National Democrats Urge Feds to Remove Cannabis as Schedule 1 Drug

National Democrats Urge Feds to Remove Cannabis as Schedule 1 Drug

The Platform Committee of the National Democratic Committee has officially given approval to a party platform calling on the federal government to remove cannabis as a schedule 1 drug, “providing a reasoned pathway for future legalization”.

The committee voted 81 to 80 to approve the following platform:

Because of conflicting laws concerning marijuana, both on the federal and state levels, we encourage the federal government to remove marijuana from its list as a Class 1 Federal Controlled Substance, providing a reasoned pathway for future legalization.

The committee also approved a criminal justice reform platform, stating that:

We will work with police chiefs to invest in training for officers on issues such as de-escalation and the creation of national guidelines for the appropriate use of force, including how to de-escalate situations. We will encourage better police-community relations, require the use of body cameras, and stop the use of weapons of war that have no place in our communities. We will end racial profiling that targets individuals solely on race, religion, ethnicity, and national origin, which is un-American and counterproductive. We should report national data on policing strategies and provide greater transparency and accountability. We will require the Department of Justice to investigate all questionable or suspicious police-involved shootings, and we will support states and localities who help make those investigations and prosecutions more transparent, including through reforming the grand jury process.

The cannabis platform is a significant expansion of the platform given approval by a portion of the Platform Committee last month, which simply called for states’ rights and more cannabis research.