A new bill has been introduced by U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and Corey Booker (D-New Jersey) as well as Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) that could end the federal prohibition of medical marijuana.
The bill, called The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States, or CARERS, Act would effectively alter the Controlled Substances Act and would allow states that hace medical marijuana laws established to allow the possession, production and distribution of medical marijuana.
The Act would enable the federal government from being able to prosecute any business or individual in a state here medical marijuana is legal. Under the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is still illegal on the federal level.
Don Murphy, the director of conservative outreach for the Marijuana Policy Project, said in a statement, “The reintroduction of the CARERS Act is the first of many steps we hope this Congress will take to end the federal prohibition of medical marijuana. Polls show overwhelmingly strong support for medical marijuana, and it spans the political spectrum.
“The federal government should not be meddling in state laws that allow it or obstructing research into its many medical benefits.”
