Reps. Case, Kahele Vote To Legalize Marijuana
The House bill now moves to the Senate where passage is unclear.
The U.S. House of Representatives, and other news outlets reported, passed legislation on Friday to legalize marijuana nationwide “and eliminate the longstanding criminal penalties for anyone who distributes or possesses it.”
The report was largely along party lines in .
U.S. Reps. Ed Case and Kai Kahele, both Democrats from Hawaii, voted “yea” on the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act.
The measure now goes to the U.S. Senate, where “it鈥檚 not clear a bill to broadly legalize marijuana could clear the necessary 60 votes to advance in the Senate.” Democrats have a very narrow majority.
A similar pot legalization bill passed in December 2020, but the Senate — controlled by Republicans at the time — did not take action.
House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), who introduced the bill, that the MORE Act is 鈥渓ong overdue legislation that would reverse decades of failed federal policies based on the criminalization of marijuana.鈥
BREAKING: The House just passed a bill that would legalize marijuana and expunge marijuana-related convictions and arrests. I was proud to support it.
鈥 Congressman Tim Ryan (@RepTimRyan)
