Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) unveiled a plan for federal marijuana reform on Sunday, calling for legalization as well as a series of policies aimed at righting the wrongs of the drug war and promoting involvement in the legal industry by communities harmed by prohibition.

In the Just and Equitable Cannabis Industry plan, which Warren's campaign shared with Marijuana Moment ahead of a town hall event in Colorado, the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate slams the racist 'War on Drugs' policy perpetuated during the Nixon administration and the mass incarceration that has followed.

She also introduces noteworthy ideas, such as using her executive authority to begin the federal legalization process within 100 days of taking office, respecting the sovereignty of other nations to legalize marijuana, protecting immigrants who participate in the legal industry, empowering veterans to access medical cannabis and ensuring that corporations aren't able to monopolize the market.

Further, the Warren plan promotes unionization in the marijuana industry, protecting Indian tribes' authority to enact their own reform programs and lifting a current ban so that Washington, D.C. can use its local monies to implement legal marijuana sales

Even as the federal government has held fast to its outdated marijuana policy, states have led the charge in adopting thoughtful, evidenced-based marijuana policy, the six-page document says. And what have we learned in the eight years since the first states legalized marijuana? Legalization works.

The senator details the progress of the legalization movement and the economic potential of the industry, and she argues that access to cannabis has been shown to play a role in mitigating the opioid epidemic. All that said, she notes that marijuana arrests have continued to increase nationally and they continue to be carried out on racially disproportionate basis and so comprehensive reform at the federal level is a goal she is pledging to pursue starting day one if elected president.

It's not justice when we lock up kids caught with an ounce of pot, while hedge fund managers make millions off of the legal sale of marijuana. My administration will put an end to that broken system.

Legalizing marijuana is about more than just allowing recreational use, or the potential medicinal benefit, or the money that can be made from this new market, the Warren plan says. It's about undoing a century of racist policy that disproportionately targeted Black and Latinx communities. It's about rebuilding the communities that have suffered the most harm. And it's about ensuring that everyone has access to the opportunities that the new cannabis market provides.

Warren's proposal is two-pronged. The first objective is to address the disproportionate enforcement of our drug laws. Here's how she plans to accomplish that:

Warren's second broad objective as described in the plan is to prioritize opportunities in the cannabis industry for communities of color and others who were harmed by the failed policies of the past. That will involve:

For four decades, we've subscribed to a 'War on Drugs' theory of crime, which has criminalized addiction, ripped apart families and failed to curb drug use, the plan states. Legalizing marijuana and erasing past convictions won't fully end the War on Drugs or address its painful legacy, but it's a needed step in the right direction.

As we move to harness the economic potential of a legalized cannabis industry, we must ensure that the communities that were harmed by the War on Drugs disproportionately communities of color are fully included in the opportunity and prosperity that legalization will create. I support investing federal and state revenue from the cannabis industry into communities that have been disproportionately impacted by enforcement of our existing marijuana laws.

Legalizing marijuana gives us an opportunity to repair some of the damage caused by our current criminal justice system, to invest in the communities that have suffered the most harm, and to ensure that everyone can participate in the growing cannabis industry. We have an opportunity now to get this right, and I'll fight to make that happen.

Warren also calls out former House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) in her proposal, stating that the country cannot allow affluent and predominantly white hedge-funders and capital investors to hoard the profits from the same behavior that led to the incarceration of generations of Black and Latino youth.

Boehner, who declared that he was 'unalterably opposed' to legalization while in Congress, now profits handsomely as a lobbyist for legalization even as others continue to live with the consequences of a prohibition he defended, she points out, referencing the former speaker's role as a board member at the cannabis firm Acreage Holdings.

While Warren's plan repeatedly cites the need to broadly address the harms of the broader drug war, her proposals are exclusively focused on cannabis policy changes. While she and Sanders have been strong champions of marijuana reform, drug policy advocates have emphasized the need to expand reform to other illicit substances, as former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) have by proposing decriminalization and legalization of all illegal drugs, respectively.

In terms of her marijuana reform agenda, however, experts who spoke to Marijuana Moment recently have indicated that Warren's 100-day plan would probably be legally and practically more realistic that Sanders's most recent proposal to use an executive order to legalize marijuana in all 50 states on day one of his presidency.

While Sanders initially proposed something similar to Warren appointing key officials within his administration who would pursue legalization during his first 100 days in office he shifted gears last month and pledged to deschedule cannabis on his first day in the White House.

Last year, Warren laid out a criminal justice reform plan that called for marijuana reform, as well as the legalization of safe injection sites where individuals could use illicit substances under medical supervision a move also backed by Sanders.

Warren and Sanders might have differing approaches to marijuana legalization, but what's clear is they stand in stark contrast to former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg and former Vice President Joe Biden, both of whom are the only contenders in the Democratic race who remain opposed to ending cannabis prohibition.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

This article has been republished from Marijuana Moment under a content-sharing agreement. Read the original article here.

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Elizabeth Warren Might Have the Best Marijuana Legalization Plan Yet. - Weedmaps News