Since it was classified as a Schedule I drug alongside heroin 50 years ago, the status of cannabis in federal law has not been changed. The House of Representatives is trying to change that in a historic vote that House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) promises will come before the end of September 2020.
“The House will be voting soon on [...] the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE Act),” Clyburn announced on Friday, Aug. 28. “During the September work period, the House is expected to consider [the MORE Act]. The MORE Act decriminalizes marijuana at the federal level by removing it from the Controlled Substances Act. This would allow state law to determine the status of marijuana legality for each state,” Clyburn added.
You have heard of the MORE Act in the Shepherd Express last year, in August 2019, when we announced it as “the most comprehensive marijuana reform bill ever introduced in Congress.” At the time, the MORE Act seemed dead on arrival, as no other full-decriminalization bill ever survived congressional committees—in particular the Judiciary Committee, “where bills go to die”—until November 2019, when the Act cleared the Judiciary Committee in a sweeping 24-10 victory. Now, it advances to the later stages of a bill’s life, which means that the House will, for the first time in its history, vote to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act.
The MORE Act is sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Kamala Harris, who is now the Democratic candidate for vice-president. While the bill would not legalize marijuana anywhere, it would end the federal prohibition on the substance. It would then be up to each state to set their own laws. States where it is already legal would be relieved of the great burden of federal prohibition, and all states would have to officially choose a stance to avoid a legislative vacuum.
The Act distinguishes itself by including social justice provisions, such as the creation of a trust fund filled with revenue from taxing smoking products and dedicated to mending the damages of the War on Drugs. It would automatically expunge past convictions for certain cannabis offenses and create job and health programs benefiting communities that were most impacted by prohibition, in particular communities of color.
Why This Is Important
“A floor vote on the bill would be the greatest federal cannabis reform accomplishment in over 50 years,” said Randal Meyer of the Global Alliance for Cannabis Commerce.
This comes as 53 top law enforcement officials—district attorneys, police leaders and even four state attorneys general—came together to demand an immediate vote on the MORE Act. “A significant driver of public distrust in law enforcement is our focus on low-level marijuana arrests. If marijuana had never been criminalized, many more Americans would greet us with warmth and cooperation rather than fear and malice,” the letter reads. “As front-line public safety experts, we believe that responsible regulation and control of marijuana will be more beneficial to society than prohibiting and criminalizing it.”
The same group of leading law enforcement officials commissioned new surveys to better understand where America stands on the topic of drug criminalization. They found that 69% of likely voters, including 67% of Republican voters, believe that the federal government should let states decide whether they want legal marijuana; it means that 67% of likely Republican voters support the MORE Act. To the question, “Do you agree or disagree that the federal government should legalize the use and sale of marijuana for adults?” which goes much farther than the MORE Act, 58% of likely voters, including 54% of Republicans, agree.
It seems very likely that the MORE Act will be approved by the House, although its content might be altered. When it was voted on in the Judiciary Committee, every Democrat present voted in favor of it, while every Republican committee member—with the exceptions of Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), the former being the sole GOP co-sponsor of the House bill—voted no or abstained. During the Republican National Convention, speakers repeatedly lambasted Democrats for supporting cannabis reform, cementing the idea that Republican officials refuse to budge on the issue. For this reason, it seems unlikely that the MORE Act will pass the Republican-controlled Senate.
In the face of this obvious roadblock, the last hurdle to overcome before ending federal prohibition on marijuana, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) urged its members to support the MORE Act, dubbing it “essential in order to truly right the wrongs of federal marijuana criminalization.”
Even if the Senate rejects the bill, NORML explains in a message to its supporters that “a House floor vote will put our federal lawmakers on record. We will know who stands with the majority of Americans in supporting an end to the failed federal policy of marijuana prohibition.” As the November election is looming near and both the Senate and the White House could switch to a Democratic leadership, knowing which lawmakers stand in the way of progress will make it clear who to vote for or against in the next few months.
To read more Cannabis Connection articles, click here.
To read more articles by Jean-Gabriel Fernandez, click here.
