“It is long overdue that we stop punishing adults for using a substance that is objectively safer than alcohol, and that we work to address the disparate negative impacts that prohibition has inflicted on our most vulnerable individuals and marginalized communities for nearly a century.”
“Rather than compelling scientists to access marijuana products of questionable quality that are manufactured by a limited number of federally licensed producers, NORML believes that federal regulators should allow investigators to access the cannabis that is currently being produced by the multitude of state-sanctioned producers and retailers throughout the country.”
Members of the US House of Representatives have announced that they will hold a floor vote next week on the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act. The MORE Act, or H.R. 3617, removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, facilitates expungement and resentencing for nonviolent federal marijuana convictions, promotes diverse participation in the regulated cannabis industry, and helps repair the racially and economically disparate harms caused by our nation’s disastrous prohibition policies.
“The White House’s outdated, exclusionary policy is inconsistent with the rapidly changing legal landscape around cannabis in the U.S. and globally, and unnecessarily limits access to capital that small cannabis businesses desperately need.”
Senator Schumer said: “In the coming weeks, we’re ramping up our outreach and we expect to introduce final legislation. Our goal is to do it in April. Then we begin the nationwide push, spearheaded by New York, to get the federal law done. As the majority leader, I can set priorities. This is a priority for me.”
We have a chance to push a major marijuana legalization bill through the House of Representatives, but time is quickly running out.
Republican Representative Nancy Mace (R-SC) introduced the States Reform Act, a comprehensive bill that repeals the federal prohibition of marijuana, expunges federal non-violent marijuana crimes, promotes local ownership in the emerging regulated industry, and places certain restrictions on the advertising of regulated cannabis products, among other federal reforms.
Despite medical marijuana programs being passed or enacted in a supermajority of states, federal policy currently prohibits VA-affiliated doctors from even recommending medical cannabis to veterans in those states where such use is legal — thus forcing military veterans to seek the advice of a private, out-of-network physician.
In a letter addressed to Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton, the agency says that it will continue to enforce policies that involve the “termination of the tenancy of any household” in instances where a tenant is found to have engaged in the use of a controlled substance while on the premises — “including [the use of] state legalized medical marijuana.”