Vice President Nominee Kamala Harris recently proposed a bill to federally decriminalize marijuana, and a federal tax to generate revenue for those convicted of marijuana possession in the past.
The bill will give states the power to decide how to approach marijuana possession and sales by removing the federal offense.
Therefore, a state can decide to legalize or ban marijuana.
Presently, 11 states have legalized marijuana and 15 states have decriminalized it.
Decriminalization means possession of small amounts of marijuana will incur fines instead of jail time, and possession of larger amounts, repeat offenses, and sales or trafficking will be prosecuted per normal.
Legalization means all penalties for marijuana possession are removed and sales are allowed.
The federal tax portion of the bill proposes a 5% federal tax on the sale of marijuana to be used to fund grant programs to help individuals who have been unjustifiably penalized for marijuana possession in the past.
Kamala Harris has come under scrutiny for switching her stance on this issue because as a San Francisco district attorney she opposed the legalization of marijuana.
Why is she not allowed to change her stance?
In Kamala’s recent book, The Truths We Hold, she states “The fact is marijuana laws are not applied and enforced the same way for all people,” she goes on to say. “African-Americans use marijuana at roughly the same rate as whites, but are approximately four times more likely to be arrested for possession. That’s just not fair.”
I’m sure the critics are going to bring up Kamala’s shifting opinions on this issue and highlight inconsistencies in her stance, but politicians change their minds everyday B!
Are you scooping or scrapping Kamala Harris’s proposed bill to federally decriminalize marijuana?
Source: Vox
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