At a hearing on Wednesday, congressman Lou Correa (D-A) has called for the ending to marijuana criminalization.
Correa said at the hearing on policing reform bill, that policing reform should be coupled with ending marijuana criminalization in order to better foster racial justice.
“One of the issues that I’d like to take note is our national drug policy right now—federal cannabis policy, essentially outlawing cannabis,” he said.
“As you know, when we talk about arrest disparities, specifically cannabis-related, over 650,000 Americans are arrested every year for violating cannabis laws,” he added.
According to Correa, black people are significantly more likely to be arrested for marijuana compared to white people despite comparable rates of consumption.
“Many communities have lost many loved ones to incarceration due to cannabis-related convictions,” he continued. “Although cannabis reform in terms of its criminalization will not undo the practices that have led to these demonstrations that we’re seeing today, decriminalizing cannabis will be a major step in the right direction.”
The bill was filed this month by House and Senate Democratic leaders but does not have any provisions dealing specifically with cannabis.
