Marijuana Law: Barney Frank to author federal decriminalization bill
It didn't come as a huge shock to Bill Maher when Rep. Barney Frank announced on Real Time (Mar. 21) he plans to "file a bill as soon as we go back to remove all penalties for small amounts of marijuana."
The two clearly had talked about this before the show.
For the last segment before "New Rules," Maher offerd Frank the floor.
The gay Massachusetts Congressman is known for his liberal views. In fact, he gave the keynote address at the 2001 NORML Conference.
"Why are you doing this in this late stage in the history of marijuana?" Maher probed.
"Because I finally got to the point where I think I can get away with it," explained Frank,
Republican Barney Frank
who has been in the House since 1981. "I wanted to do it for a long time. I filed it in the state legislature in the '70s. When I got to Congress, frankly, I was feeling more cautious.
"I now think it's time for the politicians to catch up to the public. The notion that you lock people up for smoking marijuana is pretty silly. I'm going to call it the Make Room for Serious Criminals bill."
