Quote Originally Posted by headshake
there is a bill in the house, H.R. 5843. it was sponsored by
Rep. Barney Frank [D-MA]. it's goal is to "To eliminate most Federal penalties for possession of marijuana for personal use, and for other purposes."

you can follow it here. so far it has only been introduced. apparently state laws will directly conflict with this bill if voted and signed into law. but from what i've read it could be used by the states as a sort of ok that the federal government is fine with this, so you should be too. who knows what will happen? but what i wonder is how and the hell state and federal laws conflict. what a joke.

-shake
Here's the text of the bill:


The text of the bill:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Act to Remove Federal Penalties for the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults'.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF CERTAIN MARIJUANA-RELATED PENALTIES.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no penalty may be imposed under an Act of Congress for the possession of marijuana for personal use, or for the not-for-profit transfer between adults of marijuana for personal use. For the purposes of this section, possession of 100 grams or less of marijuana shall be presumed to be for personal use, as shall the not-for-profit transfer of one ounce or less of marijuana, except that the civil penalty provided in section 405 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 844a) may be imposed for the public use of marijuana if the amount of the penalty does not exceed $100.
....

So yes, it eliminates criminal penalties for personal use and possession up to 100 grams. It stops far short of common sense, however. It doesn't legitimize the industry, it doesn't allow for regulation of sale (to control the minimum age of purchase for instance), in fact it doesn't allow for sale at all.

Why would anyone want to prevent the regulation and taxation of the largest cash crop in the country? Why would we want to keep it on the black market?

Anyone who knows a bit about this plant knows that the current situation is just plain silly - but why, then, would we stop so short of actually FIXING the situation, and instead continue the climate of prohibition?

Yes, this could be a step in the right direction in that it would give the public at large time to become more familiar with Marijuana and its effects. Yes, it would allow very small scale home growing of a tiny bonsai plant or two.... but I only see this as a good thing as a stepping stone toward the eventual legalization and regulation of Marijuana.

Even for home growers - how much do you think you can grow if the weight of all of your living plants, plus the weight of any dried bud on hand all has to be under 100 grams? That would mean the stems, leaves, and possibly (depending on how the law would be interpreted in your locality) even the roots all weighed while wet and living (and all of that water in the plant is likely to double its weight)? Do you think you're going to be able to make the cops understand that the rest of the plant doesn't count? Do you think you're going to make them understand that if they would just come back in a week that bud hanging in your closet would weigh a hell of a lot less because it would have time to dry out? Good luck.
IAmKowalski Reviewed by IAmKowalski on . Obama and decriminalization? Well i didnt vote for him but o well i kno with him theres a better chance of moving in a better direction for mj users. What do yall think the chance of a federal decriminalization with him in power is? Rating: 5