Our allies at the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) ask concerned citizens to call, write, or otherwise contact their Congressional Representatives to request that the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act (HR 3884 / S. 2227) be brought to a full floor vote. While you’ve got them on the phone, you might request your Representative cosponsor the nonpartisan legislation and support it when it comes to a vote. Scroll down for switchboard number, email form, and sample remarks.
The most exciting provision of the MORE Act would remove cannabis (we try not to use the intentionally xenophobic variation ‘marijuana’) from the Controlled Substances Act, decriminalizing the substance at the federal level.
On August 28th, it was reported that the House was preparing to vote on the MORE Act. Recent partisan wrangling about CoViD and wildfires may endanger that very necessary step forward, which if nothing else would give us an official record of prohibitionists to be targeted for future persuasion/removal.
Other advantages in the bill:
- Veterans who live in medical cannabis states would have access to these treatments without jeopardizing their care or benefits through the VA.
- Small businesses and entrepreneurs engaged in state-legal cannabis trades would have full access to secure banking and competitive loans, which currently exclude them to avoid conflict with federal agencies.
- Victims of cannabis prohibition would have access to record expungement, aimed at ending the stigma and lost opportunities suffered by those (mostly poor, mostly people of color) stuck with low-level cannabis convictions.
NORML writes:
“We know that when marijuana is on the ballot, voters are more likely to turn out to vote. We know that a supermajority of Americans supports ending federal marijuana prohibition. Now, all we have to do is make sure Congress takes decisive action toward ending the scourge of prohibition.
Call your Representative’s office today to make sure they support bringing the MORE Act to the House floor this month and are committed to voting “yes” when it does.”
Call the Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 and refer to the script provided by NORML (below) OR use NORML’s Call to Action form to send emailed remarks directly to your Congressperson.
Sample phone script/message text:
“As a constituent and concerned citizen, I am calling to ask for the Representatives’ support in passing the MORE Act next week.
To date, 33 states and the District of Columbia regulate the production, sale, and use of marijuana and marijuana-infused products for medical purposes. Eleven of these states also permit marijuana possession by adults, and ten of them also regulate adult-use sales. Yet, to date, all of these state-level legalization policies are incongruous with federal law, which classifies the cannabis plant as a Schedule I criminal substance.
The MORE Act removes cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act — thus providing individual states with the authority to be the primary arbiters of cannabis policy and eliminating the existing conflict between state-level marijuana legalization policies and federal law.
The MORE Act would also make several other important changes to federal marijuana policy. For example, it permits physicians affiliated with the Veterans Administration for the first time to make medical cannabis recommendations to qualifying veterans who reside in legal states, and it incentivizes states to move ahead with expungement policies that will end the stigma and lost opportunities suffered by those with past, low-level cannabis convictions. The MORE Act also allows the Small Business Administration to support entrepreneurs and businesses as they seek to gain a foothold in this emerging industry.
Be on the right side of history. Please commit to vote for and cosponsor the MORE Act.”
