House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler and Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Kamala Harris are introducing legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level and repair “the damage done by the war on drugs” as cannabis reform gains steam in Congress.
The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, or the MORE Act, would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, decriminalizing the drug and allowing states to write their own policies. The legislation would require cannabis convictions to be expunged or resentenced.
It would also create federal protections, such as prohibiting federal agencies from denying benefits to people found using marijuana and preventing immigrants from being deported for a cannabis-related conviction. The bill establishes a 5-percent cannabis tax to set up grants for minorities and low-income communities.
