A Just and Equitable Cannabis Industry

Since 2012, when Colorado and Washington led the way in legalizing marijuana for recreational
use, nine states and the District of Columbia have followed suit. Just last year, Illinois became
the first state to legalize marijuana sales through legislation rather than a ballot initiative. An
additional fifteen states have decriminalized marijuana, meaning that a person can’t be arrested
and sent to jail simply for possessing small amounts. Thirty-three states, the District of
Columbia, and Puerto Rico have legalized marijuana for medical use. And two-thirds of
Americans believe that marijuana use should be legal.

This recent shift in government policy and public perception has been a long time coming. Anti-
marijuana laws were first adopted over a hundred years ago to target primarily Mexican
migrants and Mexican Americans. The term “marijuana” itself was racialized, meant to associate
the plant with Mexican-origin people, stigmatizing both. And ever since, Black and Brown
communities have suffered disproportionately from draconian enforcement of anti-marijuana
laws.

We’ve known at least since the publication of the Shafer Report almost fifty years ago that the
criminalization of marijuana wasn’t necessary or effective. But instead of listening to his own
advisors, President Nixon continued on with the racist “War on Drugs” policy -- contributing to
the mass incarceration crisis that has cost us $1 trillion and disrupted countless lives.

But even as the federal government has held fast to its outdated marijuana policy, states have
led the charge in adopting thoughtful, evidenced-based marijuana policy. And what have we
learned in the eight years since the first states legalized marijuana? Legalization works. The
number of marijuana arrests in states that legalized have plummeted. States have saved
hundreds of millions of dollars by decreasing their rates of marijuana arrests and incarceration,
and collected billions of dollars in tax, licensing, and fee revenue from the marijuana industry.
And despite the “gateway drug” myth, the overwhelming majority of people who use marijuana
do not go on to use other illicit drugs, nor has legalization of marijuana led to an increase in
violent crime.

Across the country, medical marijuana patients rely on marijuana for conditions like chronic
pain, PTSD, and cancer. Some evidence suggests that medical marijuana can serve as a less-
deadly alternative to opioids. Overdose death rates in states where marijuana is legal for
medical use were nearly 25% lower than in states that had not legalized marijuana. Those
states also saw a 23% reduction in substance abuse related hospitalizations and 15% fewer
opioid treatment admissions when compared to states that have not legalized marijuana for
medical use.

To see the benefits of legalization, look no further than Colorado. As of last summer, Colorado
had raised over $1 billion in tax, fee, and licensing revenue related to marijuana sales, and has
used that money to fund school construction projects, improve youth literacy, expand full day
kindergarten, and invest in mental health initiatives and homelessness prevention. In one
county, tax revenue from marijuana sales has funded college scholarships for hundreds of
students. The state has also seen a reduction in opioid related deaths.

However, even as the marijuana industry and some state governments are making money hand
over fist from the legal sale of marijuana, the number of marijuana-related arrests nationwide
continues to increase every year, with over 660,000 arrests in 2018 alone, over 90% of which
were for possession alone. What’s worse, these arrests continue to disproportionately impact
black and brown communities, though Black and Latinx people are no more likely to use or sell
marijuana than whites. This disparity persists even in states like Colorado that have legalized
marijuana for recreational use.

Legalizing marijuana is about more than just allowing recreational use, or the potential medicinal
benefit, or the money that can be made from this new market. It’s about undoing a century of
racist policy that disproportionately targeted Black and Latinx communities. It’s about rebuilding
the communities that have suffered the most harm. And it’s about ensuring that everyone has
access to the opportunities that the new cannabis market provides.

It’s not justice when we lock up kids caught with an ounce of pot, while hedge fund managers
make millions off of the legal sale of marijuana. My administration will put an end to that broken
system. We’ll regulate the industry so it’s safe and legal. And by reinvesting the tax revenue
earned from marijuana sales, we’ll begin to rebuild communities devastated by the policies of
the failed War on Drugs, and ensure that those communities are equally able to participate in
the budding cannabis industry. Here’s how we’ll do it.

