More and more states in the United States as well as lawmakers are becoming less strict with how they feel about marijuana. A small group of bipartisan group of lawmakers are even calling it a criminal justice issue.
The group, called The Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act, is sponsored by Rep. Thomas Garrett (R-Va.) and are pushing to legalize marijuana on a federal level.
The group introduced the bill this past February and it has 11 co-sponsors. According to Garrett, there are “redeeming medical uses for cannabis.” It’s kind of ironic how Garrett feels today, giving his back story.
“The first time I heard the term ‘medicinal marijuana’ 25 or 30 years ago, I probably chuckled,” he said this week.
“My background on this issue is shaped by my own experiences as a criminal prosecutor, where in fact, I did enforce the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia as they relate to marijuana, and some would say, did so quite vigorously.”
He was however, “creating criminals out of people who otherwise follow the law,” and this is when he switched sides.
“If there’s anything I cannot tolerate as a citizen and as a prosecutor, it is the unequal application of justice,” said Garrett.
If successfully passed on a federal level, marijuana would be left to the states to decide how to regulate both recreational and medical marijuana.
