On Thursday, October 1st, a bill to federally legalize marijuana was approved by a key House committee. The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act goes well beyond cannabis legalization, also promoting social equity.
Just last week, the bill was cleared by the House Judiciary Committee on a 26-15 vote. On one hand, all Democrats supported the measure, as expected. Conversely, all Republicans voted against it aside from two individuals.
“This long overdue and historic legislation would reverse failed federal policies criminalizing marijuana. It would also take steps to address the heavy toll this policy has taken across the country, particularly among communities of color,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the legislation’s sponsor.
“I have long believed that the criminalization of marijuana has been a mistake. The racially disparate enforcement of marijuana laws has only made it worse, with serious consequences, particularly for communities of color.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)
View the debate and vote on the federal marijuana legalization bill below
Another Democrat, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas said that “this is an important criminal justice reform bill, and I commend the chairman for once again introducing this bill and bringing it before the committee. In fact, it consolidates the discussions that we’ve had about the overincarceration of individuals who were addicted or caught up in the cycle of drugs, many of them people of color in inner city neighborhoods.”
While All Democrats Voted Unanimously in Favor, Republicans Held Opposing Views
Contrarily, an Ohio Republican, Jim Jordan, voiced his enmity. He instead called the proposal a “radical, out-of-touch Democrat priority” and a “marijuana stimulus bill.”
Meanwhile, it comes as no surprise that one of the only Republicans to be in favor of this bill is based in Florida, the largest medical market in the country. Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is also a cosponsor of the bill, spoke on the reform. “I am a proud co-sponsor of the MORE Act because the federal government has screwed up marijuana policy in this country for a generation,” he said. “We lied to people about the effects of marijuana. And then we used marijuana as a cudgel to incarcerate just wide swaths of communities, and particularly in African-American communities.”
“We cannot honestly say that the war on drugs impacted suburban white communities in the same way it affected urban black communities. We can’t say that marijuana enforcement was happening the same way on the corner than it was happening in the fraternity house,” he continued.
“We have an opportunity to fix that problem. The war on drugs, much like many of our forever wars, has been a failure. If there’s been a war on drugs, drugs have won that war.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz
This Comes Shortly After a Bill was Voted that Favors Banks that Work with Legal Cannabis Businesses
This federal legalization bill comes shortly after a defense spending bill was voted in favor by the full House. The bill includes an amendment that would protect banks that work with state-legal cannabis businesses. Banks affiliated with cannabis businesses have previously seen punishments from federal bank regulators due to proceeds from these legitimate businesses being seen as “unlawful activity.” Because of these issues, many cannabis businesses have resorted to a riskier “all cash” operation.
This also comes shortly after U.S. Mayors as well as celebrities, activists, sports players, and more have called on President Biden for cannabis reform.
Photo by Scott Graham via Unsplash
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