(CNN) – The U.S. should stop arresting responsible marijuana users, Rep. Barney Frank said Wednesday, announcing a proposal to end federal penalties for Americans carrying fewer than 100 grams, almost a quarter-pound, of the substance.
Current laws targeting marijuana users place undue burdens on law enforcement resources, punish ill Americans whose doctors have prescribed the substance and unfairly affect African-Americans, said Frank, flanked by legislators and representatives from advocacy groups.
“The vast amount of human activity ought to be none of the government’s business,” Frank said during a Capitol Hill news conference. “I don’t think it is the government’s business to tell you how to spend your leisure time.”
The Massachusetts Democrat and his supporters emphasized that only the use – and not the abuse – of marijuana would be decriminalized if the resolution resulted in legislation.
The Drug Enforcement Administration says people charged with simple possession are rarely incarcerated. The agency and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy have long opposed marijuana legalization, for medical purposes or otherwise.
Marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use, according to the ONDCP.
“Smoked marijuana has not withstood the rigors of science – it is not medicine and it is not safe,” the DEA states on its Web site. “Legalization of marijuana, no matter how it begins, will come at the expense of our children and public safety. It will create dependency and treatment issues, and open the door to use of other drugs, impaired health, delinquent behavior, and drugged drivers.”
Allen St. Pierre, spokesman for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), likened Frank’s proposal – co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas – to current laws dealing with alcohol consumption. Alcohol use is permitted, and the government focuses its law enforcement efforts on those who abuse alcohol or drive under its influence, he said.
“We do not arrest and jail responsible alcohol drinkers,” he said.
St. Pierre said there are tens of millions of marijuana smokers in the United States, including himself, and hundreds of thousands are arrested each year for medical or personal use. iReport.com: Is it time to legalize pot?
There have been 20 million marijuana-related arrests since 1965, he said, and 11 million since 1990, and “every 38 seconds, a marijuana smoker is arrested.”
Rob Kampia, director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said marijuana arrests outnumber arrests for “all violent crimes combined,” meaning that police are spending inordinate amounts of time chasing nonviolent criminals.
“Ending arrests is the key to marijuana policy reform,” he said.
Reps. William Lacy Clay, D-Missouri, and Barbara Lee, D-California, said that in addition to targeting nonviolent offenders, U.S. marijuana laws also unfairly target African-Americans.
Clay said he did not condone drug use, but he opposes using tax dollars to pursue what he feels is an arcane holdover from “a phony war on drugs that is filling up our prisons, especially with people of color.”
Too many drug enforcement resources are being dedicated to incarcerating nonviolent drugs users, and not enough is being done to stop the trafficking of narcotics into the United States, he said.
Being arrested is not the American marijuana smoker’s only concern, said Bill Piper of the Drug Policy Alliance Network. Those found guilty of marijuana use can lose their jobs, financial aid for college, their food stamp and welfare benefits, or their low-cost housing.
The U.S. stance on marijuana, Piper said, “is one of the most destructive criminal justice policies in America today.”
Calling the U.S. policy “inhumane” and “immoral,” Lee said she has many constituents who are harassed or arrested for using or cultivating marijuana for medical purposes. California allows medical marijuana use, but the federal government does not, she explained.
House Resolution 5843, titled the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008, would express support for “a very small number of individuals” suffering from chronic pain or illness to smoke marijuana with impunity.
According to NORML, marijuana can be used to treat a range of illnesses, including glaucoma, asthma, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and seizures.
Frank, who is chairman of the Financial Services Committee, said about a dozen states already have approved some degree of medical marijuana use, and the federal government should stop devoting resources to arresting people who are complying with their states’ laws.
In a shot at Republicans, Frank said it was strange that those who support limited government want to criminalize marijuana.
Asked if the resolution’s passage would change his personal behavior, Frank quipped, “I do obey every law I vote for,” but quickly said he did not use marijuana, nor does he encourage it.
