Democratic Party Wants a ‘Pathway’ to Marijuana Legalization

The Democratic Party is supporting the downgrading of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act. The party endorsed the “reasonable pathway to future legalization” of marijuana. Bernie Sanders supporters received a victory in achieving democratic endorsements of changing marijuana policies.

The drafting committee approved language during the meeting calling for “policies that will allow more research on marijuana, as well as reforming our laws to allow legal marijuana businesses to exist without certainty.”

Following several arguments surrounding the language, the marijuana amendment text reads, “Because of conflicting laws concerning marijuana, both on the federal and state levels, we encourage the federal government to remove marijuana from it list as a Class 1 Federal Controlled Substance, providing a reasoned pathway for future legalization.”

During the committee meeting there were concerns regarding language in an amendment that may remove marijuana completely from the Controlled Substances Act, The Washington Post reports. Some members are concerned that state-by-state decriminalization studies and other state-regulated efforts could be undermined if marijuana were removed completely from the controlled substances list. Before the arguments became heated, a discussion to change some of the language was proposed.

A vote took place to agree or disagree to send the written language for consideration. During the voting process, a bit of debate took place regarding who was permitted to vote and who was restricted. In the end, the vote was called with 81 of the 187 committee members approving the downgrade amendment, while only 80 opposed it.