MJ moment

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill to federally legalize marijuana in a historic vote on Friday. It’s the day that cannabis reform advocates have been building toward for years—a full floor vote to end prohibition in a chamber of Congress. Under the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, cannabis would be federally descheduled and those with prior convictions would have their records expunged. The descheduling provisions would be retroactive, too. Despite the unprecedented House victory for reformers, few believe the legislation stands a chance in the Republican-controlled Senate, at least before the end of the current Congress early next month. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris (D-CA) is the lead sponsor of the Senate companion version of the bill. Ahead of the bill’s passage, debate on the floor largely consisted of Democrats making the case that the reform will help to right the wrongs of the racist war on drugs, and Republicans arguing that legalization would cause harms to children and public safety and that now is not the right time to consider the issue in any case. “Across this nation, thousands of men and women have suffered needlessly from the federal criminalization of marijuana, particularly in communities of color and have borne the burden of collateral consequences for those ensnared in criminal legal systems that have damaged our society across generations,” Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) said in her opening remarks. “This is unacceptable and we must change our laws. It is time for Congress to catch up with the reforms that states are enacting.” The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act is comprehensive legislation to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, reassess marijuana convictions, and invest in local communities. #MOREAct — Sheila Jackson Lee (@JacksonLeeTX18) December 4, 2020 This critical bill rights the wrongs of the War on…

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Source : House Approves Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill In Historic Vote

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