The M.O.R.E Act

The M.O.R.E Act

In December 2020, the House of Representatives passed two federal bills that support our favorite girl: Mary Jane. The bill we will be talking about in this post is the M.O.R.E Act - which is the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act, and the other bill is the Medical Marijuana Research Act (MMJ Research Act).

The MMJ Research Act is covered in another post - but for a brief overview of what it is - it basically opens up the FDA to run actual real studies - which could pave the way in gold for full-on federal legalization (which is basically the M.O.R.E Act). Right now, for scientists to do legal studies of the plant, they have to obtain expensive and difficult special licenses, and they are pretty restricted still in what they can do. The MMJ Research Act would give scientists the liberty to study what we already know to be a blessed medicine at will.

The M.O.R.E Act is what has everyone excited and buzzing, however, and to break it down simply: It would get rid of marijuana's Schedule 1 classification. For those of you who don't know what "Schedule 1" means in terms of 'drugs' they are and I quote straight from a government website that I shall keep anonymous: " Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence. Some examples of Schedule I drugs are: heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana (cannabis), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone, and peyote."

This still makes me feel embarrassed by our government every time I have to read this. Because Peyote and cannabis are NOT in the same league as meth and heroin you guys. Honestly, neither is LSD. And the fact that they somehow got into this schedule astounds me at the sheer greed of our government and pharmaceutical industry. I have never been scared of or attacked by a Trippy Hippy high on weed. An amped up methhead who hasn't slept in a week, however? Been there. Done that. I was terrified. I'll take the high Trippy Hippy thanks- they are genuinely the coolest company a person could have.

But, descheduling cannabis is not the only thing the M.O.R.E Act would do. It would also decriminalize it federally - meaning our jails would open up and people who have nonviolent marijuana charges would be set free. Which would be AMAZING. I don't really want to go into how much of our taxpayer's money goes into keeping people locked up for simply having a 2 g bag of pot. And MANY of those wrongfully sentences to extreme jail sentences for this petty crime are colored and Hispanic people. Our justice system has always been slow to catch up with the American people's trends of acceptance and integration.

With all of that being said, the M.O.R.E Act would leave it up to the states to handle legalizing and controlling the integration and regulation of weed individually. So it doesn't mean that all 50 states would just open the flood gates to let out inmates of such crimes. Nor would it mean that with the passing of the M.O.R.E Act marijuana would be suddenly legal everywhere.

The M.O.R.E Act Was Passed In April, 2022

There are still hoops to go through for the M.O.R.E Act. The House of Representatives is only the lower House of the American Government. It still has the Senate - which is the Upper House and the President to go through. Not to mention, these bill passings work in cycles. While the House voted this bill in, neither of the two bills will be looked over in this cycle of the congressional session - or the next supposedly.

And what is a congressional session I hear you as? It's the series of annual meetings that the Congress and Senate have to discuss bills. And basically… it happens once a year from what I understand. So that means the bills will have to be voted in again by the House.

That being said - it's still a victory. This was the first time in almost 25 years (since California first ended its independent prohibition on marijuana) that Congress has visited the idea of cooperating with closing the gap between federal and state cannabis policies and for the first time in 50 years since Congress has even considered getting rid of that schedule 1 classification. It means our government is catching on - and it's just one more sign of a better, legalized marijuana-filled future!

Unfortunately, the M.O.R.E Act Was Not Passed In The Senate

There's still hope in the future. Maybe once all the political drama is over with this presidency election, someone will start fighting for the federal legalization of marijuana. 

Time is precious, thank you so much for taking some to read my article. I hope you enjoyed it and it proved useful in some way!

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Originally published at https://blackstarhope.wixsite.com on January 11, 2021.