Addressing the Legacy of Unjust Marijuana Policy

For four decades, we’ve subscribed to a “War on Drugs” theory of crime, which has criminalized
addiction, ripped apart families — and failed to curb drug use. Legalizing marijuana and erasing
past convictions won’t fully end the War on Drugs or address its painful legacy, but it’s a needed
step in the right direction.

In spite of what we now know about the misconceptions surrounding marijuana use, hundreds
of thousands of people are still arrested every year for marijuana offenses. The vast majority of
those arrests are for simple possession -- not selling, not manufacturing. They make it harder
for people to find housing, get access to credit, obtain critical disability benefits and services,
and enroll in school. They can cost people their jobs, custody of their children, and, increasingly
under the Trump administration, result in deportation. And since their very inception, anti-
marijuana laws have been used to target black and brown communities. We need a new
approach.

Here’s how a Warren administration will address the disproportionate enforcement of our drug
laws:
● Work with Congress to legalize marijuana. Bill after bill after bill has been introduced in
Congress to legalize marijuana and begin to address the harmful impacts our marijuana
laws have had on black and brown communities. As president, I will work with Congress to
pass comprehensive legislation like the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and
Expungement (MORE) Act, introduced by my friend and colleague Senator Kamala Harris,
which would delist marijuana as a scheduled drug and enable states to set their own
marijuana policy. We need full legalization, as quickly as possible.
● Use the president’s executive authority. If Congress refuses to take action supported by the
majority of the American people, there’s still a lot a president can do all on her own. I will act
decisively on legalization starting on day one. I’ll appoint agency heads, including at the
Department of Justice, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Food and Drug
Administration, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, who support legalization. In
my first 100 days, I’ll direct those agencies to begin the process of delisting marijuana via
the federal rule-making process. And I’ll reinstate the Obama administration’s guidance on
deferring to state policy on marijuana enforcement to prevent uncertainty in the states while
legalization is pending at the federal level. I will also encourage these agency heads to
develop grant programs and draft rules to support a racial justice approach to marijuana
legalization.
● Expunge past marijuana convictions. It is not enough to legalize marijuana for future use.
We must also consider the countless individuals who have been arrested or incarcerated for
behavior that we now recognize should never have been criminalized in the first place --
many of whom are living with collateral sanctions that trap people in a paper prison long
after their arrest. I support the MORE Act’s expungement provisions, and I will prioritize an
accessible expungement process for federal convictions for marijuana use and possession
and incentivize states to do the same. By passing the MORE Act, we’ll also prohibit the
denial of federal benefits, such as housing, because of the use or possession of, or even a
past conviction for, marijuana.
● Protect immigrants. Under the Trump administration’s guidance, anyone employed by the
legal cannabis industry could be barred from becoming a U.S. citizen, even if the applicant
has not been convicted of any offense and has always acted in compliance with state law.
I’ve fought to amend our immigration laws to ensure that participating in the cannabis
industry in a state like California or Colorado won’t bar an immigrant from becoming a U.S.
citizen -- because any equitable and just cannabis economy must also include immigrant
communities. And as part of my immigration plan, I also made clear that immigrants with
