[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1790 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







104th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 1790

 To amend the Controlled Substances Act to increase the penalties for 
  the manufacture, distribution, and possession of marihuana, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 22, 1996

 Mr. McConnell introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Controlled Substances Act to increase the penalties for 
  the manufacture, distribution, and possession of marihuana, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Enhanced Marihuana Penalty Act of 
1996''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the number of children in the United States between 12 
        and 17 years of age using marihuana increased from 1,600,000 in 
        1992 to 2,900,000 in 1994, which constitutes an 80 percent 
        increase;
            (2) currently, one-third of all high school seniors smoke 
        marihuana;
            (3) the perception of the dangers of using marihuana is 
        declining among youthful marihuana smokers;
            (4) scientific research has demonstrated that--
                    (A) marihuana impairs short-term memory, core motor 
                functions, and the ability to concentrate;
                    (B) THC, the principal psychoactive ingredient of 
                marihuana, may cause drug dependency;
                    (C) regular marihuana use may cause chronic 
                bronchitis, increased frequency of acute chest illness, 
                heightened risk of pulmonary infection, and lung 
                disease; and
                    (D) prenatal exposure to marihuana may cause 
                impaired intellectual ability in young children;
            (5) children between the ages of 12 and 17 who use 
        marihuana are 85 times more likely to use cocaine than children 
        who do not use marihuana;
            (6) there are 39,000,000 children in the United States who 
        are younger than 10 years old, and neglect of our Nation's 
        marihuana problem will lead to the creation of a new generation 
        of drug abusers, prone to criminal and other socially deviant 
        behavior; and
            (7) existing penalties for trafficking in marihuana are 
        inadequate to deter those who sell marihuana to our Nation's 
        most vulnerable citizens.

SEC. 3. PENALTIES.

    (a) Controlled Substances Act.--Section 401(b)(1) of the Controlled 
Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A)(vii), by striking ``1000 
        kilograms'' and inserting ``100 kilograms'';
            (2) in subparagraph (B)(vii), by striking ``100 kilograms'' 
        and inserting ``10 kilograms''; and
            (3) in subparagraph (D), by striking ``50 kilograms'' and 
        inserting ``10 kilograms''.
    (b) Controlled Substances Import and Export Act.--Section 1010(b) 
of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960(b)) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)(G), by striking ``1000 kilograms'' and 
        inserting ``100 kilograms'';
            (2) in paragraph (2)(G), by striking ``100 kilograms'' and 
        inserting ``10 kilograms''; and
            (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ``50 kilograms'' and 
        inserting ``10 kilograms''.

SEC. 4. AMENDMENT OF SENTENCING GUIDELINES.

    The United States Sentencing Commission shall amend the Federal 
Sentencing Guidelines to reflect the amendments made by this Act.
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