Three top US Democratic senators including New York’s Chuck Schumer on Wednesday proposed draft legislation that calls for decriminalisation of marijuana. The bill aims to remove cannabis from the list of controlled substances and allow stronger regulation and taxation of the drug, reported AFP.

According to the draft, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act “aims to end the decades of harm inflicted on communities of color by removing cannabis from the federal list of controlled substances and empowering states to implement their own cannabis laws.” The bill is said to be an effort to curb America’s war against drugs.

“This is monumental, because at long last we are taking steps in the Senate to right the wrongs of the failed war on drugs,” Schumer said at a press conference with the bill’s other two sponsors, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey and Oregon’s Senator Ron Wyden.

The three lawmakers framed anti-marijuana laws as predominantly impacting people of color.

This piece of law would aim to create a trust that will be funded by the tax collected on Marijuana and this revenue will later be reinvested in communities that are largely impacted by the war on drugs. The bill is said to be tremendously helpful in the upliftment of the Black community other minority entrepreneurs.

Senator Booker, who is also a Black, called it hypocrisy against people of colour. He said that thousands of young people of color have been arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana and dented their lives with crippling criminal records for something that even presidents and congress people would have done.  

“This is a grievous reality,” Booker added. “Lives are being destroyed every single day.”

For the unversed usage of marijuana for adult recreational purposes is legal in 18 out of 50 US states including the capital city of Washington. Apart from that medical use is now legal in 37 states.

70% of Americans fully support marijuana legalisation, Schumer said.

But he acknowledged the bill could go up in smoke, especially with Republicans likely to use the filibuster tactic to block the legislation unless it has support from 60 senators.

Democrats currently control the 50-50 Senate, and getting 10 Republicans on board would be a heavy lift.

“We don’t have the votes necessary at this point,” Schumer said.

“We’re going to show it to the others… and we’ll see if we can get the support.”

Steven Hawkins, executive director at the Marijuana Policy Project, called the draft a “promising first step” and said he was “hopeful that it will lead to negotiations and bipartisan support for an inclusive and equitable legal cannabis industry.”