Legal
Legal for medical use
Prohibited for any use
D
Decriminalized
Notes:
· Includes laws which have not yet gone into effect.
· Cannabis remains a Schedule I drug under federal law.
· Some Indian reservations have legalization policies separate from the states they are located in.
· Cannabis is illegal in all federal enclaves.
· Includes laws which have not yet gone into effect.
· Cannabis remains a Schedule I drug under federal law.
· Some Indian reservations have legalization policies separate from the states they are located in.
· Cannabis is illegal in all federal enclaves.
As
Canada has now joined Uruguay as the only nations
to have legalized marijuana, there remains a rather profound disconnect in the
US between federal law and the laws of many states. Marijuana usage in the
United States is, well, ubiquitous: “According to
a new poll released Monday [April 16th], 52 percent of Americans over 18
have tried marijuana at some point in their lives. The survey conducted by
Yahoo News and Marist Poll found that not only have most adults in the U.S.
smoked pot, 44 percent of those who tried it once still use it today.
“The poll,
titled Weed and the American Family, looks at everything
from family views on marijuana use to regulation, entertainment, social
acceptability, and more. And of course it comes just in time for the unofficial
holiday of cannabis culture that falls on April 20th each year.
“Despite marijuana
still being federally classified as a dangerous Schedule I drug, on par with
heroin, American attitudes toward the drug have changed over time. The
Yahoo-Marist poll found that, out of the respondents who have tried pot at some
point, 65 percent are parents. In fact, people who are current marijuana users
are slightly more likely to be parents, at 51 percent.”
NBCNews.com, April 17th.
Wikipedia
has this summary of state laws and is the source for the above map: “In the United States, the use and
possession of cannabis is illegal under
federal law for any purpose, by way of the Controlled
Substances Act of 1970. Under the CSA, cannabis is classified as a
Schedule I substance, determined to have a high potential for abuse and no
accepted medical use – thereby prohibiting even medical use of the drug. At the
state level, however, policies regarding the medical and recreational use of cannabis
vary greatly, and in many states conflict significantly with federal law.
“The medical
use of cannabis is legal (with a doctor's recommendation) in 31 states,
the District of Columbia, and the territories
of Guam and Puerto Rico. Sixteen other states have laws that
limit THC content, for the
purpose of allowing access to products that are rich in cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive component of cannabis. Although cannabis
remains a Schedule I drug, the Rohrabacher–Farr
amendment prohibits federal prosecution of individuals complying
with state medical cannabis laws.
“The recreational use of cannabis is
legal in 9 states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada,
Oregon, Vermont and Washington, the District of Columbia, and the Northern
Mariana Islands. Another 13 states plus theU.S. Virgin Islands have
decriminalized. Commercial distribution of cannabis is allowed in all
jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized, except Vermont and the
District of Columbia. Prior to January 2018, the Cole Memorandum [allowing
US attorneys to stop prosecuting marijuana possession] provided some protection
against the enforcement of federal law in states that have legalized, but it
was rescinded by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“Although
the use of cannabis remains federally illegal, some of its derivative compounds
have been approved by the Food and Drug
Administration for prescription use.” Weed is
sufficiently illegal at a federal level that admitting to border/customs
officials to have used it in the past (or lying that never did) is sufficient
to get non-U.S. citizens permanently banned from entering the United States for
any reason even if use of marijuana was legal in your home country (even
medically prescribed) and legal in the state to which you are traveling.
Weed
is so dangerous that even a couple of Republican heavyweights are now moving
into the commercial marijuana trade. The April 11 MarketWatch.com: “John Boehner, former Republican speaker
of the House of Representatives, and Bill Weld, a former Republican governor of
Massachusetts who was the 2016 running mate of Libertarian presidential
candidate Gary Johnson, are joining the advisory board of Acreage Holdings,
which owns cannabis licenses and assets in the 30 states where cannabis is approved for
medical or recreational use.” Demon weed!
The
October 15th Los Angeles Times expounds further: “Bill Powers, a
Canadian construction worker who uses medical marijuana, was barred from the
U.S. after border agents asked whether he ever smoked pot… Powers flipped through the sworn statement he
gave to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the printed pages taking him
back to that August afternoon — back to the border checkpoint into Washington
state where agents asked if he had ever smoked marijuana.
“Yes,
he answered, not initially thinking much of the question. The 57-year-old
Canadian has a license for medical marijuana, and pot had been legal in
Washington for six years. Like that, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents
turned him away with an extreme decree: He had been banned from the United
States.
“‘It’s
absolutely out of control. Here I am being honest with the United States and I
get the boot,’ Powers said on a recent afternoon as he stood in his driveway in
this farming town an hour east of Vancouver. ‘I have a license … yet they’re
turning people away for pot? It makes not a single bit of sense.’
“With
Canada set to legalize recreational marijuana nationwide on Wednesday — only
the second country to do so, following Uruguay — many Canadians, especially
those who live near the border, face growing anxiety over what to say if U.S.
customs agents ask them if they’ve ever consumed marijuana.
“Lying
to a border agent can result in a person being denied entry. But so too can
being honest about past marijuana use.
“While
nearly every state along the U.S.-Canada border has legalized marijuana, at
least for medical use, ports of entry fall under federal jurisdiction, meaning
cannabis is still viewed as a Schedule I drug — just like heroin.
“Under
the Immigration and Nationality Act, U.S. border agents — who have broad
discretion in what questions they ask people seeking entry — can turn away
noncitizens who acknowledge having used a controlled substance, ever.
“Last
year, U.S. officials turned away 22,000 Canadians at ports of entry, deeming
them inadmissible, according to the most recent available data. The Department
of Homeland Security does not list the reasons a person is denied entry and the
agency declined to say how many Canadians are annually deemed inadmissible
because of marijuana…
“In
a statement posted to its website last week, the Department of Homeland
Security said it stands firm on barring even casual marijuana users from
entering the country.
“‘U.S.
Customs and Border Protection enforces the laws of the United States and U.S.
laws will not change following Canada’s legalization of marijuana,’ the
statement read. ‘Requirements for international travelers wishing to enter the
United States are governed by and conducted in accordance with U.S. Federal
Law, which supersedes state laws.’”
What’s
even more inane is the ability to apply to Homeland Security for a waiver of
this travel restriction. Costs plenty ($580 plus $1,000 or more in legal fees)
and takes lots of time (3 to 6 months), but it is possible. Oh, and applicants
need to get a background check and two character reference letters. And Republicans
scream about over-regulation? Jeff is hardly in Session(s). What a colossal
waste!
I’m Peter Dekom, and if we applied
the same restrictions to U.S. citizens, we could open up a lot of free space
and depopulate most of the country.
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