Bill To Federally Legalize Marijuana Reintroduced In Congress As Senate Prepares Separate Measure

A bill to federally legalize marijuana and promote social equity in the industry was reintroduced in the House on Friday.

The legislation, sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), was filed with a number of changes compared to the version that was approved by the chamber last year.

The bill—which would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), allow people with cannabis convictions to have their records expunged and create a federal tax on marijuana with the revenue going to support community reinvestment and other programs—comes as Senate leadership is preparing to introduce a separate reform proposal with similar objectives.

The Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act passed the House but did not advance in the Senate under GOP control. But this time around, advocates are optimistic that the policy change could be enacted now that Democrats run both chambers and the White House, and as more states are moving to enact legalization.