Tell Congress: Pass the Marijuana Justice Act

The petition to Congress reads: "End the war on drugs. Pass the Marijuana Justice Act." Add your name:

With five percent of the world's population, but a quarter of its prisoners, the United States is at a crisis point. Our criminal justice system is in desperate need of reform and it's up to us to fix it. Nearly half of the country's federal inmates are poor people of color in prison on drug related convictions.1 Democrats Sen. Cory Booker and Reps. Barbara Lee and Ro Khanna have introduced legislation that would set many of these prisoners free. The Marijuana Justice Act would put an end to the racist War on Drugs by legalizing cannabis nationwide and expunging all federal convictions for possessing or using it.2 Progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders just added his support for this bill.3Speak out now to urge every Democrat and Republican of good conscience to follow his lead. Tell Congress: End the war on drugs. Pass the Marijuana Justice Act. Click here to sign the petition. Public support for legalizing marijuana is at an all-time high. Two-thirds of Americans are in favor of ending prohibition. The Marijuana Justice Act is the most far-reaching marijuana reform bill that has ever been introduced in Congress. It would:4 Legalize cannabis nationwide. Expunge all federal convictions for possessing or using cannabis. Fund libraries and job training programs in communities torn apart by the racist War on Drugs. Cut federal funds for prison construction in states where marijuana arrests have disproportionately affected people of color and poor people. Nine states and Washington D.C. have already legalized cannabis use for adults and have allocated marijuana revenues for social good.5 In Colorado, Oregon and Nevada, cannabis revenue funds public schools and bullying prevention programs. Oregon, Washington and Alaska are funding alcohol and drug treatment programs and basic health care. California and Massachusetts will use their revenues to revitalize low-income communities of color torn apart by high drug arrests and incarcerations. If cannabis becomes legal nationwide, local government won't be the only ones benefiting. The Marijuana Justice Act legalizes cannabis and also goes one step further by radically reforming our criminal justice system. A 2013 ACLU study found that police were four times more likely to arrest and imprison Black people for marijuana possession than white people, despite similar rates of use.6 The majority of people currently serving time in prison for cannabis related convictions are Black and Brown. This important bill would give many of these prisoners their freedom and prevent millions of people from ever entering the country's broken criminal justice system. Tell Congress: End the war on drugs. Pass the Marijuana Justice Act. Click here to sign the petition. Former Speaker of the House John Boehner, who fought marijuana legalization for years, recently changed his position and announced that he had joined the board of directors of a major marijuana corporation.7 He is just the latest in a long line of wealthy white conservatives who now see legal cannabis as big business and want to profit from it. The Marijuana Justice Act will make sure that legalizing cannabis helps right the wrongs of the failed War on Drugs, not just line the pockets of corporate shills like Boehner. Reforming our criminal justice system and passing legislation to end the War on Drugs won’t happen overnight, and certainly not in this Congress. But building momentum can start now and make a big difference. Will you add your name? Tell Congress: End the war on drugs. Pass the Marijuana Justice Act. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/marijuana_justice?t=8&akid=28201%2E3130208%2EWNyPZD - Nicole Regalado, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Federal Bureau of Prisons, "Inmate Statistics: Offenses," March 24, 2018. Jordain Carney, "Booker introduces bill to legalize marijuana," The Hill, Aug. 1, 2017. Benjamin Fearnow, "Bernie Sanders joins Cory Booker's Marijuana Justice Act to federally legalize weed," Newsweek, April 19, 2018. Carney, "Booker introduces bill to legalize marijuana. Drug Policy Institute, "From Prohibition to Progress: A Status Report on Marijuana Legalization," Jan. 22, 2018. Dylan Matthews, "The black/white marijuana arrest gap, in nine charts," The Washington Post, June 4, 2013. Daniel Victor, "John Boehner’s Marijuana Reversal: 'My Thinking on Cannabis Has Evolved,'" The New York Times, April 11, 2018.

Tell Congress: Stop the unjust War on Drugs - Pass the Marijuana Justice Act

Female prison population is nearly eight times higher than in 1980 due to non-violent drug convictions

Big news for drug policy reform: After California legalized recreational marijuana use, San Francisco followed suit by clearing thousands of marijuana convictions dating back 40 years. This is a step in the right direction – now people won’t be held for crimes that are no longer crimes. 

The outdated policies of the War on Drugs have done little but waste federal resources and harm lives forever. But while some of us are fighting back, others – like Attorney General Jeff Sessions – are doggedly pursuing the same failed policies. His vendetta against marijuana and people who use it goes against public opinion and completely disregards the human consequences of these unjust laws. 

But we can stop him. There’s a new bill in Congress to legalize marijuana under federal law – and remedy some of the injustices of the War on Drugs. We need your help to make sure it becomes law.

Tell your members of Congress to support the Marijuana Justice Act and reform our broken criminal justice system.

How do we know that reform is needed? The data says it all. In 2013 we found that Black people are almost four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession even though Black and white people use marijuana at comparable rates.

What’s more, 64 percent of Americans approve of legalizing marijuana. But Jeff Sessions' policies go against the will of the people.

Let's tell Congress to pass the Marijuana Justice Act NOW to promote equitable and proportional justice. Antiquated and out-of-touch drug laws – like Sessions’ marijuana policies – have got to go.

