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United States map with marijuana leaves
For the second time, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a marijuana reform bill that would end the federal prohibition on cannabis. It is the same bill as the first time, with two minor amendments.
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act was the first marijuana legalization bill to be put to a floor vote in Congress in more than 50 years, and it passed both times it was submitted to a vote. Both votes were in the House, as it was never presented to the Senate. The MORE Act did not become law, despite being passed by the House in December 2020, because the Republican-majority Senate, then under the leadership of former Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, let it die without even a vote.
About the MORE Act
The MORE Act would strictly remove all criminal penalties for the possession, manufacture or distribution of cannabis and directly expunge all related convictions. It would then be the role of the state legislatures in states that have not yet legalized marijuana to update state laws to join the existing marijuana market in legal states or ban it locally. It would also remove the barrier that state borders currently represent, as it is currently illegal to cross state lines with marijuana, even to travel from one legal state to another legal state.
The bill aims to levy a 5% excise tax on all recreational marijuana products sold to fund programs and grants dedicated to social justice provisions. The MORE Act, if it were to pass, would increase federal tax revenue by more than $8 billion by 2031, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The bill would also reduce law enforcement and incarceration costs by granting release to some federal prisoners and reducing the need for further policing. The Budget Office estimates that the Act would result in net savings of about $800 million over the 2022-2031 period.
Currently, under the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is a Schedule I drug. That is the most serious category, dedicated to “drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” such as heroin. It is wrong for many reasons: Marijuana does have multiple accepted medical uses, it is not physically addictive, and marijuana cannot kill, no matter the dose ingested. Yet, arrests for marijuana are astoundingly high and occupy a massively oversized share of police time and resources.
As usual, the votes for the MORE Act closely followed party lines on both sides, 220-204 in favor of Democrats, repeating the scenario seen in December 2020. The margin of victory was smaller this year, as opposed to 228-164 the first time the MORE Act passed the House. In 2020, there were five votes in favor of reform among Republicans. There were only three Republican votes in favor of it, this week: Reps. Matt Gaetz (FL), Brian Mast (FL) and Tom McClintock (CA).
Among Democrats, support for the MORE Act is as universal as could be. Only two Democrats, Reps. Henry Cuellar (TX) and Chris Pappas (NH), opposed the measure. Rep. Pappas commented on his reasons, citing an alleged loophole that might grant release from incarceration to some drug traffickers with offenses more serious than the selling of cannabis itself, such as distributing drugs to minors. “I support decriminalizing marijuana,” Rep. Pappas declared, but he decried flaws he wished to have addressed with an amendment proposal while he supports the rest of the bill.
The Future of the Bill
Support for cannabis reform from Senate leadership is clear, which is a significant change from the MORE Act’s first round in Congress. This time, the Senate is under Democratic control, with precisely 50 Democrats and affiliates among senators, and a tie-breaking vote by Vice-president Kamala Harris that should in theory secure victory for Democrats.
However, several hurdles lay in the bill’s future. First, not all Democrats are in favor of marijuana legalization; the conservative wing of the party, represented by a few senators such as Sen. Joseph Manchin (WV), stands in the way of reform. In order to pass the Senate, the bill needs to secure 60 votes to be safe from an inevitable Republican filibuster. As we can expect a few dissenting voices among Democrats, the MORE Act’s success would require more than 10 Republicans voting in favor of it. It seems essentially impossible, given the Republican Party’s track record of shooting down anything resembling progress.
On the bright side, the future of marijuana legalization does not entirely rely on the success of the MORE Act. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has been working on his own legalization bill, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, in collaboration with marijuana reform champions, Sens. Cory Booker (NJ) and Ron Wyden (OR). Sen. Schumer intends to introduce this Act in the immediate future to keep the ball of marijuana reform rolling. If the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act receives a vote in the Senate, it will be the first time since Nixon that the Senate voted on cannabis reform; it would also be the first legalization bill other than the MORE Act to be considered by the U.S. Congress.
“The War on Drugs has been a war on people—particularly people of color,” Schumer wrote in defense of his bill. “Today, more than 90 percent of Americans believe cannabis should be legal either for adult or medical use.” The failed prohibition on marijuana is a stain on America’s history, one that could be easily washed off if just a dozen Republicans pivoted away from mindless obstructionism and towards serving the interests of the American people. The vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Republican voters, explicitly want legal marijuana.
“As Senate Majority Leader, I can set priorities,” Sen. Schumer declared. “And comprehensive federal cannabis legalization with justice for the communities most impacted by the War on Drugs—especially communities of color—is a Senate priority. We will move forward.”
