Lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives last week refiled the States Reform Act, a bipartisan bill to legalize and regulate marijuana at the national level.
The new version of the legislation has not yet been made public, according to Marijuana Moment. But when originally introduced, the bill was seen as an alternative to the Marijuana Opportunity and Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, a federal cannabis legalization measure supported by many Democrats. The MORE Act was refiled in September by Representative Jerrold Nadler, the ranking member on the House Judiciary Committee, with co-sponsorship from 33 fellow Democrats.
Under the original version of Mace’s bill, cannabis would be removed from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, and the states would be allowed to take the lead on marijuana legalization and regulation for their jurisdictions. At the federal level, cannabis would be regulated like alcohol, with the U.S. Department of Agriculture responsible for regulating growers while medical uses would be overseen by the Food and Drug Administration.
House Lawmakers Introduce Bipartisan Marijuana Legalization BillThe STATES Reform Act also ensures safe harbor for state medical marijuana programs and patient access to medicinal cannabis. The legislation also specifically protects the use of medical cannabis as a treatment for arthritis, cancer, chronic pain, sickle cell disease, HIV/AIDS and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Criminal justice reform provisions of the bill include the release of prisoners convicted of federal nonviolent cannabis-related offenses and the expungement of records of such convictions. Cartel members, agents of cartel gangs, or those convicted of driving under the influence will not be eligible for relief, however. Mace’s office estimated that approximately 2,600 federal prisoners would be released if the legislation is signed into law.
I don't understand the point of regulating marijuana growing at all. Seems like just another way for the government to make excuses to find another tax revenue stream
I agree for industrial, but small scale it shouldn't be. If you want to just grow some for your use, and maybe some for friends/family/neighbors or whatever not for profit, you should be allowed to.
You can currently brew your own alcohol, so I highly doubt that marijuana wouldn't see a similar system. I think where I am the limit is 50 gallons a year of wine, not sure on beer. If marijuana has similar rules, you could grow enough for yourself and your neighborhood street's personal use for a year.
You don't want marijuana farmers using toxic chemicals to increase yield. You also want the end product regulated so people don't start dying like they did with the EVALI incident.
I live in CA and have family in CO, both states have legal pot growing. Here in CA you can grow as much as you want for your own consumption. That is, for yourself and your family. You just can't sell it without regulation.
I can walk into a dispensary right now and buy as many seeds, seedlings or recreational pot/gummies/gum/brownies/drops as I want and no one will bat an eyelash.
Making it regulated federally will not change that one bit.
edit: Exact law in CA says we can grow 6 usable plants at any given time, but I've never heard of that being enforced unless they are arrested for something else. That's also not, regulation, that's just the law here:
In CO it's 6 plants per household adult, only 3 can be flowering at a time. That's plenty for anyone. But if it's somehow not, you can get a bigger allowance with a med card. But there's no enforcement unless you get busted for something else. I've only heard of busts for 50+ illegal plants.