Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried is calling on the Florida congressional delegation to support H.R. 3617, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act when it comes before the U.S. House later this week. The MORE Act is a comprehensive cannabis reform package that would decriminalize cannabis and take much-needed steps to address the racial injustices of prohibition. The letter reads in …
Annapolis, MD — On Friday, Maryland lawmakers approved legislation to refer the question of cannabis legalization for adults’ use to voters on the November 2022 ballot. HB 1 passed the House in a vote of 96-34 and the Senate in a vote of 29-17. As the bill is a voter referendum, it cannot be vetoed by Gov. Larry Hogan (R). Separately, HB 837, …
Washington, DC: Majorities of Democrat, Republican, and Independent voters support repealing the federal criminalization of marijuana, according to national polling provided by the group, Coalition for Cannabis Policy, Education and Regulation (CPEAR). Seventy percent of registered voters support the repeal of federal prohibition, the survey found. Support was strongest (83 percent) among Democrats and those between the ages of 30 to 44. Seventy …
Washington, DC: Legislation unanimously passed last week by members of the US Senate empowers the US Attorney General to facilitate clinical research trials involving cannabis. The action represents one of the very few occasions that members of the Senate have ever advanced a marijuana-related reform bill. Senate Bill 253: The Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act provides the office of the US Attorney …
Washington, DC: Members of the US Senate have advanced an amended version of HR 4521: the American COMPETES Act. The Senate version of the bill, unlike the House version, does not include provisions of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act. Members of the House voted in February to include SAFE Banking provisions in HR 4521. That marked the sixth time that House members had advanced SAFE …
Salt Lake City, UT: Republican Gov. Spencer Cox has signed a pair of bills into law expanding legal protections for registered medical cannabis patients. Senate Bill 46 limits state employers from taking punitive actions against employees who consume cannabis products at home in compliance with the state’s medical marijuana access law. The legislation does not extend these protections to those who work for …
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) released the following statement on the U.S. House of Representatives passage of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act: “As we mark fifty years of the devastating war on drugs it is past time for Congress to catch up with the public and majority of states who have legalized some form of cannabis, and pass …
Washington, D.C.—In response to the House passing the MORE Act today—the first bill to completely deschedule marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and begin to repair the harms of prohibition—by a bipartisan 220-204 majority, Maritza Perez, Director of the Office of National Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, released the following statement: “Thanks to the House’s leadership, today we are one …
Washington, D.C. — On Friday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor (220-204) of the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act, a comprehensive federal cannabis legalization bill that contains strong social equity provisions with an emphasis on restorative justice for communities most impacted by cannabis prohibition. This marks the second time the chamber has passed the MORE Act. Statement from Toi …
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act, which would remove cannabis from the federal Controlled Substances Act and attempt to undo the damage caused by racially and economically disproportionate enforcement of prohibition, was approved by the House of Representatives today. An earlier version of the bill was passed in December 2020 in a largely party-line vote, becoming the …