Breaking: House Committee will vote on legalizing cannabis at the federal level next week

By Maureen Meehan

A bill to federally legalize marijuana will be voted on by the House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee next week, the panel said on Friday.

The development, originally reported by Marijuana Moment, comes barely 24 hours after the House of Representatives voted for a defense spending bill with an amendment that would protect banks doing business with state cannabis companies from federal regulatory penalties.

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“Next week, the Judiciary Committee will increase the price of a variety of pieces of legislation that combat counterfeiting online sales and curb racial hair discrimination,” said Chairman of the Judiciary Committee Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) in a press release.

Nadlers Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Deletion (MORE) Act, due to be voted on Wednesday along with a dozen other laws, aims to “decriminalize marijuana nationwide and invest in communities disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs.”

RELATED: Biden Should End America’s Longest War: The War On Drugs

The MORE Act is supported by over 150 organizations across the country.

“Many of these bills were reported from committee in the last Congress and passed by the entire House of Representatives, and I look forward to working with all of my colleagues again to get these bills through Congress and on the president’s desk,” said Nadler in the press release.

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The bill that would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) also aims to create a path for the re-conviction of those incarcerated for cannabis offenses, to protect immigrants from being denied citizenship on marijuana, and Prevent federal agencies from denying public services or security clearance due to its use.

RELATED: The MORE Act won’t legalize cannabis nationwide – not like you think

“The committee will also consider a bipartisan package of laws that will help lower the cost of prescription drugs by adopting certain anticompetitive practices from major pharmaceutical companies, laws that decriminalize marijuana nationwide, and invest in communities affected by the war against Drugs have been disproportionately harmed, and several private immigration laws, ”said Nadler.

“Many of these bills were reported from the committee and passed by the entire House in the last Congress, and I look forward to working again with all of my colleagues to get these bills through Congress and on the president’s desk.”

This article originally appeared on Benzinga and was republished with permission.