Several congressional Republicans are preparing to introduce legislation that would deschedule marijuana nationwide, two congressional staffers tell The Marijuana Herald.
The proposal is expected to be introduced in the House prior to the midterm elections and will be similar to the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act in that it would remove marijuana entirely from the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), but it would not include the bill’s social equity provisions.
Descheduling cannabis would end cannabis prohibition across the country while leaving states free to maintain their own prohibitions or regulated legal markets.
The MORE Act would also deschedule marijuana, but includes a broader set of provisions addressing the consequences of federal prohibition, including expungements, resentencing and programs intended to support communities disproportionately affected by marijuana enforcement.
Although the MORE Act has 75 sponsors, all are Democrats. No congressional Republican currently sponsors legislation to deschedule cannabis. However, the STATES 2.0 Act, which would allow states to determine their own marijuana policies, has bipartisan support.
The forthcoming proposal is separate from the ongoing federal marijuana rescheduling process, which would move cannabis to Schedule III.
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