The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act of 2019 could open massive business opportunities for legal cannabis firms around the country, similar to the federal legalization of hemp, if it passes. But that’s a big “if.”
Experts point out major reform before 2021 has long odds because of resistance in the Republican-controlled Senate.
But here’s the new normal:
- Cannabis reform garnered milestone congressional hearings this year in both the Democratic-controlled House and the Republican-controlled Senate.
- A U.S. House committee approved a cannabis banking bill, sending the measure toward the full chamber.
- House Judiciary Committee chair Jerrold Nadler introduced the MORE Act, a comprehensive billthat would legalize marijuana nationwide by removing it from the Controlled Substance Act.
House Democrats are in effect saying that marijuana reform no longer needs to be modest, said Douglas Berman, director of Ohio State University’s Drug Enforcement and Policy Center.
“I have this ever-growing sense that more progressive advocates for marijuana reform think the momentum is on their side and that they don’t have to be content with a set of modest reforms or even an industry-friendly reform that doesn’t expressly seek to address the social equity parts of the story,” Berman noted.