Today, Representative Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), along with Cannabis Caucus Co-Chairs Dina Titus (NV-01) and Ilhan Omar (MN-05), and House Committee on Small Business Ranking Member Nydia Velázquez (NY-07) reintroduced the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, one of the most comprehensive marijuana reform bills ever introduced in the U.S. Congress. 

Over the past two decades, public support for legalizing marijuana has surged and states across the nation have taken on state-level legalization of marijuana. The MORE Act decriminalizes marijuana at the federal level, ending the patchwork of states laws. The bill also aims to correct the historical and continued injustices of failed drug policies that have disproportionately impacted communities of color and low-income communities by requiring resentencing and expungement of prior convictions, creating new opportunities for individuals as they work to advance their careers, education, and overall quality of life. The MORE Act also ensures that all benefits in the law are available to juvenile offenders. 

“I am proud to reintroduce the MORE Act today. As more states continue to legalize marijuana and public support increases, federal laws must catch up and reverse failed policies criminalizing marijuana,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler. “It is long past time to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, expunge marijuana convictions, and facilitate resentencing, while reinvesting in the communities most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs. I thank my colleagues, Representatives Dina Titus and Ilhan Omar, Co-Chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, as well as Representative Nydia Velázquez for their work on this legislation as we continue to push for this much-needed change.” 

“As Co-Chair of the Cannabis Caucus, I am proud to support the reintroduction of the MORE Act, comprehensive legislation that is long overdue,” said Rep. Dina Titus, Co-Chair of the Cannabis Caucus. “It’s time to modernize our laws to reflect the reality of cannabis use in the United States, recognize the legitimate industry that has emerged, and fully embrace the medical benefits of the plant. The federal government must catch up to the states, and this bill provides a framework to end the failed War on Drugs while supporting communities and businesses nationwide.” 

“As Co-Chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, I understand how deeply the War on Drugs has devastated families and fueled racial disparities in arrests and incarceration without making us safer," said Rep. Ilhan Omar, Co-Chair of the Cannabis Caucus. "The MORE Act will decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, clear records, and reinvest in the communities most harmed by these failed policies. In Minnesota we have already shown that legalization can deliver both fairness and economic opportunity. It is past time for the federal government to follow our lead and finally end the era of criminalization.”

“For too long, communities of color have carried the weight of unfair marijuana laws that fueled incarceration and denied people opportunity,” said Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez, Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee. “The MORE Act is about justice, about giving people a second chance, and about making sure small businesses and workers in these communities can share in the benefits of legalization. I am proud to stand with my colleagues to reintroduce this bill and keep pushing for fairness and equity.” 

The MORE Act: 

• Decriminalizes marijuana at the federal level by removing the substance from the Controlled Substances Act. This applies retroactively to prior and pending convictions and enables states to set their own policy. 

• Requires federal courts to expunge prior convictions, allows prior offenders to request expungement, and requires courts, on motion, to conduct re-sentencing hearings for those still under supervision. 

• Authorizes the assessment of a 5% sales tax on marijuana and marijuana products to create an Opportunity Trust Fund, which includes three grant programs:

  • The Community Reinvestment Grant Program: Provides services to the individuals most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, including job training, re-entry services, legal aid, literacy programs, youth recreation, mentoring, and substance use treatment.  
  • The Cannabis Opportunity Grant Program: Provides funds for loans to assist small businesses in the marijuana industry that are owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
  • The Equitable Licensing Grant Program: Provides funds for programs that minimize barriers to marijuana licensing and employment for the individuals most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs.
  
  
• Opens up Small Business Administration funding for legitimate cannabis-related businesses and service providers.

• Provides non-discrimination protections for marijuana use or possession, and for prior convictions for a marijuana offense:

  • Prohibits the denial of any federal public benefit (including housing) based on the use or possession of marijuana, or prior conviction for a marijuana offense.
  • Provides that the use or possession of marijuana, or prior conviction for a marijuana offense, will have no adverse impact under the immigration laws. 

• Requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to collect data on the demographics of the industry to ensure people of color and those who are economically disadvantaged are participating in the industry. 

In addition to Representatives Nadler, Titus, Omar, and Velázquez, the bill is cosponsored by Representatives Becca Balint (VT-AL), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Troy Carter (LA-02), Greg Casar (TX-35), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Lou Correa (CA-46), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Jesús García (IL-04), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Hank Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Morgan McGarvey (KY-03), Frank Mrvan (IN-01), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Bobby Scott (VA-03), Brad Sherman (CA-32), Adam Smith (WA-09), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Nikema Williams (GA-05), and Frederica Wilson (FL-24).  

