This coming week, the House of Representatives has plans to vote on the Marijuana Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act or H.R. 3617.
If enacted, the MORE Act would decriminalize marijuana, and both legalize and commercialize the drug under the premise of social justice. As Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) said at last September’s mark-up of the bill:
“The MORE Act would make three important changes to federal law. It would: remove marijuana, or cannabis, from the list of federally controlled substances; authorize the provision of resources, funded by a federal tax on marijuana sales, to address the needs of communities that have been seriously impacted by the War on Drugs, including increasing the participation of communities of color in the burgeoning cannabis market; and provide for the expungement of Federal marijuana convictions and arrests.”
He continues, "In my view, criminal penalties for marijuana offenses, and the resulting collateral consequences, are unjust and harmful to our society. The MORE Act comprehensively addresses this injustice, and I urge all my colleagues to support this bill today."
There is no doubt that this legislation is another leftist attempt at social justice. As you may remember, the House passed this same bill. Then-Senator and now Vice President Kamala Harris said of it:
“… It is also critical that everyone — especially people of color who have been disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs — has a real opportunity to participate in this growing industry. This is a matter of racial and economic justice.”
Yet, we know that marijuana use not only leads to physical dependency, addiction, agitation, paranoia, but it also harms developing brains. As such, it should have public health guardrails!
Eagle Forum previously stated that today’s marijuana is more potent than it was 20-plus years ago and comes in many forms that all contain differing levels of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical giving the drug user euphoria and intoxication, and cannabidiol (CBD). Our lawmakers do well to remember this.
As was evidenced with the popularity of flavored nicotine and Juul, the nation’s youth is disproportionally targeted and consequently hurt from these products. In just one year, deaths related to addiction rose almost 30% in 2021! About 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2021. Our lawmakers are blind to the real troubles Americans face.
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For these reasons, we ask your help in contacting your Representative and asking them to vote NO on the MORE Act.
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
