponsors – 25 Democratic and 11 Republicans – it has worse odds of moving past a committee and being enacted at 5% and 1%, respectively.

Federal Deregulation and Taxation Legislation:

H.R. 499 – the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act grants states to regulate the usage of marijuana – for recreational, medicinal or industrial usage – by declassifying it on a federal level. With 13 cosponsors – 12 Democrats and 1 Republican – the bill has a 2% chance of moving past any of the 5 committees to which it has been assigned and only a 1% chance of being enacted.

H.R. 501 – the Marijuana Tax Equity Act of 2013 outlines a tax structure for taxing the sale of marijuana. Under this bill, marijuana would be taxed at 50% of the sale value when being sold for purposes other than for growing. With 6 Democratic cosponsors, the bill has a 1% chance of moving past the House Ways and Means committee and a 0% chance of being enacted.

Forecast: Gray and Gloomy

None of these bills is likely to become a reality without help from the American populace. During the 2011 – 2013 legislative session 11% of bills introduced into Congress made it past a committee to be considered by the entire legislative body and 3% were enacted. Despite American public support for such federal marijuana legislation, none of these bills even has an “average” chance of moving past committee, let alone being enacted! Not even the legislation designed to protect medical patients have an “average” chance despite the fact that medical marijuana is permitted in over a third of all states and over half of all Americans believe it should be permitted.

Widespread demand for change could propel Congress to take some of these legislative measures seriously! I’ll provide just one recent example that illustrates this fact. Just hours before the 2013 legislative session ended for Kentucky lawmakers, both the state Senate and House passed bills to permit industrial hemp cultivation – in part because of widespread public support for the legislation. Even the state governor expressed reservation about this bill, but with such widespread support and documented benefits, he allowed them to become law.

If Americans want to see the benefits of these measures – such as reduced budget deficits, stimulated economic growth, and protection of individual liberty and states’ rights – we are going to have to get engaged. Those who believe any – or all – of these measures should become a reality need to be:

Calling your Congresspersons

Signing petitions

Advocating – on a daily basis. Talking to our friends, coworkers, family to diminish the misconceptions about marijuana and hemp and encouraging others to become advocates as well

Sharing advertisements, stories, etc. about the possible benefits of such measures on social media sites

Joining local responsible drug policy advocacy groups

These are only a few ideas; you can be as engaged as you’d like to be. Some options take only a moment, others will take long-term dedication. But the implications of continuing to ignore the consequences of irresponsible federal prohibition are too steep for each of us not to ask ourselves – and those we interact with – what we can do to propel this movement forward…and then actually put our ideas into action. Ideas alone is not enough. Action is a must for real change to become a possibility.

*all statistics courtesy of govtrack.us – a great resource for finding out about legislative measures, who is supporting them, and their current status.