The US House of Representatives on Friday passed legislation that would decriminalise marijuana and expunge non-violent marij-uana-related convictions, as Democrats sought to roll back and compensate for decades of drug policies that have disproportionately affected low-income communities of colour.
The 228-164 vote to approve the measure was bipartisan, and it was the first time either chamber of Congress had ever endorsed the legalisation of cannabis. The bill would remove the drug from the Controlled Substances Act and authorize a 5% tax on marijuana that would fund programmes to help those most affected by criminalisation of marijuana.
The legislation is, for now, almost certainly doomed in the Republican-led Senate, where that party’s leaders have derided it as a superficial distraction from the work of passing novel coronavirus relief, as lawmakers inched toward bipartisan compromise after spending months locked in an impasse.
Already, 15 US states and the District of Colombia allow recreation use of marijuana and 30 states permit the use of the drug for medicinal purposes.
However, it will be difficult for the bill to get it approved by the Senate as its majority leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, opposes it.
The Democrats can move the bill only if they take control of Senate after winning both Georgia seats where voting will occur on January 5.
“This legislation does not legalize cannabis across the country. It stops the federal government from interfering with what states have decided to do,” said Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat and co-chairman of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.
