A 41-group coalition recently went to Capitol Hill to urge Congress to pass federal marijuana reform, including legislation to deschedule marijuana, release federal prisoners and expunge marijuana-related records.

The Cannabis Week of Unity, held May 12 through May 14, brought together advocacy organizations, labor unions, veterans groups, civil liberties organizations, legal experts, business leaders and people directly impacted by prohibition. Over three days, the coalition met with lawmakers and congressional staff while promoting 13 marijuana and hemp-related bills.

Some of the groups involved include Students for Sensible Drug Policy, the Last Prisoner Project, the Latino Cannabis Alliance, Latinas in Cannabis, the National Hispanic Cannabis Council, Freedom Grow and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

The effort comes as 41 states have legalized medical cannabis, and 24 have legalized recreational cannabis, with federal efforts also underway to reschedule cannabis to Schedule III (a move already made for state-legal medical cannabis).

The coalition’s central focus was the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, filed as HR 5068. The bill, which now has 72 total sponsors in the U.S. House, would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, ending federal prohibition while allowing states to continue setting their own policies.

The MORE Act would also eliminate federal criminal penalties for marijuana, establish pathways for expungement and resentencing, create a federal marijuana tax and direct revenue toward programs for communities harmed by prohibition. The legislation would also make marijuana businesses eligible for Small Business Administration programs and financing opportunities.

“Cannabis reform is the most popular issue in American politics, and now that the president has signaled he is open to reform, it’s on Congress to pass a comprehensive legalization bill that centers the release of cannabis prisoners who should no longer be incarcerated,” said Jason Ortiz, director of strategic initiatives for the Last Prisoner Project and cofounder of the Latino Cannabis Alliance.

Ortiz said the Last Prisoner Project is ready to work with lawmakers and the broader coalition “to finally end the nightmare that has been cannabis prohibition, and create a path for everyone incarcerated for cannabis crimes to rejoin their families and become full members of society.”

Advocates also used the week to highlight the continued impact of federal marijuana prohibition on Latino and immigrant communities.

Jessica Gonzalez, president of the Latino Cannabis Alliance, said during a Capitol Hill press conference that marijuana prohibition has long been tied to immigration enforcement.

“We are here because Latinos are the largest immigrant group in the country, and the cannabis industry benefits tremendously from Latino consumers and workers while staying silent on the same policies that make participation for non-citizen Latinos dangerous,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said more than 70% of people sentenced federally for marijuana possession are classified as Hispanic, calling it “the result of a system that fused cannabis prohibition and immigration enforcement into a deportation pipeline, and aimed it at our families.”

For noncitizens, including legal residents, federal marijuana convictions or admissions of marijuana use can trigger serious immigration consequences, even when the conduct occurred in a state with legal marijuana.

“Decriminalization is the floor, not the ceiling,” Gonzalez said. “We will not forget the deported. We will not forget the detained. Our work spans borders, but it begins where this system was built. Prohibition began with a lie about our people. It will end with the truth from us.”

The coalition also promoted several narrower reform bills, including the STATES 2.0 Act, filed as HR 2934, which would protect state-legal marijuana programs from federal interference. Advocates also backed the PREPARE Act, filed as HR 2935 and S 3576, which would create a federal commission to help prepare for a national marijuana regulatory framework.

Other bills backed by the coalition included the Clean Slate Act, which would automatically seal certain federal records for nonviolent marijuana offenses, and the Evidence-Based Drug Policy Act, which would remove barriers to federal research on the effects of marijuana legalization.

Veterans-related legislation was also part of the push, including bills to protect VA benefits for veterans who use state-legal medical marijuana and to allow VA doctors to recommend medical marijuana in legal states.

The Marijuana in Federally Assisted Housing Parity Act was also included in the coalition’s agenda. The bill would protect people in federally assisted housing from being evicted or denied residency solely for using marijuana in compliance with state law.

Organizers said the Cannabis Week of Unity was meant to show lawmakers that marijuana reform is tied to criminal justice, immigration, veterans’ health care, housing access, labor rights and economic opportunity.