MORE Act
Latest action · Dec 17, 2024 Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedSep 20, 2023
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act or the MORE Act
This bill decriminalizes marijuana.
Specifically, it removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the Controlled Substances Act and eliminates criminal penalties for an individual who manufactures, distributes, or possesses marijuana.
The bill also makes other changes, including the following:
- replaces statutory references to marijuana and marihuana with cannabis,
- requires the Bureau of Labor Statistics to regularly publish demographic data on cannabis business owners and employees,
- establishes a trust fund to support various programs and services for individuals and businesses in communities impacted by the war on drugs,
- imposes an excise tax on cannabis products produced in or imported into the United States and an occupational tax on cannabis production facilities and export warehouses,
- makes Small Business Administration loans and services available to entities that are cannabis-related legitimate businesses or service providers,
- prohibits the denial of federal public benefits to a person on the basis of certain cannabis-related conduct or convictions,
- prohibits the denial of benefits and protections under immigration laws on the basis of an event (e.g., conduct or conviction) relating to possession or use of cannabis that is no longer prohibited under the bill,
- establishes a process to expunge convictions and conduct sentencing review hearings related to federal cannabis offenses, and
- directs the Government Accountability Office to study the societal impact of cannabis legalization.
Cosponsors 95
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Sep 20, 2023 to Oct 11, 2024; 33 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MA | Ayanna Pressley | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-CA | Barbara Lee | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-VT | Becca Balint | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-NJ | Bonnie Watson Coleman | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-CA | Brad Sherman | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-ME | Chellie Pingree | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-MO | Cori Bush | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-MD | David J. Trone | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-CO | Diana DeGette | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-NV | Dina Titus | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-OR | Earl Blumenauer | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-MO | Emanuel Cleaver | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-NY | Gregory W. Meeks | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
| D-CA | J. Luis Correa | Original | Sep 20, 2023 |
Committees 9
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Sep 20, 2023 |
| House | Energy and Commerce Committee | Referred Sep 20, 2023 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Sep 22, 2023 | |
| House | Agriculture Committee | Referred Sep 20, 2023 |
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Sep 20, 2023 |
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred Sep 20, 2023 |
| Trade Subcommittee | Referred Dec 17, 2024 | |
| House | Small Business Committee | Referred Sep 20, 2023 |
| House | Natural Resources Committee | Referred Sep 20, 2023 |
| House | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Referred Sep 20, 2023 |
| House | Transportation and Infrastructure Committee | Referred Sep 20, 2023 |
| Highways and Transit Subcommittee | Referred Sep 21, 2023 | |
| Aviation Subcommittee | Referred Sep 21, 2023 | |
| Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee | Referred Sep 21, 2023 |
Actions 7
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Dec 17, 2024Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
- Sep 22, 2023Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Sep 21, 2023Referred to the Subcommittee on Aviation.
- Sep 21, 2023Referred to the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.
- Sep 21, 2023Referred to the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit.
- Sep 20, 2023Introduced in House
- Sep 20, 2023Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, Agriculture, Education and the Workforce, Ways and Means, Small Business, Natural Resources, Oversight and Accountability, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H57 | Earl Blumenauer D-OR | Jan 11, 2024 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 169, no. 152, September 20, 2023, page H4439.
CRS reports 2
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 2
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R45948 | The Controlled Substances Act (CSA): A Legal Overview for the 119th Congress | Report | Jan 22, 2025 |
| IF12529 | Recreational Marijuana and Economic Development | Resource | Nov 7, 2023 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 3617 | MORE Act | Reintroduction of | Apr 4, 2022 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To decriminalize and deschedule cannabis, to provide for reinvestment in certain persons adversely impacted by the War on Drugs, to provide for expungement of certain cannabis offenses, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- MORE Act
- Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.
- Business records
- Census and government statistics
- Child health
- Congressional oversight
- Crime and Law Enforcement
- Criminal procedure and sentencing
- Department of Justice
- Drug trafficking and controlled substances
- Drug, alcohol, tobacco use
- Educational facilities and institutions
- Elementary and secondary education
- Executive agency funding and structure
- Government information and archives
- Government lending and loan guarantees
- Government studies and investigations
- Government trust funds
- Health programs administration and funding
- Immigration status and procedures
- Licensing and registrations
- Poverty and welfare assistance
- Roads and highways
- Sales and excise taxes
- School administration
- Small business
- State and local government operations
- Transportation safety and security
- Worker safety and health
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Sep 20, 2023Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
