United States: Drug decriminalization presented to the House of Representatives

Democratic members of the U.S. Congress introduced a bill on Tuesday to decriminalize all drugs at the federal level and transfer authority over substances from the Attorney General to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

The measure, introduced by Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman and Cori Bush, also includes social justice provisions, including the expungement of criminal records, as well as relief for those currently incarcerated or under supervision for certain drug-related convictions. The proposal would also eliminate consequences associated with drug convictions, including denial of employment, public benefits, immigration status, driver's license and voting rights.

Decriminalize drug possession.
Expunge drug records.
End the War on Drugs.

We need wrap-around care, not criminalization.@Bonnie4Congress and I just introduced the bill to end the war on our people: the Drug Policy Reform Act.

- Cori Bush (@CoriBush) June 15, 2021

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The measure was introduced before the 50th anniversary of the declaration of war on drugs, on June 17, 1971, by then Republican President Richard Nixon.

In a statement, Bonnie Coleman described the war on drugs as «a stain on our national conscience since its inception».

«Begun in 1972 as a cynical political tactic by the Nixon administration, the war on drugs has destroyed the lives of countless Americans and their families. As we work to solve this problem, it is essential that we change tactics in the way we address drug use, abandoning the failed punitive approach in favor of one based on health and evidence.».

Cori Bush, for her part, described the crack-cocaine epidemic that robs her community of «so many lives» and called the war on cannabis «malicious». She added that black people are arrested three times more often for cannabis possession than their white counterparts, despite similar rates of consumption.

«As a nurse, I've seen black families criminalized for heroin use while white families are treated for opioid use. And now, as a member of Congress, I see the pattern repeating itself with fentanyl, as the DEA pushes for an expanded classification that would criminalize possession and use,» she said in a statement. «This punitive approach creates more pain, increases substance use and leaves millions living in shame and isolation with limited support and recovery.»

The bill was drafted by Drug Policy Alliance whose Head of National Affairs, Queen Adesuyi, added in a statement a press release that «someone's life is ruined» for drug possession every 23 seconds.

«We will not be subjugated any longer by an offensive that was created for the sole purpose of ‘disrupting’ our communities,» she said in a statement. «This bill gives us a way out - a chance to reimagine what the next 50 years can be. It allows us to offer people support rather than punishment. And it gives people who have been harmed by these draconian laws a chance to move forward and embrace some semblance of the life that has long been denied them.»

Democrats hold slim majorities in both houses of Congress, and if the measure were approved by the House, it would have a good chance of passing the Senate.