-Jesselyn McCurdy
ACLU Deputy Legislative Director, fighting for criminal justice reform

*Note from Desktop Activist:  In addition to the injustices towards black people, there has been a profound change in the involvement of women within the criminal justice system over the past quarter century. This is the result of more expansive law enforcement efforts, stiffer drug sentencing laws, and post-conviction barriers to reentry that uniquely affect women. Women now comprise a larger proportion of the prison population than ever before; the female prison population stands nearly eight times higher than its population count in 1980. More than 60% of women in state prisons have a child under the age of 18. - the Sentencing Project

Sign the petition telling the Department of Justice to let states regulate marijuana

medical marijuana helps all these patients

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is preparing an assault on states that have legalized recreational marijuana. That means people who grow, sell, and use cannabis in states where it’s perfectly legal to do so could have their lives ruined by arrest, confiscation of their property, and prosecution. But the tide is turning, and more Americans support legalized cannabis than ever before.(1) Twenty-nine states have legalized medical marijuana, and nine have legalized its recreational use. Fifty-four members of Congress from both parties just sent a letter to President Trump asking him to overrule the DOJ’s decision.(2) If enough of us speak out along with the growing chorus of elected officials who support legalization, we can force Attorney General Jeff Sessions to end his crusade against marijuana. That’s why we’ve joined a broad coalition of organizations and elected officials to tell Sessions that the people have spoken: states should decide how to regulate marijuana. Will you join us? Sign the petition telling the Department of Justice to let states regulate marijuana. Sessions just repealed an Obama-era rule that directed the DOJ not to prosecute cannabis growers, sellers, and users in states that have legalized recreational marijuana. Now federal prosecutors can resume their failed War on Drugs. It’s not 1960 anymore. Decades of evidence show that cannabis is relatively safe, yet federal law treats it the same way it treats heroin -- as a dangerous drug of abuse. That’s why on top of the 29 states that have legalized it medicinally -- 9 of which have legalized it for recreational use as well -- 13 have decriminalized marijuana in attempt to reduce our prison population, which is the largest in the world thanks to the War on Drugs, which has disproportionately targeted communities of color.(3) Americans’ attitude towards cannabis has profoundly changed. For the first time ever, even a majority of Republican voters support legalization. All told, 61% of Americans support legalization and 71% oppose the administration trying to stop state regulation.(4) That support is beginning to extend to politicians. In direct response to Sessions’ announcement, Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO) has vowed to block DOJ nominees unless Sessions rescinds his decision, while Representative Tom Garrett (R-VA) is sponsoring a bill to remove marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances.(5) And 54 members of Congress from both parties have signed a letter urging Donald Trump -- who promised to leave marijuana alone while on the campaign trail -- to rein Sessions in. We’re at a critical juncture. Backing up the growing number of politicians and business interests with demonstrable public support could stop Sessions in his tracks. Will you sign the petition and lend your voice to the growing chorus of people who demand legalization? Yes, I'll sign the petition demanding the DOJ let states regulate marijuana! - the Courage team Footnotes: 1. http://news.gallup.com/poll/221018/record-high-support-legalizing-marijuana.aspx & https://www.cbsnews.com/news/support-for-marijuana-legalization-at-all-time-high/ 2. http://www.newsweek.com/members-congress-marijuana-791086 3. http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-to-lowest/prison-population-total & http://www.governing.com/gov-data/state-marijuana-laws-map-medical-recreational.html 4. Refer to note 1. 5. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/pot-showdown-congress-uniting-to-stop-sessions-war-on-drugs-w515595

Time to legalize marijuana in the U.S. Support the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017

For decades, the failed War on Drugs has locked up millions of nonviolent drug offenders, especially for marijuana-related offenses. This has wasted human potential, torn apart families and communities, and squandered massive sums of taxpayer dollars.

Currently, over half of all drug arrests in the United States are due to marijuana—the majority for simple possession. Police now arrest more Americans for simple possession of marijuana than for all violent crimes—murder, sexual assault, and armed robbery—combined.

It’s time the federal government follow the lead of many of our states and our nation’s capital, and begin to take meaningful steps to reverse mass incarceration and address the gross injustices of the failed War on Drugs. It’s time to legalize marijuana in the United States of America.

That’s why I’ve introduced the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017, a bill that if passed will legalize marijuana at the federal level, and incentivize states to legalize it at the state level. The bill would also retroactively apply to those serving time in federal prison for marijuana-related offenses, providing for a judge’s review of their marijuana sentence.

Our federal marijuana laws have not made our country safer—in fact, by enforcing our existing marijuana laws on predominantly low-level, nonviolent offenders, police are forced to take away precious resources from fighting violent crime in our communities.

Marijuana-related offenses are also not enforced equally across race and class. It’s a disturbing fact that while blacks and whites use marijuana at similar rates, African Americans are almost 4 times more likely to be arrested for possession of marijuana.

The War on Drugs has failed all Americans, and has had a disproportionately devastating impact on Americans of color and the poor. Legalizing marijuana across our country is the right thing to do for public safety, and will reduce our overflowing prison population.

If you agree that our marijuana laws have been ineffective and that we can make our criminal justice system more just by legalizing marijuana, please join me in supporting the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017.

- Cory Booker