Congressmember Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) has introduced a detailed resolution outlining what she describes as a moral imperative for the federal government to dismantle mass incarceration and rebuild a more humane legal system.

The measure, House Resolution 660, directly calls for the legalization of marijuana as part of a broader decarceration strategy. The resolution has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

The resolution identifies incarceration as a crisis that has destabilized millions of families and disproportionately harmed Black and Latino communities. It presses Congress to reduce jail and prison populations by decriminalizing behaviors often linked to poverty, health conditions, and substance use.

One section states the goal of “decriminalizing addiction, homelessness, poverty, HIV status, and disabilities, including mental health diagnosis, by legalizing marijuana and overdose prevention sites, declining to criminally prosecute low-level offenses such as loitering and theft of necessity goods, and expunging the records of individuals for all drug-related offenses.”

In addition to marijuana legalization, the resolution calls for ending mandatory minimum sentences, eliminating truth-in-sentencing laws, reinstating federal parole, and closing the disparity between crack and powder cocaine penalties. It also advocates clemency review mechanisms and retroactive application of reduced sentencing provisions.

While not a binding bill, the resolution is intended to serve as a broad statement of congressional priorities. By centering marijuana legalization within the larger push to end over-criminalization, Pressley’s proposal underscores the growing role of federal drug policy reform in the national conversation about justice. If adopted, it would mark a formal acknowledgment by the House of Representatives that the criminalization of marijuana and other low-level offenses has fueled mass incarceration and must be reversed.