A coalition of more than 40 advocacy groups, professional associations, and civil rights organizations is calling on members of the U.S. House of Representatives to cosponsor the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act of 2025 (H.R. 5068).
In a letter sent recently to Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the signatories stressed that only full descheduling of marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) would end federal prohibition. They argued that efforts to merely reschedule marijuana, such as moving it to Schedule III, would leave intact federal criminalization and its collateral consequences.
“The MORE Act is the leading comprehensive marijuana reform bill in the House that ends federal prohibition, addresses the collateral consequences of federal marijuana criminalization, and takes steps to ensure the regulated marketplace is diverse and inclusive,” the letter states.
The groups highlighted several provisions of the bill, including automatic expungement of most federal marijuana convictions, a process for resentencing those currently incarcerated, protections for noncitizens from immigration consequences tied to marijuana offenses, and the elimination of federal benefit discrimination against marijuana users. The Act would also reinvest in communities disproportionately harmed by prohibition, remove barriers to marijuana business licensing for impacted individuals, authorize physicians at the Department of Veterans Affairs to recommend medical marijuana, and expand opportunities for scientific research.
The signatories include the ACLU, Drug Policy Alliance, Last Prisoner Project, Southern Poverty Law Center, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), and dozens of state and local groups.
Citing a 2025 PRRI poll showing broad bipartisan support for legalization, the letter urges Congress to take action now. “As long as marijuana remains anywhere in the CSA, it will still be criminalized at the federal level,” the groups warned.
The MORE Act previously passed the House in both the 116th and 117th Congresses, marking the only times a chamber of Congress has voted in favor of removing marijuana from the CSA.
Sponsored
