House Democrats have introduced a bill that would legalize cannabis at the federal level as President Donald Trump considers rescheduling marijuana.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) reintroduced the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act on August 29.” If passed, the measure would remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
“As more states continue to legalize marijuana and public support increases, federal laws must catch up and reverse failed policies criminalizing marijuana,” Nadler said in a statement. “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.”
The MORE Act, along with legalizing marijuana, would create a federal Opportunity Trust Fund funded through cannabis taxes. The funds will be used for community reinvestment and to support small businesses.
The bill would not interfere with the state’s authority to restrict or regulate cannabis-derived products. It would maintain marijuana testing for federal employees. However, the proposed legislation would impose an excise tax on these products starting at five percent and scaling to eight percent.
Nadler sponsored the only marijuana legalization bill ever to pass the House, and he did it twice.
— Tom Angell 🌳📰ⓥ (@tomangell) September 2, 2025
Thank you, sir. And thank you for also recognizing that generational change is needed. https://t.co/vWvvMPiAOW
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The legislation would also take effect retroactively, meaning that those who were arrested, charged, or convicted under prior marijuana laws have their records expunged. “Black men receiving drug sentences that are 13.1 percent longer than sentences imposed for White men and Latinos being nearly 6.5 times more likely to receive a Federal sentence for cannabis possession,” the text of the bill notes.
The funds collected from cannabis taxes would be used to benefit communities that have been harmed by the War on Drugs. It would go toward job training, reentry services, legal aid to obtain expungements, substance abuse treatment, and others.
Nadler first introduced the MORE Act in 2019. However, it has failed to pass on multiple occasions.
The problem with the MORE Act is that it would still result in more money being taken from Americans to fund useless government programs. This only places more of a burden on burgeoning cannabis companies for initiatives that will be about as beneficial to the public as being locked in a tiny room with an angry pit bull.
What the government needs to do is simply legalize marijuana. Expunge the records of those whom the government targeted over the plant. That’s it. There’s no need for “equity” programs.
If Democrats were serious about legalizing marijuana, they would put forth a measure that would get buy-in from Republican lawmakers. Several polls show that Americans — including Republican voters — don’t believe the government should be going after people for possessing or selling marijuana. Right now, both parties are going against the will of the people.
But it is Democrats who have been declaring their intention to legalize marijuana, claiming it will help Black and Brown Americans. Yet, when they propose these types of bills, they show that they don’t really care about marijuana legalization — it’s just a carrot they dangle in front of voters to get their support.
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