Pot Decrim Measure Hits Congress

U.S. Reps Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Texas' own Liberpublican Ron Paul, R-Surfside, joined forces last week to file legislation aimed at taming the federal law enforcement war on pot.

On April 18, Frank introduced H.R. 5843, the first pot decriminalization measure introduced in Congress in 24 years, which would remove from federal law the possibility of arrest, prosecution and jail for "responsible" adult tokers, and would eliminate penalties for possession of up to 3 1/2 ounces. The bill would also make legal between adults the "not-for-profit" transfer of up to one ounce of pot, and would create a $100 fine for smoking in public.

Frank and Paul also joined forces on H.R. 5842, the "Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act," which (again) seeks to end federal raids on medi-pot dispensaries and to end the federal harassment of ill patients who use the drug in compliance with state laws. Along with Paul, Reps. Maurice Hinchey, D-NY, Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., and Sam Farr, D-Calif., have signed on as co-sponsors of the medi-mari bill.

Frank says changing the law is the right thing to do: "I think it is poor law enforcement to keep on the books legislation that establishes as a crime something which in fact society does not seriously wish to prosecute," he said in a press statement. "In my view, having federal law enforcement agents engaged in the prosecution of people who are personally using marijuana is a waste of scarce resources better used for serious crimes. In fact, this type of prosecution often meets with public disapproval." Ain't that the truth: national polls have consistently revealed that a majority of the public supports medi-pot laws; in a 2002 CNN/Time poll, 72% said responsible adult smokers should not be jailed. "To those who say that the government should not be encouraging the smoking of marijuana, my response is that I completely agree," Frank said. "But it is a great mistake to divide all human activity into two categories: those that are criminally prohibited, and those that are encouraged. In a free society, there must be a very considerable zone of activity between those two poles in which people are allowed to make their own choices as long as they are not impinging on the rights, freedom, or property of others," he continued. "[C]riminalizing choices that adults make because we think they are unwise ones, when the choices have no negative effect on the rights of others, is not appropriate in a free society."