The lower house of the United States Congress on Friday, December 4, approved a bill to remove cannabis from the federal list of dangerous drugs, a historic step towards the decriminalization of marijuana in the United States.
The text was approved (228 for, 164 against) by the House of Representatives, where it was defended by the majority Democrats.
But he still has a good chance of being blocked in the Senate, currently controlled by the Republicans.
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It would federally decriminalize possession of cannabis, considered by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to be equivalent to LSD, cocaine or heroin, even though its use is legal to varying degrees in many US states.
It would also overturn federal convictions for minor drug offenses, which, according to its advocates, result in mass incarceration mostly affecting minorities.
According to pro-cannabis organization NORML, this is the first time in 50 years that a House of Congress has reviewed the classification of cannabis.
"
This is a historic moment
," greeted Hawaii's elected Democrat Tulsi Gabbard before the vote.
It is "
a step towards ending the costly and destructive US War on Drugs, which has turned ordinary Americans into criminals, torn apart families and ruined so many lives,
" she said.
The text would also introduce a 5% tax on the sale of cannabis and its derivatives, to finance the reintegration of convicted prisoners and aid to legal dispensaries for the sale of cannabis, a booming industry that weighs several billion dollars.
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According to recent polls, more than two-thirds of Americans are in favor of legalizing cannabis.
But in practice, cannabis would not be legal across the country, with individual US states remaining in control of their anti-drug laws.
Medicinal cannabis use is legal in 33 of the 50 states as well as Washington, and 11 states and the federal capital for recreational use.
"
Most cannabis arrests are for simple possession, and they are made under US state law by state police
," said specialist lawyer Vince Sliwoski of Harris-Bricken law firm.
Opponents of the text insisted on the dangers of addiction, especially among young people, and castigated the priority given to this vote at the expense of negotiations on a large plan to support the economy, affected by the coronavirus pandemic. .
The vote comes two days after another historic decision at the UN.
The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) on Wednesday approved the removal of cannabis from the strictest control lists, where it had appeared for 59 years, which discouraged its use for medical purposes.
