Congressman Grothman Survey lacks marijuana reform
Constituents of the 6th Congressional District re-elected Republican Congressman Glenn Grothman to another term. As the 117th Congress takes session, legislative priorities are developed and carry through the session. In the past, Congressman Grothman has proclaimed he is big proponent of hemp. As October 18th, 2020 was declared “Wisconsin Hemp Day” by Governor Evers, the Wisconsin Hemp Alliance awarded Grothman one of six inaugural “Hemp Hero Award“. Grothman was very happy to receive the award.
In my past conversations with him, he is all over the board on the issue of the other cannabis that Congress is dealing with, marijuana. His voting record and public statements confirm that he could be friendly or could go the other way on a vote that is important.
Votes:
2019: The SAFE Banking Act, HR 1595: Yes
2019: Blumenauer/McClintock/Norton Amendment to Protect Legalization: No
2016: Veterans Equal Access Amendment: Yes
2015: Rohrabacher/Farr Amendment to Protect Medical: Yes
2015: McClintock/Polis Amendment to Protect Legalization: No
Co-sponsored Legislation: H.R.2331 – No Welfare for Weed Act of 2015 (2015-2016)
Now as the 117th Congress kicks off Grothman is beginning to send out his email surveys to help get his priorities straight. I am sure other congressional leaders are doing the same so if you are not in Grothmans district, find out who your congressional representative is and begin a cannabis conversation with them. If you were lucky enough to be on the Grothman mailing list, you already received his most recent survey.
As usual, marijuana reform was not an option and the survey left no place for a “other” or blank space to provide your own priority for your elected official. So we have to go about it the old fashioned way and email /call his office directly and talk to him about the survey, why marijuana reform should be included and then speak to them about why marijuana reform is important to you. If you just want to hit him with the important task at hand, tell him to co-sponsor the “M.O.R.E. Act” and if he cannot do that, support it with a YES vote as the legislation is going to come to his desk for a vote.
What is the MORE Act, S.2227 – MORE Act of 2019?
The MORE Act — the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement Act — is historic in scope. It would end the criminalization of cannabis for adults by removing it from the list of controlled substances, eliminate related criminal penalties, and take several other major steps toward criminal justice reform, social justice, and economic development. The House version of the bill received a positive committee vote in November 2019 and was slated for a vote on the House floor in September. Unfortunately, the vote is now considered likely to be postponed until after the General Election in November.
Serious criminal justice reform cannot begin in our country without ending the war on cannabis. The MORE Act would remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, striking at the core of its harmful status in federal law, and it would provide essential restorative justice provisions to begin to undo decades of harm caused by prohibition.
Key provisions
- Not only would the MORE Act end the criminalization of cannabis at the federal level going forward, it would also be retroactive. Cannabis arrests, charges, and convictions would be automatically expunged at no cost to the individual. (While an improvement, states could continue to criminalize cannabis.)
- The measure would impose a 5% tax on the retail sales of cannabis to go to the Opportunity Trust Fund.
- Half of that amount would go to help disadvantaged communities in areas like job training, health education, and legal aid.
- Other amounts would go to help new cannabis businesses run by those impacted by the war on cannabis.
- The MORE Act would create the Office of Cannabis Justice to oversee the social equity provisions in the law.
- The bill would ensure the federal government could not discriminate against people because of cannabis use, including earned benefits or immigrants at risk of deportation.
- The measure would open the door to research, better banking and tax laws, and help fuel economic growth as states are looking for financial resources.
Now back to the survey Grothman sent via email and that is live on his website. Like I indicated above, we need to do more as constituents then just fill out his survey, especially if the issue we care about is not listed. So I am emailing him directly and following up with a phone call. I suggest constituents of his district do the same, today!
Very easily I can see how marijuana reform cross relates to many of the issues listed in his survey. Do you?
Contact Glenn Grothman: Email: https://grothman.house.gov/contact/email
Web: http://grothman.house.gov/, Phone: 202-225-2476
Address: 1427 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
