Federal: House Lawmakers Reintroduce Legislation Removing Cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act

Members of Congress reintroduced legislation today, the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, that removes marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act, thereby allowing states to legalize and regulate cannabis markets free from federal interference.

Previous versions of the MORE Act were approved by the House of Representatives in 2020 and in 2022, when Democrats controlled the chamber. House lawmakers took no action on the bill in the 118th Congress.

“I am proud to reintroduce the MORE Act today. As more states continue to legalize marijuana and public support increases, federal laws must catch up and reverse failed policies criminalizing marijuana,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). “It is long past time to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level, expunge marijuana convictions, and facilitate resentencing, while reinvesting in the communities most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs. I thank my colleagues, Representatives Dina Titus and Ilhan Omar, Co-Chairs of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus, as well as Representative Nydia Velázquez for their work on this legislation as we continue to push for this much-needed change.” 

Representatives Titus, Omar, and Velázquez are co-sponsors of the bill.

“As states continue to move away from their failed experiments with cannabis prohibition, it is incumbent on Congress to resolve the growing conflict between state and federal law and do everything it can to repair the damage caused by nearly a century of disastrous criminalization policies,” NORML’s Political Director Morgan Fox said. “This legislation embodies the wishes of more than two thirds of the American public, and will create a federal cannabis framework that respects states’ rights and is focused on science, pragmatism, and justice. We strongly urge lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to support the MORE Act and call for its immediate consideration.” 

The bill’s reintroduction comes as an announcement from the Trump administration is forthcoming on whether it intends to advance efforts initiated by the Biden administration to reclassify cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III under federal law. Earlier this month, Trump said that he would “look” into the matter and “make a determination over the next few weeks.”

Unlike descheduling cannabis, reclassifying marijuana to Schedule III does not provide state governments with the explicit authority to establish marijuana regulations that are inconsistent with those established by the federal government.

Other provisions in The MORE Act would provide Small Business Administration funding for state-licensed cannabis-related businesses, facilitate the expungement of marijuana-related convictions, and provide reinvestment grants to eligible communities.

The full text of the legislation is available here.