A vote on comprehensive cannabis reform legislation is set to take place this week in the United States House of Representatives.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer recently announced the vote, which will take place sometime between 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 2, and Friday, December 4.
Along with several other bills, the House will vote on HR 3884, also known as the MORE Act, which would end federal cannabis prohibition and criminalization by removing marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, giving all 50 states individual authority over cannabis policy.
Referencing the passage of multiple cannabis policy reform measures in the November election, U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer noted in a recent press release that the House vote comes after people in five very different states “reaffirmed the strong bipartisan support to reform the failed cannabis prohibition.”
“I’ve been working on this issue longer than any politician in America and can confidently say that the MORE Act is the most comprehensive federal cannabis reform legislation in U.S. history,” said Blumenauer. “National support for federal cannabis legalization is at an all-time high and almost 99% of Americans will soon live in states with some form of legal cannabis.”
Blumenauer says that Congress must capitalize on the legal cannabis momentum to help end the failed policy of prohibition that has negatively affected communities of color through selective enforcement.
The MORE Act would facilitate the expungement of low-level cannabis convictions at the federal level and provide incentives for state and local governments to do the same.
Under provisions of the MORE Act, veterans would be able to obtain medical cannabis recommendations from VA doctors, and communities that have been disproportionately affected by cannabis criminalization would have opportunities to receive critical reinvestment grants.
NORML Political Director Justin Strekal says that by advancing the MORE Act, the House of Representatives sends a message that America is ready to close the book on marijuana prohibition and end the senseless oppression and fear that otherwise law-abiding citizens have endured.
Strekal says that Americans are ready to legalize and regulate cannabis and that the vote indicates that some legislators are finally listening.
