110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5843
To eliminate most Federal penalties for possession of marijuana for personal use, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 17, 2008
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts (for himself and Mr. PAUL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

A BILL
To eliminate most Federal penalties for possession of marijuana for personal use, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Act to Remove Federal Penalties for the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults’.
SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF CERTAIN MARIJUANA-RELATED PENALTIES.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no penalty may be imposed under an Act of Congress for the possession of marijuana for personal use, or for the not-for-profit transfer between adults of marijuana for personal use. For the purposes of this section, possession of 100 grams or less of marijuana shall be presumed to be for personal use, as shall the not-for-profit transfer of one ounce or less of marijuana, except that the civil penalty provided in section 405 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 844a) may be imposed for the public use of marijuana if the amount of the penalty does not exceed $100.

Co sponsors:

Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2] - 5/20/2008
Rep Blumenauer, Earl [OR-3] - 6/24/2008
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy [MO-1] - 4/24/2008
Rep Lee, Barbara [CA-9] - 6/25/2008
Rep McDermott, Jim [WA-7] - 6/5/2008
Rep Paul, Ron [TX-14] - 4/17/2008

The above text describes Rep. Barney Frank’s (D. Mass) Bill to eliminate most, not all criminal penalties on the federal level. In other words, it will not legalize possession and use of marijuana, it merely eliminates the federal government from the equation and leaves it up to the states to decide on what to do. On its own this bill won’t fly, as too many legislators will continue to pander to what ever special interests they are attached.
What is needed are well crafted amendments to HR 5843 to bring those reluctant to support this bill on board. One such example is Industrial Hemp, the non-stoney kind. Industrial hemp has many uses, from rope to bio fuel, from cosmetics to fabrics and more. Living in North Carolina I have seen many textile mills shut down and hemp could easily re-employ many of the workers who lost their jobs in the textile industry, just to mention one example.
Another is bio fuel. Hemp produces slightly over twice the oil as corn (280 lbs of oil @ acre from hemp, 135 lbs of oil @ acre from corn) and can be used to make bio diesel, which will run any diesel engine without modification. Bio diesel runs much cleaner than petro diesel, has better lubricity than petroleum based diesel and can be produced locally. This will accomplish a number of benefits. Besides reducing carbon emissions, bio diesel feedstock production will be a boost to agriculture as Rudolph Diesel said in 1911, “ The Diesel engine can be fed with vegetable oils and would help considerably in the development of agriculture of the countries which use it.” In 1912 Dr. Diesel said, “The use of plant oil may seem insignificant today. But such products can in time become just as important as kerosene and these coal-tar-products of today.” His foresight is inspiring, but after his untimely passing in 1913 his engine was developed to run on petroleum based diesel, which at the time was cheaper. Today, non food crops, such as hemp and others, should be used and converted into bio diesel, a carbon neutral fuel. By planting these crops and producing the fuel locally would not only improve local or regional economies, it would also save huge amounts of fuel as transportation distances would be cut by thousands of miles, compared to crude oil from Saudi Arabia, for example. Of course, National Security would be enhanced, as well as eliminating disruptions from hurricanes as during storms like Katrina in 2005. Cellulosic ethanol is another fuel that can be made from hemp and help us in reducing our dependence on foreign fuel sources.
Of course the ‘drug warriors’ will be quick to argue that Industrial Hemp fields would be used to camouflage pot for smoking, which is absolute nonsense, as Industrial Hemp is grown quite differently from marijuana. Industrial Hemp is harvested at a different time than pot and lastly cross-pollination between hemp and pot plants will almost completely reduce the THC content of the pot plant making it useless for smoking.
These are but a couple of suggestions for possible amendments to Rep. Frank’s courageous and long overdue bill. For more on Industrial Hemp check this link:
http://www.naihc.org/hemp_information/content/hemp.mj.html

Interesting.  I have been pushing this stuff for awhile..  Only just today posted a link to Ford’s hemp car.  I fully endorse your comments on bio fuels as well.  Brazil, you may know, is moving big into sugar cane which was echoed in the short lived TV drama Cane.  Obviously, in spite of the critics, too much has been invested in ethanol to just drop it.  Progress is being made.  It’s going to be a help.

Ultimately we will move away from the internal combustion engine big time.  I see electric being the tide of the near future.  It’s the battery that is holding this back.  somewhere down the line, a century or so, we will propel vehicles by magnetic fields or something of that nature ala the Jetsons.  Don’t laugh, science fiction writers are possessed with insights into what is possible.  These things are being looked into already.  The most obvious, of course, is Jules Verne and his Nautilus.

Tom, can you be specific about this ‘progress’ you mention?  The sugar cane fields you mention are actually an environmental nightmare, and virgin bio-fuels merely replace one problem with another. There is no sustainable alternative to the automobile other than walking or riding a bike. 

There is no magic fuel that will allow Americans to continue to live the same lifestyle we have become accustomed to via Petroleum. There are only small, microcosms of alternatives that can merely peck at the Big Problem of an outdated infrastructure. I drove a grease car for years, before ditching my car entirely. I got tired of folks like yourself trying to talk to me about how this would make cars “War Free” and other inanities. I just liked not having to buy gas at a gas station. I hate those “Bio-Deisel; No War Required” bumper stickers. So pompous. Reminds me of the Southpark episode about “Smug”.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/24197905

You are only partially correct. Brazil is using the entire sugar cane plant, and that includes generating the energy required to distill the ethanol. The same can be done with hemp. As both are plants which absorb carbondioxide in photosynthesis as they grow, they are in fact carbon neutral fuels. If however we make ethanol from corn and use the heavily polluting carbon based energy sources, than it is creating headaches. Brazil took the initiative 30 years ago, when we were asleep at the switch. LINK TV did a report about Brazil’s journey towards energy independence and documented that there was no petroleum or coal based energy used in producing ethanol from sugar cane as the whole plant is used!
The constant pandering to big oil by our “government” is not helping either. President Carter, who had the foresight to warn us during the oil crunch in the 70’s, had installed a solar water heating system on the White House during his turn as President, which was immediately dismanteled by the republican who followed him in 1981. The same republican also de-regulated the big oil companies barely a month into his first term and put George H W Bush, a former oil man, in charge of formulating energy policy. Talk about letting the fox guard the henhouse! Not only that, Ronnie Ray-gun handed the older Bush the key to it. No wonder we have an energy policy that at best sucks.

