Marijuana Data Collection

Floor Speech

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Ms. GABBARD. Mr. Speaker, for decades, bad data and misinformation have fueled the failed war on drugs that has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars, incarcerating Americans for nonviolent marijuana charges.

Our outdated marijuana policies have turned everyday Americans into criminals, strained our criminal justice system, cost taxpayers tremendously, and torn families apart, all for a substance that is proven to be far less harmful and dangerous than alcohol.

Our Federal policy should be based on actual science and fact, not misplaced stigma and outdated myths. However, the fact that marijuana is currently classified as a schedule I drug, the same category as heroin and cocaine, restricts and even discourages scientific research on marijuana, limiting our ability to create science-based policies.

I will be introducing the bipartisan Marijuana Data Collection Act with my colleague Congressman Carlos Curbelo so that we can get studies to set the record straight. Our bill would authorize a nonpartisan evidence-based report that analyzes current marijuana policies across the country and their effects on our communities.

I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation.

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