Federal Marijuana Legalization Bill Deserves Lawmakers’ Support, Letter From ACLU And Other Groups Says

A coalition of drug policy reform and civil rights organizations sent letter urging members of the U.S. House of Representatives to cosponsor a recently filed bill to federally legalize marijuana and promote equity.

The letter, led by the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), expresses support for the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, which was reintroduced by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and about three dozen cosponsors late last month.

This marks the fourth session in a row that Nadler has put forward the proposal. It passed the House twice under Democratic control while the sponsor served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee, but it did not advance last session with Republicans in the majority.

“The MORE Act is the leading comprehensive marijuana reform bill in the House that ends federal prohibition, addresses the collateral consequences of federal marijuana criminalization, and takes steps to ensure the regulated marketplace is diverse and inclusive,” the letter—which was also signed by groups such as the ACLU, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, National Association of Social Workers, Service Employees International Union and Southern Poverty Law Center—says.

“For generations, marijuana’s placement on the [Controlled Substances Act, or CSA] has disproportionately inflicted harm upon communities of color and poor people,” the groups wrote.

They noted that the Trump administration is actively considering a proposal to simply reschedule cannabis, which they described as “a policy that would continue federal cannabis criminalization and its harm.”

With that reform pending, it’s “more important than ever for Congress to advance comprehensive legislation to deschedule marijuana from the CSA,” the letter says. “To be clear, as long as marijuana remains anywhere in the CSA, it will still be criminalized at the federal level.”

“Recent news reports have suggested that President Trump may move marijuana to Schedule III of the CSA. While this move would eliminate an unfair tax penalty on the marijuana industry and would be of symbolic importance by recognizing that marijuana has accepted medical use, little else would change. In fact, rescheduling marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III of CSA will maintain the criminal penalties and collateral consequences that are in effect today. To fully address the conflict between state and federal laws, marijuana must be descheduled from the CSA.”

Other signatories on the letter include Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC), Doctors for Drug Policy Reform, JustLeadershipUSA, Last Prisoner Project (LPP), Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Minority Cannabis Business Association (MCBA), Mission Green, NORML, Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), Supernova Women and more.

Here are details about the key provisions of the MORE Act: 

• The bill would deschedule marijuana by removing it from the list of federally banned drugs under the CSA. However, it would not require states to legalize cannabis and would maintain a level of regulatory discretion up to states.
• Marijuana products would be subject to a federal excise tax, starting at five percent for the first two years after enactment and rising to eight percent by the fifth year of implementation.
• Nobody could be denied federal public benefits based solely on the use or possession of marijuana or past juvenile conviction for a cannabis offense. Federal agencies couldn’t use “past or present cannabis or marijuana use as criteria for granting, denying, or rescinding a security clearance.”
• People could not be penalized under federal immigration laws for any cannabis related activity or conviction, whether it occurred before or after the enactment of the legalization legislation.
• The bill creates a process for expungements of non-violent federal marijuana convictions.
• Tax revenue from cannabis sales would be placed in a new “Opportunity Trust Fund.” Half of those tax dollars would support a “Community Reinvestment Grant Program” under the Justice Department, 10 percent would support substance misuse treatment programs, 40 percent would go to the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) to support implementation and a newly created equitable licensing grant program.
• The Community Reinvestment Grant Program would “fund eligible non-profit community organizations to provide a variety of services for individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs…to include job training, reentry services, legal aid for civil and criminal cases (including for expungement of cannabis convictions), among others.”
• The program would further support funding for substance misuse treatment for people from communities disproportionately impacted by drug criminalization. Those funds would be available for programs offering services to people with substance misuse disorders for any drug, not just cannabis.
• While the bill wouldn’t force states to adopt legalization, it would create incentives to promote equity. For example, SBA would facilitate a program to providing licensing grants to states and localities that have moved to expunge records for people with prior marijuana convictions or “taken steps to eliminate violations or other penalties for persons still under State or local criminal supervision for a cannabis-related offense or violation for conduct now lawful under State or local law.”
• The bill’s proposed Cannabis Restorative Opportunity Program would provide funds “for loans to assist small business concerns that are owned and controlled by individuals adversely impacted by the War on Drugs in eligible States and localities.”
• The comptroller general, in consultation with the head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), would be required to carry out a study on the demographics of people who have faced federal marijuana convictions, “including information about the age, race, ethnicity, sex, and gender identity.”
• The departments of treasury, justice and the SBA would need to “issue or amend any rules, standard operating procedures, and other legal or policy guidance necessary to carry out implementation of the MORE Act” within one year of its enactment.
• Marijuana producers and importers would also need to obtain a federal permit. And they would be subject to a $1,000 per year federal tax as well for each premise they operate.
• The bill would impose certain packaging and labeling requirements.
• It also prescribes penalties for unlawful conduct such as illegal, unlicensed production or importation of cannabis products.
• The Treasury secretary would be required to carry out a study “on the characteristics of the cannabis industry, with recommendations to improve the regulation of the industry and related taxes.”
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) would be required to “regularly compile, maintain, and make public data on the demographics” of marijuana business owners and workers.
• Workers in “safety sensitive” positions, such as those regulated by the Department of Transportation, could continue to be drug tested for THC and face penalties for unauthorized use. Federal workers would also continue to be subject to existing drug testing policies.
• References to “marijuana” or “marihuana” under federal statute would be changed to “cannabis.” It’s unclear if that would also apply to the title of the bill itself.

Getting a bill like the MORE Act through the GOP-controlled House and Senate is a tall task, however. And while Trump previously endorsed a Florida legalization ballot initiative, he’s given little indication he’d be willing to end prohibition altogether at the federal level.

A pending proposal to simply move cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under the CSA is still in flux—though the president did recently say a decision was imminent.

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Numerous voices within Trump’s circles have expressed differing opinions on the reform.

Most recently, for example, Ben Carson, Trump’s former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), said a move to reschedule marijuana would play into plots to “destroy this country.”

Trump’s former press secretary Sean Spicer and his long-time advisor Roger Stone recently traded diverging takes on the prospect of the administration moving forward on marijuana rescheduling.

Stone separately made the case for reform in an op-ed for Marijuana Moment last month.

Retired boxer Mike Tyson, meanwhile, recently spoke about the need for federal marijuana rescheduling on a podcast hosted by the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller—saying he’s expecting “good news” on the issue soon.

In June, the retired boxer also took to Fox News and delivered a message to the president, urging him to reschedule, and ultimately legalize, marijuana.

That interview came days after Tyson led a letter alongside other professional athletes and celebrities promoting cannabis reform that was sent to Trump, calling for rescheduling marijuana, expanding clemency and allowing licensed cannabis businesses to access the banking system.

Meanwhile, Trump’s former senior advisor Kellyanne Conway has been the “biggest champion” of marijuana rescheduling within the president’s “inner circle,” a GOP congressman recently told Marijuana Moment.

Photo courtesy of Brian Shamblen.

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