U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., wants to change how the federal government evaluates state marijuana policies, insisting it can help offer needed reforms.
This week, Curbelo teamed up with U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hi., to introduce the “Marijuana Data Collection Act.” The congressman’s office noted the proposal “would require the National Academy of Sciences to create a federally recognized report on the status of state-level marijuana legalization policies, including both medical and non-medical use, and the effects of marijuana legalization on public health, safety, the economy, and the criminal justice system" and insisted the “information compiled in the report would help to fill the gap left by the federal government’s unwillingness to accept local, state, and private data related to marijuana policy.”
The bill would make the secretary of HHS work with other federal departments and states to have the National Academy of Sciences study and publish its findings on the safety and effectiveness of state marijuana laws and policies.
Curbelo weighed in this week why he was championing the proposal.
“Federal lawmakers have long ignored the issues of our outdated federal marijuana policy,” Curbelo said on Tuesday. “In recent years, however, voters across the country – including in my home state of Florida and overwhelmingly in my district – have called for modernized marijuana policies in their states. This bill takes a commonsense step toward allowing unbiased research into the impacts that marijuana has had in states that have chosen to legally regulate it. I am proud to support the bipartisan Marijuana Data Collection Act to ensure the federal government is no longer an obstacle to legal, regulated marijuana and starts being part of the discussion for a new federal policy.”
“For decades, bad data and misinformation have fueled the failed War on Drugs that has ruined people's lives, torn families apart, and wasted billions of taxpayer dollars incarcerating Americans for nonviolent marijuana charges,” said Gabbard. “In 2016 alone, nearly 600,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession. Our laws must be informed by facts — not emotion, manufactured stigma and myths. Our bipartisan legislation, the Marijuana Data Collection Act, will lay the groundwork for real reform by producing an objective, evidence-based report on current marijuana laws that exist in 31 states across the country, and their impact on our communities.”
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) is backing the proposal. Justin Strekal, the political director for NORML, went to bat for the legislation and praised Gabbard’s work on the issue.
“We appreciate Representative Gabbard for her tremendous leadership in the fight to reform our nation’s failed policy of prohibition,” Strekal said. “From emphasizing that marijuana policy be evidence-based, to tasking the National Academies with this important work, to her role as a lead on HR 1227, the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act, Rep. Gabbard has been one of the most prominent voices in calling for a new sensible approach to cannabis.”
The National Cannabis Industry Association is also behind the proposal.
"We look forward to a study conducted by an independent federal agency that isn't invested in continuing marijuana prohibition," said Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association. "Lawmakers and regulators at the state and federal level will benefit from a serious look at the effects of making cannabis legal for medical and adult use. There is already plenty of evidence showing that regulation is working in the states, but we need to look at the potential public health and economic impacts of further reforms, and the real costs of continuing to ban a substance that research shows may be helping to reduce the damage caused by the opioid problem."
Last March, teamed up with U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oreg., to bring out the “Small Business Tax Equity Act” which changes Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code which ensures that businesses which sell marijuana are not able to deduct their expenses from their taxes. Noting that several states now allow the sale of medical marijuana, Curbelo and Blumenauer proposed to allow businesses that are legally allowed to sell marijuana deduct their expenses just like other businesses do.
