Marijuana and systemic oppression

This common-sense law is popular across the political spectrum and already passed the House once in December.

Dear MoveOn member,

This is Congressman Jerry Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary Committee. You may know me from the impeachment of Donald Trump. I'm a longtime friend of MoveOn, and today I'm writing to you about the critical racial and social justice issue of transforming our marijuana laws.

For far too long, marijuana's legal status has been used as an excuse for police to harass and oppress communities of color. It happens here in my hometown of New York City and across the country.

That's why I'm so proud to be reintroducing the most sweeping legislation to transform these laws: the Marijuana Opportunity, Reinvestment, and Expungement (MORE) Act. This legislation is the most comprehensive marijuana reform bill ever introduced in Congress, and it's backed by a broad coalition of civil rights, criminal justice, drug policy, and immigration groups—including MoveOn!

This commonsense law is popular across the political spectrum and already passed the House once in December.¹ Now, we're hoping to finish the job and bring justice to the communities that have been decimated by decades of racist drug laws.

Your House member, Representative Jamie Raskin, has signed on as a co-sponsor of the MORE Act!

Can you call Rep. Raskin at 1-844-311-7810 and thank him for co-sponsoring this critical legislation? You can also ask he to support moving MORE to a vote this year, as quickly as possible. 

Here's a brief summary of what the MORE Act would do—and yes, this gets into the weeds, but it's important we get all of this done:²

• It provides much-needed relief and criminal expungements to communities that have been ravaged by the racist enforcement of marijuana prohibition.
  
  
• It removes marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act, which decriminalizes it at the federal level and enables states to set their own policies. This also will pave the way for more medical research.
  
  
• The existing state-legal marijuana industry will no longer be barred from accessing financial services or standard tax treatment available to all legal businesses. 
  
  
• It provides a roadmap for states to legalize marijuana in a just and equitable way.
  
  
• Veterans will finally be able to get medical cannabis recommendations from VA doctors, a critical reform with opioid addiction continuing to ravage communities.
  
  
• It removes the threat of deportation for immigrants accused of minor marijuana infractions.

You can call Rep. Raskin now at 1-844-311-7810 and thank him for co-sponsoring the MORE Act! And be sure to encourage him to support moving this legislation to the floor as quickly as possible.

Thanks for all you do.

–Representative Jerry Nadler

Sources:

1. "Two-Thirds of Voters Back House Vote to Decriminalize Marijuana," Morning Consult, December 9, 2020
https://act.moveon.org/go/159027?t=2&akid=307515%2E53570607%2EfRN8NU

2. "Nadler, Blumenauer, Lee, Jackson Lee, Jeffries, and Velázquez Reintroduce Comprehensive Marijuana Reform Legislation," Office of Congressman Jerry Nadler, May 28, 2021
https://act.moveon.org/go/159028?t=4&akid=307515%2E53570607%2EfRN8NU

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