U.S. Sen. Cory Booker has proposed a bill that would both legalize marijuana at the federal level and encourage states to legalize it locally through incentives. Booker’s bill, called the Marijuana Justice Act, has high probability of not passing through the anti-marijuana, Republican-controlled Congress. But, Booker at least gave it his best shot. Via Politico… “You see these marijuana arrests happening so much in our country, targeting certain communities — poor communities, minority communities — targeting people with an illness,” Booker, the former mayor of Newark, said in a Facebook Live rollout of his legislation. The bill would legalize marijuana at the federal level and withhold federal money for building jails and prisons, along with other funds, from states whose cannabis laws are shown to disproportionately incarcerate minorities. Under the legislation, federal convictions for marijuana use and possession would be expunged and prisoners serving time for a marijuana offense would be entitled to a sentencing hearing. Those “aggrieved” by a disproportionate arrest or imprisonment rate would be able to sue, according to the bill. And a Community Reinvestment Fund would be established to “reinvest in communities most affected by the war on drugs” for everything from re-entry programs to public libraries. Eight states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana.
