On Thursday, the House Rules Committee announced that it had scheduled a Monday hearing for the legislation, the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement Act, to consider possible amendments to the measure.
Under the MORE Act, cannabis would be removed from the list of drugs regulated by the Controlled Substances Act, criminal penalties for federal cannabis offenses would be eliminated, and past federal cannabis convictions would be expunged.
To address the harms caused by cannabis prohibition, an Opportunity Trust Fund created by the MORE Act would provide job training, re-entry services for formerly incarcerated individuals, and health education programs for communities impacted by the War on Drugs.
“For over half a century, marijuana prohibition has stood as the cornerstone of the cruel and inhumane drug war that has robbed millions of people of their freedom and their livelihoods,” said Maritza Perez, director of the Office of National Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance.
The MORE Act was approved by the House of Representatives in 2020, but the bill was not given a hearing or a vote in the Senate.
“While the House vote on the MORE Act is expected to pass again, we see this as more of a symbolic gesture which will have very little chance of surviving the Senate,” Macheril wrote in an email to High Times.