House Judiciary Committee preparing to repeal marijuana prohibition

Would legally remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KYMA, KECY) -  Members of the U.S. House of Representatives recently made history by successfully proposing the HR 3617: Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act to repeal the federal prohibition and criminalization of cannabis.

House members held a mark-up session on the bill Wednesday morning.

“The historic MORE Act represents a viable pathway forward to repealing marijuana prohibition and removing the harsh stigma of criminal records for the millions of Americans, who disproportionately are young, poor, or people of color,” said the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Political Director Justin Strekal.

The bill would make other important changes too, such as:

• Facilitating the expungement of low-level, federal marijuana convictions, and incentivizing state and local governments to take similar actions;
• Creating pathways for ownership opportunities in the emerging regulated industry as well as other sectors of the economy for local and diversely-reflective entrepreneurs who have been impacted under prohibition through the Small Business Administration grant eligibility;
• Allowing veterans, for the first time, to obtain medical cannabis recommendations from their VA doctors in states that have an established medical cannabis program;
• Removing the threat of deportation for immigrants accused of minor marijuana infractions or who are gainfully employed in the state-legal cannabis industry;
• Providing critical reinvestment grant opportunities for communities that have suffered disproportionate rates of marijuana-related enforcement actions;
• Protecting and respecting basic rights and civil liberties of cannabis consumers under federal law when it comes to public benefits.

“We appreciate the leadership of Chairman Nadler as well as Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Barbara Lee as the endorsing co-chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus," added Strekal.

Key factors underscoring marijuana policy reform efforts:

• According to the FBI UCR, over 545,000 Americans were arrested for marijuana-related crimes in 2019 alone. Over 90% of those arrested were charged with mere possession.
• According to a recent report by the ACLU, Black Americans are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis-related crimes than white Americans.
• The state-legal cannabis industry employs over 321,000 full-time workers; that is over six times the number of jobs specific to the coal industry.
• While the substance is not without harm, cannabis is objectively less harmful than legal and regulated alcohol and tobacco.