On Friday afternoon the U.S. House of Representatives, under the control of democrats, voted 228-164 to decriminalize marijuana and expunge criminal records related to marijuana offenses.
It was technically a bipartisan vote, with a humongous FIVE Republicans voting with the dems.
BUT pot dreams may be up in smoke: it’s very unlikely it will pass the Republican-controlled Senate.
It’s a pretty gimmicky ploy, voting on this now to basically distract people and gum up the works when the Covid stimulus that Republicans and Democrats have been fighting over is an ongoing drama.
Still I guess we have to mention the fact that this is historically significant, as the first time that either branch of congress has voted toward legalization in this country.
Here’s more from the AP:
Opponents, mostly Republicans, called the bill a hollow political gesture and mocked Democrats for bringing it up at a time when thousands of Americans are dying from the coronavirus pandemic.
“With all the challenges America has right now, (Republicans) think COVID relief should be on the floor, but instead, the Democrats put cats and cannabis” on the House floor, said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “They’re picking weed over the workers. They’re picking marijuana over (providing) the much-needed money we need to go forward″ to address the pandemic.
That “cats and cannabis” line is about both this bill and the one to criminalize owning big cats, because Democrats watched Tiger King or something.
Congress. You just cannot take them seriously.