The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the MORE Act next week

On Thursday, the Home Rules Committee announced that it had scheduled a Monday hearing for legislation, the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, to consider possible changes to the measure. The Democratic leadership has also put the bill on the bill scheduled for consideration in the House of Representatives next week.

Under the MORE Act, cannabis would be removed from the list of drugs regulated by the Controlled Substances Act, criminal penalties for federal cannabis offenses would be abolished, and previous federal cannabis convictions would be erased. The bill, HR 3617, also introduces a tax on the retail sale of cannabis, with proceeds from the tax being invested in communities harmed by federal cannabis prohibition policies.

The news that the House of Representatives is going to pass the MORE Act next week was quickly praised by cannabis activists, including Morgan Fox, policy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).

“It is critically important to move this legislation forward to get marijuana off the schedule and help those individuals and communities who have borne the brunt of America’s failed prohibition,” Fox said in a statement from the group. “More than two-thirds of Americans support lifting the federal ban on marijuana, and they deserve to know where our elected officials feel on the issue.”

The MORE Act contains social justice provisions

To address the harm caused by prohibition on cannabis, an Opportunity Trust Fund created by the MORE Act would provide job training, re-entry services for ex-prisoners and health education programs for communities affected by the War on Drugs. The bill also establishes a Cannabis Justice Office to implement the bill’s social justice provisions, promote cannabis research, and ensure that federal benefits and services are not deprived of cannabis users. The Small Business Association would be responsible for creating a Cannabis Restorative Opportunity Program to develop cannabis licensing programs that limit barriers to participation in the industry.

“For over half a century, marijuana prohibition has been the cornerstone of the cruel and inhumane drug war that has deprived millions of their liberty and livelihoods,” said Maritza Perez, director of the Office of National Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance. “The weight of this has fallen disproportionately on the backs of Black, Latinx, Indigenous and low-income communities — who remain the number one target. They have been denied jobs, housing, educational opportunities and much more. Their families were torn apart. Others have lost their immigration status. And our communities have suffered greatly as a result.”

“But today, thanks to the leadership of Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer in planning the MORE bill for one word choice, we have hope that the days of this continued repression are numbered,” Perez continued. “We urge your colleagues in the House of Representatives to vote for this legislation and pass it quickly to ensure our communities are not sidelined waiting a moment for long-overdue justice.”

The MORE Act was approved by the House of Representatives in 2020, but the bill did not receive a Senate hearing or vote. George Macheril, CEO of cannabis industry lender Bespoke Financial, believes the legislation could again fail to get final approval as Democratic leaders put forward various proposals to legalize cannabis, including the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act.

“While the House vote on the MORE bill is expected to pass again, we see this more as a token gesture that will have very little chance of surviving the Senate,” Macheril wrote in an email High Times. “In contrast to the challenges the bill previously faced under a Republican-controlled Senate, the strongest opposition to the bill now comes from other cannabis industry allies in DC, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer among those, vowing to block all cannabis reform legislation except for its own proposed solution (CAOA), details of which are expected to be announced in April 2022. We believe that significant legislative change positively impacting the industry is unlikely before 2024, particularly given the challenges and nuance required to implement new regulations.”