minor, non-violent criminal records should not be excluded from American society. No one
should be deported or barred from citizenship for having used marijuana, but between 2003
and 2018 more than 45,000 people were deported for possession. As president, I will fight to
ensure that immigrants with previous convictions for non-violent drug offenses such as
marijuana possession are protected from deportation and eligible for a pathway to
citizenship as part of a just immigration reform.
● Fight for veterans’ right to access marijuana. Currently, VA doctors and nurses are
prohibited from recommending and prescribing medical marijuana for the veterans they
treat. I believe the VA should proactively engage in researching medical cannabis, including
for veterans who suffer from conditions including chronic pain and post-traumatic stress
 disorder, because we need to pursue all evidence-based opportunities for treatment and
response. I’ve also worked across the aisle to try to protect veterans from being denied VA-
backed home loans for no reason other than being employed in their state’s legal marijuana
industry.
● Fund marijuana research. Because marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I drug,
research institutions that receive federal funding have been limited in their ability to study its
potential medical uses, including as an alternative for opioids -- in effect preventing people
who need it from accessing a potential form of treatment. 33 states,Washington D.C, and
Puerto Rico have enacted laws permitting the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes,
which means it is being prescribed for pain right now, today. But serious research into the
potential benefits and drawbacks of medical marijuana is largely blocked by outdated federal
laws and policies. For years, I’ve called to remove the barriers to the federal research of
marijuana. The Obama administration enabled more universities to grow marijuana for
research purposes, but Trump has blocked any new universities from obtaining approval. As
a senator, I have led efforts to reduce this research barrier. As president, I will eliminate it.
And in addition to delisting marijuana as a scheduled drug, I’ll increase investment in federal
funding for marijuana research so that we can finally begin to study its additional uses and
ensure that marijuana products being sold are safe and effective.
● Respect our nation’s capital. In 2014, nearly 70% of Washington DC voters opted to legalize
marijuana. Since then, Republicans have used a spending bill to block the District from
taxing and regulating marijuana, leading to public safety concerns and a burgeoning
underground market. My administration will fight to lift that ban, and will encourage the
District to develop a legal market that includes impacted communities and fulfills the racial
justice goals of the original referendum.
● Support Tribal sovereignty to make their own drug policies. While not every Tribal Nation is
interested in the economic opportunities associated with changing laws around marijuana, a
number of Tribal Nations view cannabis as an important opportunity for economic
development. I have fought for the right of Tribal Nations to make their own marijuana
policies. As president, I will streamline and remove unnecessary administrative barriers that
impede economic growth on Tribal lands, respect tribal jurisdiction over tribal businesses,
and promote forward-looking efforts to ensure full access to new and emerging economic
opportunities, including in the cannabis industry.
● Support the sovereignty of other nations that wish to legalize. We must also recognize the
role our War on Drugs has had in destabilizing Latin America - a root cause of migration to
the United States. As president, I will end the failed war on marijuana abroad which has
failed to significantly curb violent effects of the drug trade and has not made us safer. I
support the legalization of marijuana in any nation that wishes to do so and fully support our
neighbors exercising their sovereignty when it comes to their internal drug policy.

