House Democrats are set to pass legislation this week to legalize marijuana at the federal level.
The bill, authored by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and titled the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, would remove cannabis from the list of federal controlled substances and eliminate criminal penalties associated with the drug.
It would also impose a federal tax on marijuana sales to fund programs to help communities negatively impacted by the war on drugs.
The bill is set to be taken up by the House Rules Committee on Wednesday, and get a vote on the floor by the end of the week.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), in a “Dear Colleague” letter, said that the bill would “restore justice to communities that have been disproportionately impacted by harsh penalties for possessing even small amounts of marijuana.”
“This legislation – which the House passed last Congress – would decriminalize marijuana, expunge the federal arrests and convictions of nonviolent marijuana offenders, prohibit the denial of federal public benefits, and provide resources to support long-term economic recovery efforts for communities of color,” Hoyer added.
When the House previously passed a version of the legislation in 2020, six Democrats voted against the bill while five Republicans backed it.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has vowed to make legalizing marijuana at the federal level a priority. [Read More @ The Hill]
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