On Election Day, House Lawmakers Announce Hearing To Discuss Marijuana Reform Issues

As voters head to the polls today to decide on marijuana legalization around the country among many other issues, the House Oversight Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee announced that lawmakers will meet next week.

The purpose of the hearing will be to discuss bipartisan cannabis reform issues at the federal and state level.

Depending on Tuesday's election results in the five states voting for full cannabis legalization, the number of fully legal weed states could jump from 19 to 24, not counting D.C. and two US territories thus fortifying the case for legalizing weed at the federal level.

The congressional meeting, titled, “Developments in State Cannabis Laws and Bipartisan Cannabis Reforms at the Federal Level,” will take place on November 15. No witnesses have been announced as yet.

Though it's not clear if the hearing will focus on any specific pieces of federal marijuana reform, the panel will likely be dealing with new developments prior to Tuesday's midterms. 

States Reform Act Or MORE Act?

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC), the GOP ranking member on the panel, said she had “received a “promise” from leadership that her States Reform Act (SRA) would be taken under consideration in the panel,” reported Marijuana Moment.

Mace's reform, introduced in Nov. 2021, aims to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) where it remains a Schedule I drug. Provided this bill passes, cannabis will become legal under federal law but will remain under the authority of states to regulate or prohibit its use.

Mace's SRA is more big-business centered and enjoys the backing of the Cannabis Freedom Alliance, which includes the Koch-funded group Americans for Prosperity.

In April, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act, aka the MORE Act that would remove cannabis from the CSA, allowing states to legalize cannabis, its production, and sales, free from federal interference.

The Act also would provide for the expungement or resentencing of people with nonviolent federal cannabis convictions, promotes diverse participation in the state-regulated marijuana industry, and helps repair the racially and economically disparate harms caused by America’s past prohibition policies. 

Get your daily dose of cannabis news and election results on Benzinga Cannabis. Don’t miss out on any important developments in the industry.

Image by Benzinga