BusGreg, what do you think of the T Boone Pickens plan?  Does conversion to natural gas really answer all the critics?  Whatever the case may be, I like what he is saying because it represent a far greater hope that we can find answers than the nay sayers who remain convinced we are stuck forever in an oil economy.  It’s his can do attitude that reminds me of the America that responded to Sputnik buy going to the moon.

But he’s also wanting to privatize something that shouldn’t be a private industry. One only need look at the Energy Crisis in California to see what happens when you privatize energy.

Anything is better than what “shrub” and company including McCan’t are proposing. I am a bit concerned with Picken’s plan as far as natural gas is concerned. Using natural gas will release carbon into the atmosphere that is safely under ground, compared to hemp and other biofuel feedstocks which are carbon neutral. It will take a multi pronged approach to solving America’s energy needs and all options need to be explored and employed.
The reason why I am urging lawmakers to add industrial hemp to Barney Frank’s bill is to help get it passed. We currently waste billions of dollars annually on incarcerating people who enjoy marijuana and this unwinnable war on drugs, and that money could be spent on better things, such as health-care, for one. The war on marijuana has been waged for nearly a century (started in 1914 to persecute migrant workers) and has been a failure ever since. Legalizing cannabis lets the states regulate, tax and control it, rather than driving its sale underground, where it easier to get than alcohol or cigarettes! Legalizing marijuana will also eliminated the cross border smuggling once we can grow it here in the US. That alone will curb a lot of the violence associated with the smuggling.
The war on drugs has been a failure since it was started nearly a century ago and will continue to be a failure as long as it is waged. Look at Holland. They have effectively made pot boring by decriminalizing and have about 60% of the use rate than we do. Also there is much less of a problem with “hard” drugs. To find out more about why prohibition will not work check the below link.

http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php

I agree with you the war on drugs has been worse than a failure.  I do not agree with legalization.  I propose a hands off policy.  Just remove it from the list.  Anybody with a modicum of a green thumb can grow the stuff in pots or in a small garden plot.  Why in hell would we want to pay a tax? Taxing pot will do what taxing whiskey and tobacco has done, continue to fuel illegal production and/or distribution to avoid taxes.  In fact I’m for repeal of all so called sin taxes.  Remember, when the revenuers came to the Appalachians to collect tax on all that moonshine they met with great hostility, even death at the hands of some pretty independently minded hill people who were making a nice living till Uncle Sam stuck his hand out.  Taxation will continue to encourage cheating.

When prohibition of alcohol was repealed with the 21st amendment, Liquor was taxed and regulated. Here in NC you have to go to Aunt Bertha’s Cafe (ABC store) where you buy your booze, pay the tax and the clerk checks your ID to assure that no liquor is sold to minors. That has made control possible and creates revenue. Current NC law has “decriminalized” posession of small amounts, less than 1/2 oz - no jail, fine only, and we even have a marijuana tax stamp available. Current NC law stipulates that cannabis is taxed at the following rate: $ 3.50 if the owner possesses over 42.5 grams (more than the 1/2 oz under decriminalization)
Any fair tax, such as $ 5.00 per 1/4 oz for example would increase the general fund considerably and should be used for treatment of addicts to hard drugs (since you can not get addicted to marijuana in the first place). Any excessive tax, and realistically $ 3.50 per gram is way excessive will continue the black market and effective control to keep minors from obtaining drugs will be lost. With alcohol and tobacco the system is working and the same can be done with cannabis.
The whole marijuana legislation needs to be written in a fair and equitable way, where the distribution as well as personal cultivation can be controlled as cigarettes and booze are now. Both of those are highly addictive and damage health, contrary to cannabis. Without stipulations as a
to taxation and control of some sort none of the legislators will ever sign on and considering the sorry state of affairs our treasuries both federal and state are in, a fair tax is not unreasonable. Our approach to healthcare is such a sad example of misplaced priorities as is the current state of the social security trust fund. That by the way is another governmental oxymoron, as social security is neither funded nor can the system be trusted! Both of those areas could benefit from a reasonable tax on cannabis.
As a proud and long time supporter of NORML I won’t dismiss the idea of a tax on pot for the reasons stated above, but I fully respect your views.

Relevant or not, it’s an interesting juxtaposition.  Hillbillies and hippies have a symbiotic relationship.  Hillbillies grow some of the best weed to be found anywhere and hippies happily smoke it, oblivious to it’s source.  How do I know this?  The History Channel told me.  They said Cherokee National Forest just north of here in TN was the largest source.  Also heard, some time back, that Madison County grows a handsome share.

http://appalachianhistory.blogspot.com/2007/09/history-channel-to-air-appalachia.html

Yet the government and the right wing morals police keep insisting that a prohibition works,NOT! If the idiotic prohibition on cannabis were lifted its distribution could be controlled, access for minors severely restricted and taxed. It works for both alcohol and tobacco, yet after 94 years of outlawing it is easier for kids to get a hold of than booze or tobacco!

You need to get high and relax. Seriously.

Seriously, I agree, and I do take it seriously!