U.S. Congress Committee Votes To Federally Legalize Cannabis

On Wednesday, November 20, 2019, members of the United States Congress made the unprecedented vote by more than two to one to pass The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act (HR 3884 / S. 2227) to end the country-wide federal prohibition on marijuana. The bill formally calls “to decriminalize and deschedule cannabis, to provide for reinvestment in certain persons adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, to provide for expungement of certain cannabis offenses, and for other purposes.”

From Section 2 of the bill: “Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall finalize a rulemaking under section 201(a)(2) removing marihuana and tetrahydrocannabinols from the schedules of controlled substances. Marihuana and tetrahydrocannabinols shall each be deemed to be a drug or other substance that does not meet the requirements for inclusion in any schedule. A rulemaking under this paragraph shall be considered to have taken effect as of the date of enactment of this Act for purposes of any offense committed, case pending, conviction entered, and, in the case of a juvenile, any offense committed, case pending, and adjudication of juvenile delinquency entered before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act.”

As the most comprehensive cannabis legalization bill ever introduced to Congress, the MORE Act includes policies that expunge the records of those convicted for marijuana possession and allows Veterans Administration doctors to prescribe medical cannabis for military service people. Moreover, marijuana companies in current legal states would have access to banking and financial institutions.

Speaking on the bill, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) said, “States have led the way and continue to lead the way, but our federal laws have not kept pace with the obvious need for change. We need to catch up because of public support [in favor of legalizing marijuana] and because it is the right thing to do.”

The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) called the legislation the “biggest marijuana news of the year.”

The MORE Act wasn’t introduced without pushback, though. A few Republican members of Congress expressed concern and opposition to the legislation. 

“I don’t think a majority of the Republicans will support this bill,” said Colorado Rep. Ken Buck. “It is even less likely that the Senate would take it up. Therefore, I would just suggest that we deal with other bills that we can get a much larger bipartisan support from.”

While the United States House Judiciary Committee has voted in favor of the MORE Act, the bill still needs to pass through the House of Representatives before making its way to the Senate, where it will face tough negotiations and is expected to stall for an indefinite period of time.