Campaign Action
For decades, the failed War on Drugs has locked up millions of nonviolent drug offenders, especially for marijuana-related offenses.
Families and communities have been torn apart. Untold human potential has been wasted. Massive sums of taxpayer money have been squandered. And genuine and lasting progress has not been made.
But Attorney General Jeff Sessions appears obsessed with reviving this losing war. The Attorney General’s outdated and misguided focus means that low-income communities and communities of color will continue to suffer disproportionately—without making us any safer.
Currently, over half of all drug arrests in the United States are for 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.
The federal government can take action to end this grossly disproportionate response by following the lead of many of our states and Washington, D.C.
We must take meaningful steps to reverse mass incarceration while addressing the flagrant injustices of the botched War on Drugs.
It’s time to legalize marijuana in the United States of America.
That’s why I introduced the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017 in the Senate last summer.
And I’m proud to have my Senate colleagues Ron Wyden (Oregon), Kirsten Gillibrand (New York), and Bernie Sanders (Vermont) as co-sponsors.
Please join me in supporting the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017 and add your name today as a Citizen Co-Sponsor.
If passed, the bill will legalize marijuana at the federal level while providing states with the incentive to legalize it too.
The bill would also apply retroactively to people serving time in federal prison for marijuana-related offenses, and provide for a judge’s review of marijuana-related sentences.
Our existing 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 3.7 times more likely to be arrested for possession of marijuana.
The War on Drugs has failed all Americans. It 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. It will reduce our overflowing prison population while allowing crime-fighting resources to be directed where they can have a more powerful impact.
Please join me in supporting the Marijuana Justice Act of 2017 and add your name today as a Citizen Co-Sponsor.
Attorney General Sessions is attempting to breathe new life into a deeply flawed and unjust War on Drugs—and taking us back decades in the process—but I believe Americans are more than ready for a new, innovative, and more effective approach to tackling drugs in our communities.
Removing the stigma and harsh penalties for marijuana possession would be a major step in the right direction.