“I smoke cigars. I don’t think other people should do that. If young people ask me, I would advise them not to do it,” he said.
advertisementIf HR 5843 were passed, the House would support marijuana smokers possessing up to 100 grams – about 3½ ounces – of cannabis without being arrested. It would also give its blessing to the “nonprofit transfer” of up to an ounce of marijuana.
The resolution would not address laws forbidding growing, importing or exporting marijuana, or selling it for profit. The resolution also would not speak to state laws regarding marijuana use.
I agree.
do the crime do the time
Hell Whats wrong with being in your right frame of mind. if you need a drug to make you function or fell good cause you can not take it…just fucking blow your head off
why lower are standards all the time…why cant people step up and raise them. o think the united states is becoming full of pussies and cry babies…
what next govt not going after speeders ctack dealers bank robbers etc
don’t worry dude most shit like this doesnt pass plus
announcing a proposal to end federal penalties for Americans carrying fewer than 100 grams, almost a quarter-pound, of the substance.
most transactions/exchange of the substance are of a smaller amount then what Rep. Barney Frank is asking for. Thats why they aren’t going to debate it future then this and not pass it. If it passes all transactions less then 100 grams or quarter pound will have no penalties. When i know from experience most people buy less then 100 grams lol:(
trust me i know 
Ban tobacco legalize pot
x2
ban civicexcoupeman legalize beheading
i dont smoke weed but whats the difference between smoking weed and drinking alcohol?
yep thats one point made within the article. And thats a valid point in my opinion. If you look at weed as something that could possibly be considered a substance that would impair you from driving like alcohol would do…then whats the difference.
alcohol and weed should never be compared
X2.
x3
Fast cars kill people. Let’s outlaw them. I mean, there’s no real reason for them. A car is just to get from point A to point B. What’s wrong with you if you feel the need to drive faster than the speed limit and endanger other peoples lives?
How many people die every year from Alcohol?
Cigarettes kill over a quarter of a million people every year.
How many people do guns kill every year. Let’s get rid of them too.
Fast food. Kills people every day. GONE!
Man I love it when my government tells me what morals I should accept.
It sounds to me like this is the first step in legalizing. For recreational use, you shouldn’t need more than 100 grams… it would be like buying a keg to have 2 or 3 beers a night, it would go bad before you finished it (w/o kegmeister)
the average sale is usually less than 5grams…
fuck the problem today is its not just weed anymore…its laced with so much shit u don’t know what u are smoking…I don’t do it personally…but its scary to see all the shit that people lace it with case in point yesterday I worked pit security for the mayhem festival small group started smoking a blunt in the crowd in font of me…I asked them nice to put it out…they laughed being tuff guys next u know I see one of the knees buckle…and fall flat on his face…jump over and cary him over the fence…to the back next thing one after another they start falling…everyone that I seen smoking it I had to carry to medics…I herd they where possible od because of something laced in the stuff they were smoking…it was scary…seeing these kids when they fell…and the one that wasn’t smoking…she assured the medics is all they had was that blunt…
5 grams ain’t shit, son. :ugh2:
I know people that know people that went to school with people that worked with people that roll 5 gram blunts on a fairly regular basis.
100 grams is a very good number. Just short of a QP.
I used to smoke and cut or even 1/4 daily…5 grams aint shit
In all of my travels, I have never seen laced weed, smoked laced weed, know anyone that has smoked laced weed personally, nor know anyone that knows anyone that smoked laced weed. Not counting idiots that lace the shit themselves to try and catch a better buzz.
I’ve heard of some idiots dipping joints in formaldehyde, and people sprinkling on coke and shit like that, but never have I come across someone unknowingly smoking fucked up shit.
But, I hear that if you make your own, you never have to worry about that. :blue:
not if it’s the shit weed that everyone seems to have these days. I miss the times back in the day when I could call up 5 different people, have 5 different kinds of headies delivered to my door in 30 minutes or less.
Ive never seen laced green as well…You have to be an idiot and get it intentionally or lace it yourself imo…Its not like your unaware its laced. You can get it from people you know wont lace it. So the fact of laced weed going around really isn’t the issue.