On Tuesday, The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act of 2019 was introduced in the House of Representatives by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) and in the Senate by 2020 Presidential candidate and recent hardline drug warrior Kamala Harris (D-CA).
Among other things, the bill would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and allow states to set their own cannabis policies. This would also allow the state-legal marijuana industry to no longer be barred from accessing financial services or standard tax treatment that every other legal business has access to.
“After nearly a century of prohibition, it is clear this policy has been an absolute failure and a national disgrace,” said NORML Executive Director Erik Altieri. “All we have to show for the war we have waged on marijuana is the egregious harms it has wrought upon tens-of-millions of our fellow citizens. By passing the MORE Act, Congress can begin to remedy the pain caused by the criminalization of marijuana. This bill provides a real federal solution by fully descheduling of cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act and providing relief to those suffering under the collateral consequences of having a marijuana charge on their record by facilitating the process of expungements. The American public is overwhelmingly ready to legalize marijuana, their elected officials in Washington need to finally start representing the will of the people and advance this sensible legislation.”
“We applaud Chairman Nadler for introducing this historic piece of legislation,” said Neal Levine, CEO of the Cannabis Trade Federation. “It is a momentous sign of progress to have the chair of the Judiciary Committee introduce a bill to fully end prohibition, and we are grateful for his support. With both the chair and the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee supporting major cannabis policy reform, the end of federal cannabis prohibition is undoubtedly near.”
“Never in American history has the Chairman of the Judiciary introduced a bill to end federal marijuana criminalization,” NORML Political Director Justin Strekal said. “At a time when the state you live in can determine whether cannabis can ruin your life or make you a millionaire, now more than ever we must end the national prohibition of marijuana. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act embodies the need to legalize cannabis and restore the rights of those who have suffered under the cruel and failed policy of criminalization.”
Nothing is more imperative to the future of the legal cannabis industry than ending federal prohibition. Until that happens, every policy change made by states is in jeopardy. The end to federal prohibition has never been so close; we cannot afford to waste this opportunity, so contact your federal reps today!
The MORE Act has no clarity for how marijuana is actually derived from cannabis, or protections for local growers, or restrictions to protect children, or guidelines for gun owners. Appending this reconstructed definition of marijuana to the MORE Act will provide these things for the public’s benefit:
The term “marijuana” means all parts of the smoke produced by the combustion of the plant Cannabis sativa L., which is, as are the viable seeds of such plant, prohibited to be grown by or sold by any publicly traded corporation or subsidiary company, and such smoke is prohibited to be inhaled by any child or by any person bearing any firearm, as is the intake of any part or any product of such plant containing more than 0.3% THC by weight unless prescribed to such child by an authorized medical practitioner.