The MORE Act has the support of a broad coalition of civil rights, criminal justice, drug policy, and immigration groups, including: All People’s Health Collective, American Civil Liberties Union, Bucks County NORML, Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC), Center for American Progress, Cruel, Consequences Portraits, Delaware NORML INC, Doctors for Drug Policy Reform, Drug Policy Alliance, Grassroots Ohioans, JustLeadershipUSA, JustUS Coordinating Council, Last Prisoner Project, Lit by the Sea LLC, Los Angeles Community Action Network, Minorities for Medical Marijuana, Minority Cannabis Business Association, Montco NORML, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Association of Social Workers, National Employment Law Project, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), NORML KC., NORML Tallahassee North Florida, Ohio NORML, People's Action Institute, Reframe Health and Justice, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Southern Poverty Law Center, Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), Suncoast NORML, Supernova Women, The National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, The Porchlight Collective SAP, The Weldon Project/Mission Green, and Virginia NORML. 

“Millions of Americans continue to suffer the consequences of the failed war on drugs—harms that have disproportionately impacted communities of color and other marginalized groups. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act represents a critical step forward, not only by decriminalizing marijuana at the federal level, but by offering meaningful pathways to justice through expungement and resentencing,” said Akua Amaning, Director for Criminal Justice Reform at Center for American Progress. “Its provisions also prioritize reinvestment and economic opportunity for those most affected by decades of criminalization. We urge Congress to pass this long-overdue legislation and take a decisive step towards ensuring equity, justice, and opportunity for all Americans.” 

“We are proud to again endorse the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act. For decades, marijuana criminalization has disproportionately targeted people of color and low-income communities,” said Maritza Perez Medina, Director of Federal Affairs of the Drug Policy Alliance. “This policy of marijuana criminalization has led to mass incarceration, family separation, deportation, and lost economic opportunities. As long as marijuana remains in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), it will remain federally criminalized, regardless of which schedule it is placed in. The MORE Act is the only bill introduced this Congress that would remove (“deschedule”) marijuana from CSA, which would decriminalize marijuana at the federal level nationwide. In addition to clearly and unambiguously descheduling marijuana, the MORE Act would address the vast social and economic harms caused by marijuana criminalization. Anything short of descheduling will continue to perpetuate the harms of federal marijuana criminalization, and we urge members of Congress who oppose these harms to cosponsor MORE.” 

"Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC) endorses the MORE Act because it delivers comprehensive reform America needs - ending prohibition while mandating equity, expungement and investment that communities most impacted by prohibition have long deserved," said Dasheeda Dawson, Board Chair of the Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition.  

“For decades, cannabis prohibition has punished people for conduct that the vast majority of Americans believe should be legal. In addition to descheduling cannabis, the MORE Act offers long-overdue relief by automatically expunging convictions and freeing people still suffering behind bars,” said Jason Ortiz, Director of Strategic Initiatives of the Last Prisoner Project. "The Last Prisoner Project is grateful to Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-NY), the Drug Policy Alliance, and the Marijuana Justice Coalition for championing this legislation. Now it’s time for Congress to pass this bill and deliver real justice to the countless individuals and families who continue to bear the scars of cannabis criminalization.” 

“Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) applauds the re-introduction of the MORE Act as a critical step toward dismantling the failed War on Drugs,” said Kat Murti, Executive Director, Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). "From the very first introduction of the MORE Act, SSDP has championed this bill as the most comprehensive path toward sensible cannabis policy reform—one which would end federal prohibition, clear past convictions, and begin the process of healing the communities most harmed by federal cannabis prohibition. The House made history when it passed the MORE Act in the 116th and 117th Congresses, marking the only times a chamber of Congress voted in support of removing (“descheduling”) marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). With the House once again leading the way, the Senate must act now to finally deliver on the promise of justice and opportunity nationwide. Young people deserve a future free from the lifelong harms of prohibition, and we urge Congress to act swiftly to pass this legislation and begin repairing the injustices caused by decades of criminalization.” 

"As states continue to move away from their failed experiments with cannabis prohibition, it is incumbent on Congress to resolve the growing conflict between state and federal law and do everything it can to repair the damage caused by nearly a century of disastrous criminalization policies,” said Morgan Fox, Political Director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). "This legislation embodies the wishes of more than two thirds of the American public, and will create a federal cannabis framework that respects states' rights and is focused on science, pragmatism, and justice. We strongly urge lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to support the MORE Act and call for its immediate consideration." 

The full text of the legislation is available here. 

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