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Members of a key House committee are convening on Wednesday for a historic vote on a bill to end federal marijuana prohibition and begin to repair the harms of the war on drugs.

The House Judiciary Committee will mark up legislation introduced by Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY)—a comprehensive bill that would federally deschedule cannabis, expunge the records of those with prior marijuana convictions and impose a five percent tax on sales, revenue from which would be reinvested in communities most impacted by the drug war.

It would also create a pathway for resentencing for those incarcerated for marijuana offenses, as well as protect immigrants from being denied citizenship over cannabis and prevent federal agencies from denying public benefits or security clearance due to its use.

Lawmakers that have advocated for cannabis reform held a press conference on Tuesday to highlight the need for the federal policy change. And while Nadler said that it was possible that compromises could be made later in the legislative process, he doesn’t see the need to scale back the proposal’s reach at the onset and feels that bipartisan support will build around his bill.

He also told Marijuana Moment that he is optimistic the legislation will get a full floor vote before the end of the current Congress, and part of that confidence comes from the fact that his panel has been communicating with other committees where the bill has been referred in the hopes that they waive jurisdiction to expedite its advancement.

Watch the committee markup on the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act below: 

It remains to be seen what kind of amendments members might introduce, though there have been rumors about possible proposals to include language drawing from a more limited states’ rights-focused cannabis bill, to add research focused-provisions or to outline market regulations for the legal industry.

The committee vote comes two months after the House approved a bill that would protect banks that service state-legal cannabis businesses from being penalized by federal regulators. That vote ignited a debate within advocacy circles about whether Congress should pursue incremental reform that might be more amenable to the Republican-controlled Senate first or instead focus their resources on passing comprehensive legalization legislation that addresses social equity from the outset.

Prior to the vote on the marijuana banking bill, several advocacy groups, including the ACLU, urged House leadership to delay the action until wide-ranging reform cleared the chamber.

Many observers expect the MORE Act to clear the committee and also receive a favorable vote if it reaches the House floor. The bill’s fate in the Senate is much less certain, however, and may depend on the kind of compromises that Nadler said he hoped to avoid.

The markup has garnered significant attention, as it represents the first congressional meeting of its kind that isn’t simply a debate about whether cannabis prohibition should be ended—which occurred in a House subcommittee over the summer—but an actual vote on a bill that would accomplish legalization.

Marijuana Legalization Will Get A Floor Vote This Congress, Key Chairman Predicts

Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.

The post Watch Live: Congress Holds Historic Vote On Bill To Federally Legalize Marijuana appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

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Kyle Jaeger, KahliBuds, 420GrowLife