U.S. mayors call for cannabis decriminalization

Thor Benson / Cannabis News Box Contributor

A group of mayors called the U.S. Conference of Mayors is calling for cannabis to be decriminalized and for cities to expunge past cannabis-related criminal records. Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver and more cities signed onto the statement.

“The United States Conference of Mayors urges the White House, U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to immediately remove cannabis from the schedule of the CSA to enable U.S. federal banking regulators to permanently authorize financial institutions to provide services to commercial cannabis businesses, and increase the safety of the public,” reads the statement.

The mayors are also calling on Congress to protect states that legalize cannabis from persecution.  That would include protections for banks that may do business with cannabis businesses. Jolene Forman, a staff attorney for the Drug Policy Alliance, says mayors play a special role when it comes to drug policy.

“In states that have not legalized marijuana, mayors can effectively decriminalize marijuana use and possession in their cities by making marijuana law enforcement a lowest level law enforcement priority,” Forman said. “In states that have legalized marijuana, mayors can use their leadership position and ties to their communities to persuade local prosecutors to expunge past marijuana convictions.”

Forman said mayors “are tasked with protecting the health and safety of their constituents,” and they can go about that as they see fit, but it’s clear the mayors fighting for nationwide decriminalization are sick of the patchwork drug policy reforms people like them have struggled to create.

“Nationally we are experiencing ever-increasing levels of support for marijuana legalization. In addition, there is even bipartisan support for meaningful marijuana law reform in Congress,” Forman said. “Last week Corey Gardner and Elizabeth Warren made history by introducing the STATE Act, which is the first ever bipartisan marijuana law reform bill that would respect states’ rights to legalize marijuana. While the STATE Act is a good start, we need legislation that goes further so we can begin addressing the harmful racial disparities in marijuana enforcement.”

Forman said that a superior bill is Sen. Cory Booker’s (D-N.J.) Marijuana Justice Act, which fully legalizes cannabis and works to heal some of the wounds created by the War on Drugs, especially for communities of color. Whether the actions of these mayors will make a large difference remains to be seen, but its clear support for legalization is increasing.