The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday took a quantum leap toward ending the federal prohibition of marijuana.
The Marijuana Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act passed through the House along mostly-party lines in a 228-164 vote – with five Republicans giving it the nod and six Democrats saying no. It was the first time the full House had considered such a bill.
Colorado already has legalized recreational cannabis as does the City of Salida. The Town of Buena Vista gave it the green light for 2021. The MORE Act seeks to dissolve the conflict between states’ provisions and federal restrictions. Photo AddWeed/Unsplash
Proponents say that while the measure will likely fail to hurdle the Senate, the standalone bill symbolizes an end to Richard Nixon’s War on Drugs, which has disproportionately led to prison sentences for men and women of color.
Rep. Doug Lamborn (R), of Colorado’s Fifth District serving Chaffee County, cast a no vote.
“In Colorado, we have seen the devastating effects of marijuana,” Lamborn said Friday. “Dispensaries sit on the corners that once held churches, often down the street from schools, and our homeless population is growing by the day. Even worse, our country is in the midst of a serious drug use crisis. We cannot pass extreme and unwise legislation that will only exacerbate this problem as well as infringe upon states’ rights.
“The MORE Act opens the floodgates to marijuana cultivation, distribution, and sale across America,” he continued.
The rest of the Colorado House contingent voted, as expected, along party lines, with Democrats Diana DeGette and Joe Neguse voting yes and Republicans Scott Tipton and Ken Buck casting dissenting votes.
As of this fall, 15 states allow recreational use of marijuana, while 36 states have approved medical use. Fifty-five percent of Colorado’s voters said yes to Amendment 64 in 2012, leading to the legalization of recreational cannabis in 2014. State voters approved medical marijuana in 2000.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) introduced the measure, which proposes to eliminate the conflict between increasingly liberal state marijuana measures and federal laws, allowing states to set their own regulations.
Prior to the vote, Nadler said he had long held that the criminalization of marijuana was a mistake that resulted in “racially disparate” enforcement of cannabis laws that disproportionately penalized communities of color.
The MORE Act, if signed into law, would remove marijuana from the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, which classifies the drug as highly dangerous, and would eliminate criminal penalties for possession, manufacturing, or distribution. It would also include a process to expunge or remove prior convictions.
As well, it would authorize a five percent sales tax on cannabis and cannabis products. The tax revenues would be placed into a new fund for grants supporting people “adversely impacted by the War on Drugs” in the form of re-entry services, job training, legal aid, and more. The bill requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to regularly publish demographic data on cannabis business owners and employees, and for good measure, it would replace statutory references to marijuana and marihuana with cannabis.
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