Legislation in the United States House of Representatives that would deschedule marijuana and facilitate expungements has gained three new sponsors.
Yesterday, Congressmembers Lee Summer (D-PA), Frank Mrvan (D-IN) and Gregorio Casar (D-TX) joined as a cosponsor to the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. This brings the total number of sponsors to 92. The SAFE Banking Act is the only marijuana-related bill in US Congress with more sponsors (124).
The MORE Act would deschedule marijuana, effectively decriminalizing it nationwide. The measure would establish a federal excise tax of 5% on legal marijuana sales in the initial two years, rising to 8% in the fifth year. Furthermore, it provides for the expungement of previous marijuana convictions and ensures that marijuana users are not denied public benefits.
Representative Nadler has touted the MORE Act as “one of the most comprehensive marijuana reform bills ever introduced in the U.S. Congress”.
A similar measure in the Senate, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA), has 18 sponsors. The CAOA would require the US attorney general to finalize rules removing marijuana as a controlled substance within 180 days of the bill’s passage. The measure would also place a 5% federal excise tax on marijuana producers that would increase to 12.5% by the fifth year, and it would establish the Center for Cannabis Products within the FDA, tasked with regulating “the production, labeling, distribution, sales and other manufacturing and retail elements of the cannabis industry”.
For a look at the four states on track to legalize recreational marijuana within the next six months, click here.