For decades, marijuana offenses have helped to drive the development of a prison industrial
complex. They have contributed to incarceration rates, particularly of black and brown men, and
increased distrust between targeted communities and law enforcement. Legalizing marijuana
and expunging past convictions is only one step towards addressing the legacy of the War on
Drugs. My criminal justice plan proposes a set of reforms to tackle that legacy head on,
including by eliminating the remaining disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentencing
and providing individuals with substance use disorders with treatment instead of incarceration.

Inclusion in the Industry

In early 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Trump administration made clear
their intention to interfere with states like Colorado that legalized marijuana, pursuing federal
prosecutions for marijuana even where it had been legalized by the states. In response, I
introduced the bipartisan STATES Act to protect states that have determined their own
marijuana laws from the immediate threat of federal interference. This bipartisan statement sent
a clear message to Jeff Sessions -- and if passed would be a significant first step toward
removing the cloud of uncertainty around the cannabis industry.

But bringing cannabis into the legal regulatory system alone is not enough. We also have to act
to ensure real equity in access to this emerging industry. Some research has shown that today,
less than a fifth of the people involved at an ownership or stake-holder level in the cannabis
industry are people of color, while black people made up less than 5 percent. We cannot allow
affluent and predominantly white hedge-funders and capital investors to hoard the profits from
the same behavior that led to the incarceration of generations of Black and Latino youth. Former
Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner, who declared that he was “unalterably
opposed” to legalization while in Congress, now profits handsomely as a lobbyist for legalization
even as others continue to live with the consequences of a prohibition he defended. As with
racist policies such as redlining, government policy has too often created opportunities for white
Americans that excluded Black and Brown Americans, leading to wealth gaps between
communities that compound over generations. As public opinion in the United States shifts
towards favoring legalization of marijuana, we must ensure there is real equity in access to the
emerging cannabis industry.

I will work to prioritize opportunities in the cannabis industry for communities of color and others
who were harmed by the failed policies of the past. We can accomplish this by:

● Strengthening organizing, collective bargaining, and the right to strike. As the cannabis
industry and related businesses have grown, unions like United Food and Commercial
Workers have been crucial to ensure that workers are protected from exploitation. As
president, I will safeguard the organizing rights of working people and make it easier for
unions to secure contracts and assert their rights in the cannabis industry.
● Ensuring access to the banking system. I have fought to protect access to the interstate
banking system for those who wish to start cannabis-related businesses. I’ll also direct my
administration to investigate discrimination in cannabis-related capital lending that prevents
many aspiring entrepreneurs of color from securing needed loans.
● Investing in women- and minority-owned cannabis businesses. I’m a proud supporter of the
Marijuana Freedom and Opportunity Act which, in addition to decriminalizing marijuana at
the federal level, would use revenue collected from regulated marijuana businesses taxed
under existing federal laws to establish a fund specifically to support women and minority
 owned small cannabis businesses. I’ll also work to mitigate the high permitting and licensing
fees that prevent many aspiring entrepreneurs of color from starting a cannabis business.
● Preventing corruption and preserving competition. Like any industry in America, the
cannabis industry must fundamentally rest on fair competition and creating opportunity for
working families. We must prevent the corporate capture of this new, highly profitable
industry with smart regulations that preserve market access and competition. We’ll protect
consumers by closely regulating the safety and marketing of marijuana products. We’ll make
sure Big Tobacco can’t muscle in on the fledgling marijuana industry. And we’ll use anti-trust
laws and federal oversight to prevent consolidation in the cannabis industry that drives up
prices, restricts new businesses from entering the markets, and lowers quality.
● Addressing collateral sanctions. Convictions for behavior that will no longer be criminalized
should not prohibit people from entering the cannabis industry. As part of my plan to support
Black farmers and other farmers of color, I laid out how I would remove collateral sanctions
that prohibit people with drug convictions, disproportionately people of color, from entering
cannabis farming, including farming hemp. I will remove collateral sanctions associated with
federal convictions for activity that is no longer criminalized and encourage states to do the
same.

Investing in Affected Communities

As we move to harness the economic potential of a legalized cannabis industry, we must ensure
that the communities that were harmed by the War on Drugs - disproportionately communities of
color - are fully included in the opportunity and prosperity that legalization will create.

I support investing federal and state revenue from the cannabis industry into communities that
have been disproportionately impacted by enforcement of our existing marijuana laws. In
addition to the MORE Act, I am proud to support Senator Cory Booker’s Marijuana Justice Act.
In addition to expunging the records of those federally convicted of marijuana offenses, Senator
Booker’s bill will create a fund of at least $500 million annually to repair damage done to
communities that have been unjustly targeted by marijuana enforcement. Crucially, it will also
strip federal money from law enforcement agencies in states that continue to prohibit marijuana
at the state level if they do not enforce their laws equitably - cutting off the resources behind the
racial disparities in marijuana arrests, prosecutions, and convictions. As president, I will fight
hard alongside Senator Booker to sign this legislation into law.

* * * *

Legalizing marijuana gives us an opportunity to repair some of the damage caused by our
current criminal justice system, to invest in the communities that have suffered the most harm,
and to ensure that everyone can participate in the growing cannabis industry. We have an
opportunity now to get this right, and I’ll fight to make that happen.