Now Is The Time To End Federal Marijuana Prohibition

In the wake of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' action yesterday to rescind a national policy of federal toleration of marijuana when it is legal under state law, it is the time to utilize bipartisan outrage at this action to change the law, fulfilling a promise Trump made on the campaign trail to allow states to craft their own marijuana policies.

This could be done very simply:

1. Remove marijuana and marijuana derived products from the Controlled Substances Act.

2. Repeal Internal Revenue Code Section 280E (which imposes a punitive tax on people who make profits from Controlled Substances including marijuana).

3. Pass a two sentence statute criminalizing importation of marijuana or marijuana products into a state for purposes of use, sale, distribution, or storage in that state in violation of that state's law. The statute could exempt transportation of marijuana across a state in interstate commerce in locked container with a destination where it is legal to import the marijuana or marijuana products being transported.

This would cause the legality of marijuana at the federal level to be essentially identical to the legality of prostitution at the federal level.

Draft language exists in bills currently introduced in Congress that could be taken up in committee and reported to the floors of the respective houses in a matter of days.

No state could be required to legalize recreational marijuana (as eight states and the District of Columbia do) or to legalize medical marijuana products containing THC (as all recreational marijuana state and 22 other states do). 

This is a policy supported by 75% of Americans and a majority of Republicans. 

About 94% of Americans (and more than 90% of Republicans) support legalizing medical marijuana, something that the ridiculous Schedule I status of marijuana makes impossible under current federal law, even though 45 U.S. states and the District of Columbia have already done so to some extent.

META UPDATE: This is the 7600th post at the Wash Park Prophet blog.