Ted Lieu on Drugs

Reduce drug possession from felony to misdemeanor

• Existing law provides that the unlawful possession of opiates, opium, opium derivatives, mescaline, peyote, tetrahydrocannabinols, and cocaine base, is a felony punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for 16 months, or 2 or 3 years.

  This bill would make the unlawful possession of any of those substances punishable as either a felony punishable in county jail or as a misdemeanor punishable in a county jail for not more than one year.

OnTheIssues Explanation: "Tetrahydrocannabinols" means marijuana and its derivatives. The failure of this bill joined a series of similar bills to reduce penalties for marijuana usage. Only medical marijuana usage is currently legal in California. (Ted Lieu voted YEA).

Rated A+ by NORML, indicating a pro-drug-reform stance.

OnTheIssues.org interprets the 2016 NORML scores as follows:

• C-/D/F: "hard-on-drugs" stance (approx. 243 members)
• C: mixed record on drug reform (approx. 45 members)
• A/B: pro-drug-reform stance (approx. 293 members)

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law's mission is to move public opinion sufficiently to achieve the repeal of marijuana prohibition so that the responsible use of cannabis by adults is no longer subject to penalty.

NORML is a nonprofit, public-interest lobby that for more than 30 years has provided a voice for those Americans who oppose marijuana prohibition. We represent the interests of the tens of millions of Americans who smoke marijuana responsibly and believe the recreational and medicinal use of marijuana should no longer be a crime.

NORML supports the removal of all criminal penalties for the private possession & responsible use of marijuana by adults, including the cultivation for personal use, and the casual nonprofit transfers of small amounts. This model is called "decriminalization."

NORML additionally supports the development of a legally controlled market for marijuana, where consumers could purchase it from a safe, legal and regulated source. This model is referred to as "legalization."

NORML believes that marijuana smoking is not for kids and should only be used responsibly by adults. As with alcohol consumption, it must never be an excuse for misconduct or other bad behavior. Driving or operating heavy equipment while impaired from marijuana should be prohibited.

NORML strongly supports the right of patients to use marijuana as a medicine when their physician recommends it to relieve pain and suffering.

Lastly, NORML supports the right of farmers to commercially cultivate hemp for industrial purposes, such as food and fiber production.

Immunity for banks offering services to marijuana businesses.

Congressional Summary:This bill provides a safe harbor for depository institutions providing financial services to a marijuana-related legitimate business insofar as it prohibits a federal banking regulator from:

1. terminating or limiting the deposit or share insurance of a depository institution solely because it provides financial services to a marijuana-related legitimate business; or
2. prohibiting, penalizing, or otherwise discouraging a depository institution from offering such services.

Argument in Favor: [Cato Institute, March 31, 2016]: Marijuana is now legal under the laws of [several] states, but not under federal law. And this creates huge headaches for marijuana businesses:

• Two years after Colorado fully legalized the sale of marijuana, most banks here still don't offer services to the businesses involved.
• Financial institutions are caught between state law that has legalized marijuana and federal law that bans it. Banks' federal regulators don't fully recognize such businesses and impose onerous reporting requirements on banks that deal with them.
• Without bank accounts, the burgeoning pot sector can't accept credit or debit cards from customers.