Federal legislation to fully decriminalize marijuana has gained two new sponsors in the US House of Representatives.
Yesterday Congressmembers Jennifer McClellan (D-VA) and Andy Kim (D-NJ) signed on as cosponsors to the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. The measure, filed in September by Representative Jerrold Nadler (D), now has 84 sponsors. The only marijuana-related House bill that has more sponsors is the SAFE Banking Act with 104.
The MORE Act would remove marijuana as a federal controlled substance, effectively decriminalizing it nationwide. It would place a 5% federal excise tax on marijuana sales in states where its legal for the first two years, with it increasing to 8% by the fifth year.
The Act also includes several provisions to protect marijuana consumers, including preventing them from being denied public benefits and allowing marijuana convictions to be expunged (removed) from people’s records
Representative Nadler has described the MORE Act as “one of the most comprehensive marijuana reform bills ever introduced in the U.S. Congress”, which “aims to correct the historical injustices of failed drug policies that have disproportionately impacted communities of color and low-income communities by requiring resentencing and expungement of prior convictions.”
You can find the full text of the MORE Act by clicking here.
For a look at the federal marijuana bills most likely to be passed by the House and Senate this year, click here.
