Filed in September, the Stop Pot Act now has five sponsors in the US House of Representatives.
Filed by North Carolina Congressmember Chuck Edwards, the Stop Pot Act would withhold federal funding from states and tribes that have legalized recreational marijuana. The measure was filed with just one cosponsor. Since being filed, the measure has garnered three additional sponsors, bringing the total to five.
By comparison, a measure to fully decriminalize marijuana and remove it as a controlled substance has 69 sponsors. In the US Senate, a federal marijuana banking bill is sponsored by 34% of the entire Senate.
“The laws of any government should not infringe on the overall laws of our nation, and federal funds should not be awarded to jurisdictions that willfully ignore federal law”, Representative Edwards said in a press statement following the bill’s introduction in September. “During a time when our communities are seeing unprecedented crime, drug addiction, and mental illness, the Stop Pot Act will help prevent even greater access to drugs and ease the strain placed on our local law enforcement and mental health professionals who are already stretched thin.”
Specifically the proposal would withhold 10% of federal highway funds from states and tribes that violate the federal Controlled Substances Act, which currently considers marijuana a schedule 1 drug, putting it in the same category as heroin and making it illegal for all purposes.
According to two separate polls released earlier this year, 64% of adults in the United States support marijuana being legalized for recreational use, indicating that those behind the Stop the Pot Act are far out of touch with public opinion.
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