Republicans Launch Federal Level Cannabis Decriminalization Bill, Regulate Use Like Alcohol

Cannabis illustration. (Unsplash/@kimzy)

JAKARTA - Republicans in the United States House of Representatives introduced a bill that would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, Monday this week.

The bill would eliminate the legal dangers many cannabis-related businesses face, while regulating its use like alcohol.

Republican US Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina who led the proposal described the bill as a 'compromise' with less burdensome regulations, rather than measures previously proposed by other lawmakers, including Democrats.

The path of legislation in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives is uncertain. Mace, a first-term MP, said the measure had five Republican co-sponsors.

The use of marijuana by adults is legal in 18 US states and medically permitted in 36 states. But it remains illegal under federal law, which has prevented banks and other investors from engaging with companies selling marijuana or related products.

"This bill will also support businesses, especially small businesses. That's very important," Mace explained at a press conference.

"If we pass this bill today, businesses will operate and be legal and regulated like alcohol," he said.

Titled the State Reform Act, the Republican-proposed bill would be subject to state authorities in terms of prohibition and regulation.

It will ban the use of marijuana by those under 21, limit advertising, protect access to recruitment and benefits for veterans who have used marijuana. Deleting records of people convicted of non-violent marijuana-related offences.

However, the bill differs in several important ways from bills proposed in July by Senate Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Mace's bill would impose an excise tax of 3 percent on marijuana, compared to the Senate's proposed increased tax of about 25 percent.

In contrast, a Senate proposal that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) a major oversight role, a bill this time around limits the FDA's involvement in medical marijuana and makes the Treasury's Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade (TTB) the primary regulator for interstate commerce. .