is on the table.
MORE Act is expected for the House of Representatives to vote once the new Administration gets the ball. The result means the first major action on cannabis since the adoption of the Controlled Substance Act in 1970. Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) announced the good news. If bipartisan support is evident, look for a quicker response, possibly by Thanksgiving. Advocates expect the bill to pass; House leaders typically don’t bring a measure to the floor unless they know they have the votes. Passage of the MORE Act would mark the first time that the House or the Senate has ever voted as a full chamber on legislation to end the federal cannabis prohibition since it went into effect following the passage of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.
After the House vote, Senate is a fat “NO” unless the Georgia runoff gives control of the Senate to the Democrats.
Success in the House is only half the battle, however. The US Senate remains in the hands of Republicans and their leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky). Many Republicans support legalization, but McConnell is a staunch prohibitionist who has declared that marijuana will not be legalized on his watch. Sen. Mitch McConnell has declared that marijuana will not be legalized on his watch. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), the longtime legalization advocate and leader of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, heralded the floor vote as a major step forward.
“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,” Blumenauer said in a statement.
AMERICANS WANT LEGAL MARIJUANA
The expected vote, Blumenauer added, “will come after people in five very different states reaffirmed the strong bipartisan support to reform the failed cannabis prohibition. 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. Congress must capitalize on this momentum and do our part to end the failed policy of prohibition that has resulted in a long and shameful period of selective enforcement against communities of color.”
In addition to decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level, the MORE Act would expunge federal marijuana convictions and reinvest in communities most adversely impacted by the war on drugs.