Historic Marijuana Vote In Congress This Week
By: Justin Strekal of Better Organizing to Win Legalization
This week, the House of Representatives will vote on the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act, HR 3617. This will mark just the second time in US history that a chamber of Congress has taken up a bill to end federal prohibition and the first time that they have done so before an election so that voters will know how their Representative voted prior to going to the polls.
The last time the bill was taken up in December of 2020, it passed the House in 2020 with a bipartisan vote of 228-164 but was killed by the then Republican-controlled Senate.
In addition to ending the federal prohibition of marijuana, which currently prevents Washington, DC from setting up an adult use cannabis market, as well as impedes access to the banking system and fair tax treatment to the state-licensed cannabis businesses, the MORE Act would make several other important changes to federal marijuana policy, including:
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Facilitating the expungement of low-level, federal marijuana convictions, and incentivizing state and local governments to take similar actions;
Creating pathways for ownership opportunities in the emerging regulated industry as well as other sectors of the economy for local and diversely-reflective entrepreneurs who have been impacted under prohibition through the Small Business Administration grant eligibility;
Allowing veterans, for the first time, to obtain medical cannabis recommendations from their VA doctors in states that have an established medical cannabis program;
Removing the threat of deportation for immigrants accused of minor marijuana infractions or who are gainfully employed in the state-legal cannabis industry;
Providing critical reinvestment grant opportunities for communities that have suffered disproportionate rates of marijuana-related enforcement actions;
Protecting and respecting the basic rights and civil liberties of consumers under federal law when it comes to public benefits.
It is critical that supporters of reform contact their legislators and multiple advocacy groups have made it easy to do so.
BOWL PAC: Tell Congress: VOTE YES On The MORE Act To End Marijuana Prohibition
Drug Policy Alliance: Help us pass the MORE Act in the House
NORML: Federal: Support The Historic MORE Act
Students for Sensible Drug Policy: Tell Your House Member to VOTE YES on MORE to end federal marijuana prohibition
For the most recent set of data that we have, over 350,000 Americans were arrested for marijuana-related crimes in 2020 alone and over 90% of those arrested were charged with mere possession.
“According to a 2020 report by the ACLU, Black Americans are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis-related crimes than white Americans, despite similar consumption rates amongst racial classes.”
And as many of you know, these arrests have been made in an explicitly racist manner. According to a 2020 report by the ACLU, Black Americans are 3.6 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis-related crimes than white Americans, despite similar consumption rates amongst racial classes.
It is expected that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Senators Cory Booker and Ron Wyden will be introducing their own comprehensive cannabis reform package later this spring. They previously released a draft that included provisions from the MORE Act, but in order to build the pressure to make sure that the Senate debates as comprehensive and justice-oriented of a package as possible, it is critical that the MORE Act succeed this week.
If you can further support efforts, share the letter writing campaign to have your friends and neighbors also send in messages to Congress in support of the bill:
The bill is expected to go through the House Rules Committee on Wednesday, be debated on Thursday, and be voted on Friday.