Dear Mr. whatsgrimace:

Thank you for contacting me about H.R. 5843, a bill to remove federal penalties for the personal use of marijuana by adults. It is good to hear from you, and I apologize for the delay in my response.

As you may be aware, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations' Uniform Crimes Report for 2005, there have been over eight million cannabis arrests in the United States since 1993, including 786,545 arrests in 2005. Marijuana users have been arrested at the rate of 1 every 40 seconds, with about 88 percent of all marijuana arrests being for possession - not production or distribution. Additionally, the rate of marijuana use in the United States, where the drug is banned, is far higher than in the Netherlands, where possession has been decriminalized, and the United States imprisons more people for drug offenses than European Union (EU) countries imprison for all offenses, even though EU countries have 100-million more citizens.

Until 1937, consumption and sale of cannabis was legal in most U.S. states, though an increasing number of states had begun to outlaw it. The 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, was one of the cornerstone bills that led to the criminalization of cannabis. While the Act did not criminalize the possession or use of cannabis, it levied a tax equaling roughly one dollar on anyone who dealt commercially in marijuana. Additionally, violations of the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, could result in a fine of up to $2000 and five years imprisonment. The expense and net effect, which was extremely high for the time, led people to stop openly buying and making marijuana. The 1961 international treaty known as the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs was the piece of legislation that eventually prohibited all non-medical, non-scientific cannabis use.

In the 1970s, a movement started in the United States that led states like Oregon, Colorado, Alaska, Ohio, California, Mississippi, North Carolina, New York, and Nebraska to decriminalize marijuana. Decriminalization is a drug supply-side control strategy that discourages users, but largely removes them from the criminal justice system, while imposing stiff penalties on those who traffic and sell the drug on the black market. Since the early 1970s, cannabis reform advocates have sought to have the Drug Enforcement Administration reschedule cannabis and remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the most tightly restricted category of drugs.

H.R. 5843 would not alter the legal status of marijuana as a Schedule I drug. In addition, this bill does not affect state or local laws and regulations or create obstacles that would prevent major drug dealing. Rather, this bill seeks to end the current conflict that exists between state and federal laws in order to allow states to decide on marijuana policy for themselves. H.R. 5843 removes federal penalties for the possession of 100 grams or less of marijuana for personal use, or for the not-for-profit transfer of one ounce or less of marijuana between adults for personal use. The bill allows a civil penalty of up to $100 to be charged for the personal use of marijuana. H.R. 5843 has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce and the House Judiciary Committees, on which I serve. Please know that I will keep your views in mind should H.R. 5843 or similar legislation come before me in the House of Representatives.

Again, thank you for sharing your views. Your opinion matters to me. If I can be of service to you in any other way, please do not hesitate to let me know. As a security precaution, all mail sent to Congress is first irradiated. This process causes significant delays. To ensure the fastest response, I encourage all constituents who have access to the internet to contact me through my website at http://tammybaldwin.house.gov.

Sincerely,

Tammy Baldwin
Member of Congress