Barbara Lee: No need to pressure Biden admin. on expungements b/c "that's a given"
Who?
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) — Co-chair, Congressional Cannabis Caucus
LISTEN: Laslo & Lee
Ask a Pol asks:
Some Senate Republicans who support marijuana banking legislation say the conversation about expungements of records should be totally, 100% left up to the states — even after 50 years of war on drugs at the federal level — what do you make of that?
Key Lee:
“We want a — we need a federal standard. And that’s the point,” Rep. Barbara Lee exclusively tells Ask a Pol. “It's important because we see what's happening with confusion already. The federal government has been raiding dispensaries, and — because at the federal level it's still, de-scheduling has not occurred — so I think that's an example of why we have to have some clear standards.”
ICYMI — Ask a Pol’s exclusive w/ Sen. Steve Daines
Caught our ear:
Any talk in the Congressional Black Caucus of writing a letter to the administration on expungements?
“Well, everyone supports the MORE Act and my marijuana justice bill, so it’s a given, but we haven’t talked about writing,” Lee tells us. “We support expungement. And so that’s part of the MORE Act, it was part of the marijuana justice bill, and that's a given.”
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Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), slightly edited for clarity.
TRANSCRIPT: Rep. Barbara Lee
SCENE: Rep. Barbara Lee’s heading to vote on the House floor when Ask a Pol catches her.
Matt Laslo: “Hey, how are you, ma’am?”
Barbara Lee: “Good.”
ML: “I was curious, some Senate Republicans who support marijuana banking legislation say that the conversation about expungements of records should be totally, 100% left up to the states, even after 50 years of war on drugs at the federal level. What do you make of that?”
BL: “Agree. We want a — we need a federal standard. And that’s the point.”
ML: “Why is that so important? Even though a lot of this is happening at the local level?”
BL: “It's important because we see what's happening with confusion already. The federal government has been raiding dispensaries, and — because at the federal level it's still, de-scheduling has not occurred — so I think that's an example of why we have to have some clear standards.”
ML: “I mean, we have so many people in jail for what I can legally grow in my backyard. Like the hypocrisy, it’s just…”
BL: “That’s wrong. We need to…”
ML: “Yeah?”
BL: “This has got to be — just like civil rights issues, we have to have federal regulations to at least govern the issues that address equity and justice.”
ML: “Has expungements come up in the [Congressional] Black Caucus? You guys — any talk of writing a letter to the administration or not?”
BL: “Well, everyone supports the MORE Act and my marijuana justice bill, so it’s a given, but we haven’t talked about writing. What is — what’s going on? You got tell us.”
ML: “Well, the DEA and Customs and Border [Patrol] went after legal recreational dispensaries and medicinal.”
BL: “Oh, yeah. Yeah-yeah. Yeah, but that’s not — that doesn’t have anything to do with expungement.”
ML: “Yeah.”
BL: “Okay?”
ML: “Well no, but it’s just — they’re still criminalizing what’s locally legal.”
BL: “No-no-no, I know, but we support expungement. And so that’s part of the MORE Act, it was part of the marijuana justice bill, and that's a given.”
ML: “Does that need to be a part of SAFE banking or SAFER banking?”
BL: “Let me talk to you later, because we've been negotiating on SAFE banking for a while.“
ML: “Oh yeah? How’s that looking over here? Different than the Senate version?”
BL: “Well, I've got to look at it now, because it hasn't come up and we've been trying to get it to come up.”
ICYMI — Ask a Pol’s exclusive w/ Rep. Blumenauer
ML: “It never comes up. I know, right?”
BL: “Okay, so let me find out.”
ML: “Who have you been negotiating with? Who are the Republicans?”
BL: “Well, I don’t know that I wanna talk about that right now.”
ML: “You can tell me on background.”
BL: “No-no.”
ML: “Yeah? Preciate you, ma’am.”
Matt Laslo’s a veteran congressional correspondent, new media prof. & founder of Ask a Pol — a new, people-powered press corps.
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