US House Passes Bill To Legalize Cannabis

The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 3884, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, by a vote of 228-164 on Dec. 4. The MORE Act, introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), is one of the most comprehensive marijuana reforms bills ever to be introduced in the U.S. Congress, reported favorably out of the House Judiciary Committee, and passed by the House of Representatives. The bill now moves on to the U.S. Senate.

The MORE Act aims to correct the historical injustices of failed drug policies that have disproportionately impacted communities of color and low-income communities by decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level, reassessing marijuana convictions, and investing in local communities. U.S. Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) introduced the companion bill in the Senate.

The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act:

• Decriminalizes marijuana at the federal level by removing the substance from the Controlled Substances Act. This applies retroactively to prior and pending convictions, and enables states to set their own policy.
• Establishes a tax regime for cannabis products, including excise and occupational taxes. These taxes are established in order to create an Opportunity Trust Fund, which includes three grant programs:
  • • The Community Reinvestment Grant Program: Provides services to the individuals most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, including job training, re-entry services, legal aid, literacy programs, youth recreation, mentoring, and substance use treatment.
    • The Cannabis Opportunity Grant Program: Provides funds for loans to assist small businesses in the marijuana industry that are owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
    • The Equitable Licensing Grant Program: Provides funds for programs that minimize barriers to marijuana licensing and employment for the individuals most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs.
• Ensures that the Department of Transportation and the Coast Guard may continue to issue regulations and test for the unauthorized presence of or illegal use of marijuana by certain transportation employees in sensitive safety positions.
• Emphasizes that the expungement of marijuana offenses is limited to non-violent marijuana offenders, and bars leaders and organizers (“kingpins”) convicted of federal marijuana offenses from obtaining expungement of those offenses.
• Opens up Small Business Administration funding for legitimate cannabis-related businesses and service providers.
• Provides non-discrimination protections for marijuana use or possession, and for prior convictions for a marijuana offense:
  • • Prohibits the denial of any federal public benefit (including housing) based on the use or possession of marijuana, or prior conviction for a marijuana offense.
    • Provides that the use or possession of marijuana, or prior conviction for a marijuana offense, will have no adverse impact under the immigration laws.
• Requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to collect data on the demographics of the industry to ensure people of color and those who are economically disadvantaged are participating in the industry.
• Directs the Comptroller General to conduct a study and report to Congress concerning the societal impacts of the legalization of recreational cannabis by states and concerning the uses of marijuana and its byproducts for purposes relating to the health, including the mental health, of veterans.

Industry associations and advocacy groups have released statements in response to the MORE Act’s passage.

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML):

“‘This is a historic day for marijuana policy in the United States,” said NORML Political Director Justin Strekal. ‘This vote marks the first time in 50 years that a chamber of Congress has ever revisited the classification of cannabis as a federally prohibited substance and sought to close the rapidly widening chasm between state and federal marijuana policies.”

By establishing this new trajectory for federal policy, we expect that more states will revisit and amend the archaic criminalization of cannabis, establish regulated consumer marketplaces, and direct law enforcement to cease the practice of arresting over half a million Americans annually for marijuna-related violations — arrests which disproportionately fall upon those on people of color and those on the lower end of the economic spectrum.'”

Minority Cannabis Business Association:

“Although Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA) supports and applauds the social equity provisions including the expungement of records and the establishment of an Opportunity Trust Fund and the Cannabis Justice Office, we have grave concerns over the provisions in this bill that we believe would have an immediate chilling effect on individual members in our community and minority business owners more broadly.”

Representatives Blumenauer and Lee have been unwavering champions not only for cannabis policy reform, but for those who have been most impacted by cannabis prohibition and the broader War on Drugs. However, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act secured victory through a potential cost to impacted individuals and communities.”

Economic justice for those who have been deprived of basic rights and opportunities due to the unjust enactment and enforcement of cannabis laws must be central to federal cannabis policy. Whether through messaging bills like the MORE Act, or the ultimate federal cannabis framework, the voice of those most harmed must be present, heard, and honored. The absence of their voice will continue to yield results like the amended version of the MORE Act passed today- an incomplete representation of equity and justice.”

We thank Representatives Blumenauer and Lee for their continued support and look forward to the opportunity to work together to create federal cannabis policy that includes economic justice for communities of color.”

California Cannabis Industry Association:

“Although there are 47 states with some form of legalized cannabis, over 600,000 individuals are still arrested each year for cannabis offenses. These arrests impact minority communities at a significantly disproportionate level. While some localities, including cities like Los Angeles, have attempted to rectify the wrongs of the drug war through Social Equity Programs, the MORE Act represents the first federal effort to correct injustices stemming from a long history of cannabis prohibition.

‘This is really a tremendous day. Ending federal prohibition is momentous and is truly a cause for celebration,’ said Lindsay Robinson, Executive Director of CCIA. ‘The MORE Act is the critical first step we need to completely end the War on Drugs. Descheduling and community reinvestment provide significant opportunities to minorities and those impacted by prohibition, and its passage has been long overdue.'”

Full text of H.R. 3884, the MORE Act can be found here.