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House votes to decriminalize marijuana at federal level
Bill passes 220-204, with three Republicans voting yes and two Democrats
voting no
By Timothy H.J. Nerozzi | Fox News

House voting on bill to decriminalize marijuana
The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to pass legislation to
legalize marijuana nationwide; Fox News congressional correspondent Chad
Pergram reports on the latest.

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The U.S. House of Representatives voted Friday to decriminalize
possession of marijuana on the federal level.

The House heard a slew of proposed amendments for the bill, including
measures to track and prevent impaired driving under the influence of
marijuana, as well as carve-outs for law enforcement to restructure
around the decriminalized substance.

The bill passed with a vote of 220 to 204.

Three Republicans voted yes: Matt Gaetz of Florida, Tom McClintock of
California and Brian Mast of Florida. Two Democrats voted no: Chris
Pappas of New Hampshire and Henry Cuellar of Texas.

FLORIDA WARNS OF NEW DRUG MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN FENTANYL

Oregon Congressman-elect Cliff Bentz, a Republican, told Fox News that
he believes climate change needs to be addressed, just not through "a
top-down autocratic" system like the "Green New Deal" or cap-and-trade.
(Cliff Bentz)
Oregon Congressman-elect Cliff Bentz, a Republican, told Fox News that
he believes climate change needs to be addressed, just not through "a
top-down autocratic" system like the "Green New Deal" or cap-and-trade.
(Cliff Bentz)
Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., spoke against the bill on the basis of
possible spikes in impaired driving without first providing the research
into the possible ramifications of the decriminalization. Bentz stated
that the relevant data should be provided before the bill is passed.

"It's been obvious for years that at some point marijuana was going to
be formally legalized," Bentz said on the floor.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
marijuana is the most commonly used federally illegal drug in the U.S.

The agency said 48.2 million people, or about 18% of Americans, used it
at least once in 2019.

Bentz continued, "What's deeply and truly disturbing, however, about
this bill is its failure to address the clear consequences of
legalization, such as what this drug does to children, to drivers on our
highways, to the mental health of up to 30 percent of those adults who
choose to use marijuana to communities inundated with hundreds, if not
thousands of foreign cartel operated, unlicensed out of control
marijuana grows."

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Rep. Conor Lamb from Pennsylvania.
Rep. Conor Lamb from Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Bentz disagreed with Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., who spoke in favor of the
decriminalization bill. Lamb cited his time as an assistant attorney
general in Pittsburgh.

"Before I came to Congress, I was a federal prosecutor in my hometown of
Pittsburgh. And the biggest law enforcement challenges that we had then
and really still have today are opioids and gun violence," said Lamb.

"Marijuana just didn't register in terms of the risk that it posed to
people on a day to day basis compared to those two things.," Lamb
continued. "Yet because of the way the federal criminal laws are written
in the way that cannabis is placed in schedule one, it is very easy for
a marijuana offense to actually get someone a worse sentence than an
opioid offense like overprescribing OxyContin or selling fentanyl or a
firearms."

Rep. Jim Jordan voiced outrage at the marijuana bill's timing, saying
that issues such as crime, inflation, and illegal immigration should be
taking precedence.

"Record crime, record inflation, record gas prices, record number of
illegal immigrants crossing our southern border. And what are Democrats
doing today?" Jordan asked on the floor. "Legalizing drugs, legalizing
drugs and using American tax dollars to kick-start and prop up the
marijuana industry. Wow. Such a deal for the American people."

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Marijuana legalization has become a popular campaign for political
candidates across the aisles in recent years.

In 2020, the topic found renewed interest after U.S. Olympic champion
Sha’Carri Richardson was told she would not run in the 100-meter race
after she tested positive for THC, a chemical found in marijuana, at the
Olympic trials – voiding her first-place results.

The House of Representatives voted 228-164 to pass the Marijuana
Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act in 2020, the first time
either chamber of Congress has ever voted to decriminalize marijuana.

However, the legislation stalled going to the Senate, and eventually
died without going any farther.

Fox News' Julia Musto and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

Timothy Nerozzi is a writer for Fox News Digital. You can follow him on
Twitter @timothynerozzi and can email him at timothy.nerozzi@fox.com