(Washington, DC) – The passage of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act (MORE Act) in the House of Representatives on December 4, 2020, is a landmark step toward a rights-respecting criminal legal system in the United States, while furthering racial justice, Human Rights Watch said today. The Senate should move swiftly to follow suit, and President-elect Joe Biden should commit to signing the bill into law.
“Passage of the MORE Act in the House charts a path to repair and redress for the devastating toll wrought by marijuana prohibition on countless families in the US, disproportionately affecting Black and brown communities,” said Nicole Austin-Hillery, executive director of the US program at Human Rights Watch. “The incoming Biden administration should work for the bill’s passage in the Senate and, once in office, pursue a broader overhaul of the failed ‘war on drugs.’”
The passage of the MORE Act represents the first time that a congressional chamber has voted to end the federal prohibition of marijuana. While it is unlikely to pass in the Senate and be signed into law by President Donald Trump during the remainder of this congressional session, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris have pledged that the Biden administration will decriminalize marijuana. As a senator, Harris introduced the MORE…
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