NORML would like to wish you a Happy 4/20! In honor of the annual holiday we are pleased to release our 2016 Congressional Scorecard.
With 61 percent of American adults now advocating that “the use of marijuana should be made legal,” and 67 percent of voters believing states, not the federal government, ought to be the ultimate arbiters of marijuana regulatory policy, it’s no longer acceptable for the federal government to continue to be an impediment to progress.
Do you know where your federally elected officials stand?
Our Congressional Scorecard is an all-encompassing database that assigns a letter grade ‘A’ through ‘F’ to members of Congress based on their marijuana-related comments and voting records.
Below are some key findings from the Scorecard:
Among the 535 members of the 114th Congress:
- 312 members (58 percent) received a passing grade of ‘C’ or higher (258 Representatives and 54 Senators)
- Nineteen members (3.6 percent) received a grade of ‘A’ (17 Representatives and 2 Senators) and 37 members (6.9 percent) received failing grade (20 Representatives and 17 Senators)
- Of the 233 Democrats in Congress, 208 members (89.3 percent) received a passing grade of a ‘C’ or higher.
- Of the 302 Republicans in Congress, 102 members (33.8 percent) received a passing grade of a ‘C’ or higher.
You can access the complete 2016 Congressional Scorecard here.
You can read our Executive Summary here.
Projects like this are only possible because of the donations from NORML members. If you find our Congressional Scorecard useful and wish to support NORML’s efforts, please make a donation of at least $4.20 on this 4/20.
Thank you for your continued support and Happy 4/20,
-The NORML Team
P.S. Don’t forget to attend NORML’s 2016 Congressional Lobby Day, May 23-24 in Washington, DC.
Marijuana is a natural plant that heals and helps and benefits certain ailments and should be available like alcohol or medicine without sickening side effects.please legalize marijuana everywhere.noone should be in prison for nonviolent marijuana offenses
AMEN
For our representatives who voted against everything, NORML gave them “C”s. Exactly what is your criteria ? I can’t figure it out.
Please show examples of such.
Back at ya! Happy 420 to Everyone ;). Thanks for doing all the goodness for us, the Human Race! Our bodies need cannabis ;). Rock on
That was worth more than the $4.20 I just donated.
Glad to know the money I gave Beto O’rourke and Joaquin Castro for their elections was money well spent in the state of Texas. (Especially if a Castro ends up v.p.) I already knew my own rep Lamar Smith was Satan. How can he try and stand up for veterans values then trounce on the best medicine for PTSD there is? What a p.o.s.
One complaint; Ted Cruz deserves at least a C, but NOT a B. He flip flops like a fish when it comes time to vote. He is worse than a compulsive or pathological liar; He is a tactful, deliberate, predatory liar. Look how he flopped on Smarter Sentencing? Writing back letters like “I agree, I support smarter sentencing,” then he single-handedly blocked the bill in the Senate. How can we then take him at his word to let states do their own thing? We can’t. When grading, we have to factor in the bull$#!+ flip-flopping voting records with extra scrutiny.
Otherwise, GREAT job! This is the greatest tool we have yet for voting resources and it makes me proud to be a member of NORML! Thank you!
This kind of information is extremely important to someone like myself who regularly votes. I need to know who is on our side. I will be making a donation soon.
Tim Caine of Virginia needs to be put out to pasture! That is one thing I learned. We all need to come together and vote these bums out!
Careful, Timmy is a candidate for VP on a Hillary ticket. They might as well be Republicans.
They are;
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/gop-backing-koch-brother-hillary-clinton-might-make-a-better-president-than-any-of-the-republicans/