Status of Pending Congressional Legislation

(from September/October 1995 Marijuana Policy Report)

There are currently two bills pending in Congress that are of primary concern to the Marijuana Policy Project:

• H.R. 1916 — the only piece of pending congressional legislation that the MPP supports — would reform civil forfeiture laws on the federal level. The MPP has learned that the House Judiciary Committee is likely to hold hearings on this legislation in the summer of 1996.
• For more information on H.R. 1916, see U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde Introduces Legislation to Reform Civil Forfeiture Laws (from August 1995 Marijuana Policy Report).
• S. 3 — the Senate crime bill, which the MPP strongly opposes — would vastly increase mandatory minimum prison sentences for minor marijuana infractions, destroy the mandatory minimum "safety valve," and cause many other harms. The House passed six smaller crime bills in February. If the Senate passes S. 3, which it could do in early 1996, then a House-Senate conference committee must meet to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate legislation.

We have included a chart showing all marijuana-related legislation pending in Congress, as of September 25, with two notable exceptions:

1. Thirteen annual appropriations bills — when signed by President Clinton — will fund the various federal departments and government programs that will maintain the war on marijuana consumers for another year. This legislation, which will be signed on or soon after October 1, will be reviewed in the next issue of Marijuana Policy Report.
2. The many terrorism bills will have an indirect impact on marijuana policy because of the loss of civil liberties that would result if certain provisions from these bills are passed. This legislation will also be reviewed in the next Marijuana Policy Report.

Though most bills in the chart do not mention marijuana by name, most would have a significant impact on marijuana policy. Fortunately, the vast majority of pending legislation never becomes law. Most bills, in fact, never pass through the early committee stages.

Each session, members of Congress introduce many bills which they expect will never go anywhere. These legislators simply want to uphold a certain reputation, appease constituents, or officially raise a legislative issue that might not be seriously considered until years later, if ever.

Therefore, most of these bills are not worth fighting at this point, though it is important to remain alert: Once a bill is introduced, it could eventually become law.

Free copies of all of these bills can be obtained by calling the office of your U.S. representative or either U.S. senator. (If you don't know their names, call the congressional switchboard operator at 202-224-3121.)