During Friday’s House debate on legislation to decriminalize marijuana possession at the federal level, Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan tried to compare marijuana legalization to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s actions against parents protesting at school board meetings.
The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement Act passed the House on Friday by a vote of 220 to 204. Three Republicans voted in favor of the bill and two Democrats opposed it. The bill would expunge marijuana-related convictions from criminal records, formally remove the substance from the federal list of controlled substances, and impose a federal tax on marijuana sales.
Jordan, who voted against the bill, argued that Congress should not pass the bill because “we have a Justice Department that treats parents like domestic terrorists.” He appeared to be putting forth an agenda that he believed should take precedence over passing marijuana laws.
“We have a Department of Justice that treats parents like domestic terrorists spying on mothers and fathers who just show up at school board meetings,” Jordan said. “We know this is happening, threatening labels being placed on parents. This designation, this label stands for mothers and fathers who simply stand up for their children. And Democrats are focused on legalizing drugs and helping the cannabis industry.”
Jim Jordan Opposes Marijuana Legalization Because ‘We Have a Justice Department that Treats Parents Like Domestic Terrorists’ pic.twitter.com/UOW67rSnlu
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 1, 2022
The Congressman’s comment about the Justice Department treating parents as domestic terrorists was a reference to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s Oct. 4 memo issued in response to a Sept. 29 letter from the National Association of School Boards asking for federal assistance in dealing with violence and threats from parents on school board meetings, which the NSBA likened to “a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes.”
Parents across the United States attended school board meetings to express their frustration with mask mandates, critical race theory teaching and transgender bathroom policies in their children’s schools.
The NSBA apologized for the language used in its letter. However, Garland has not yet withdrawn his memo ordering the FBI to “follow up on threats against school administrators, board members, teachers and staff” because he did not adopt the same language as the NSBA. However, he testified before Congress last year that his memo was written in response to the NSBA letter.
There is no acknowledgment in Jordan’s comment that Americans have also been targeted by law enforcement for marijuana-related crimes.
According to data, in 2019, over 500,000 people were arrested for marijuana possession and 45,000 for selling or producing the substance. FBI data.
Over the past decade, states across the country have worked to decriminalize marijuana at the state level, with 18 states and Washington, D.C., passing legislation aimed at decriminalize substance. Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level, and the MORE Act is not expected to pass the 60-vote threshold needed for passage in the Senate.
Other priorities that Jordan cited as items Congress should focus on instead of marijuana legislation include record high crime rates in urban areas, record high inflation rates across the country and a surge in migrants entering the U.S. through the southern border.
