House Passes MORE Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday passed the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act for the second time, on a largely party-line vote of 220-204. If signed into law, the bill would deschedule cannabis and remove the plant and its derivatives from the Controlled Substances Act. The bill also includes a mechanism for expunging nonviolent criminal convictions. In addition, the MORE Act would impose a federal excise tax beginning at 5 percent and gradually increasing to 8 percent. Revenues would fund job training, substance-abuse treatment, legal aid and re-entry services, and loans to small equity-owned businesses. “This vote is a clear indicator that Congress is finally listening to the vast majority of voters who are sick and tired of our failed marijuana criminalization policies and the damage they continue to inflict in communities across the nation every day,” said Morgan Fox, political director for the National Organization ...