Pot legalization bills introduced in both houses of Congress.

Legal pot in California. AP.

Two bills were introduced in Congress that would legalize and tax pot as well as allowing people convicted under federal marijuana laws to clear their convictions. AP. The legislation was introduced by Kamala Harris in the Senate and Jarrold Nadler in the house. The bills are unlikely to pass but have a better chance of doing so due to Nadler's involvement. 11 states have legalized recreational use of marijuana while two thirds of states have some kind of medical marijuana exception. 

My Comment:

Politically, this is a fairly cynical move by Kamala Harris to try and get the weed legalization people on her side. They have never been a fan of her as she was a long time prosecutor who threw a lot of people in jail and prison for drug crimes. It's very obviously a play for the primaries and I bet most people will see through it. She's a huge hypocrite on this issue and is the last person that should be introducing this legislation.

That being said, I do think that one of the bills is a good idea while the other is a slap in the face to the idea of justice. I have thought for a while that pot should probably legalized, even if I have no desire to use the drug. I do think that marijuana has more negative effects than pot advocates would ever admit but I don't think they are worth banning the drug over. I also think that pot is safer than alcohol and tobacco which are in no danger of being ban. 

What rubs me the wrong way is the 2nd bill which would expunge pot convictions. Very few people that have been convicted of marijuana crimes are minor criminals, outside of Washington DC. DC people tend to be drug users and not dealers who are the vast majority of people convicted under federal laws. These are organized criminals and should not be allowed to have their records expunged or be allowed out of prison. It has nothing to do with whether or not pot should be illegal as what they were doing would have been illegal even if it does get legalized. 

Does the bill have a chance at passing? Possibly. The Republicans do control the Senate but if every Democrat votes in favor of legalization it wouldn't take that many Republicans to vote for it in order for it to pass. I think a surprising number of Republicans would support the legalization bill, but probably not the expunging of criminal records. 

It would then be up to President Trump to sign it. Will he? I think there is a decent chance. Trump's fairly open to pot legalization compared to many GOP politicians and supports medical marijuana. It would also be a huge political coup for him if he did so as he would get a lot of the credit. If it gets to that point I do think he signs it, which will shock many people who haven't been paying attention. Trump has supported making it up to the states to decide if they want legalized marijuana so I wouldn't be surprised if he goes even further. 

All that being said, even if this particular effort fails, I do think that illegal marijuana is on the way out. There will always be drug smuggling but pot usage has been normalized to a major degree and many states and countries have legalized it. That's the kind of trend that can't be ignored and will likely eventually lead to legal pot in the United States.